According to the narrator's description in chapter 2, how many centuries ago and in what city does the action of the novel take place?

From the text; this is the chapter's first sentence;

"The grass-plot before the jail, in Prison Lane, on a certain summer morning, not less than two centuries ago, was occupied by a pretty large number of the inhabitants of Boston; all with their eyes intently fastened on the iron-clamped oaken door."