In the five years leading to the attempted annexation of Brookline, some of Boston's most influential suburbs became part of the city. The annexations of Roxbury in 1868, Dorchester in 1870, and Charlestown, Brighton and West Roxbury in 1873 all increased the area and population of the state capital. (See History of Boston, Massachusetts for a complete list.) For these communities, annexation was an achievement: there was interest in uniting the place where they lived and the place where they worked under a single political entity; moreover, these communities realized that Boston could provide certain services that they would have a hard time obtaining for themselves. In Roxbury's case, for example, Boston's water supply and sewage systems were strong stimuli for the annexation movement.