Old Ironsides
Boston Freedom Trail
You can walk the trail in two or three hours, but if you want to stop and look inside some of the buildings or study some of the exhibits, allow yourself a full day... two if you're really curious.
Boston Common is the starting point for the Freedom Trail. It's the oldest park in the United States. British troops camped on the Boston Common prior to the Revolution and left from here to face the militias at Lexington and Concord in 1775.
Massachusetts State House is your next stop. It was built in 1798. This "new" State House is on top of Beacon Hill across from the Boston Common
Park Street Church sits on the site of the old town granary. The Granary Burying Ground, which was founded in 1660, is across from this Church. Three signers of the Declaration of Independence are buried here..... Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Robert Treat Paine.
King James II ordered King's Chapel built so the Church of England would have a parish in Boston. It's on a corner of the oldest Burying Ground in Boston proper. Many colonists are buried here including John Winthrop, who was the Colony's governor, and Mary Chiton who was the first woman to step off the Mayflower.
A statue of Benjamin Franklin overlooks the former site of the First Public School... the Boston Latin School. Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock once attended the school.
See the former site of the Old Corner Bookstore where many famous books were published including "The Scarlet Letter" and "Walden".
The Old South Meeting House is where the Boston Tea Party began. Over 5,000 colonists gathered here in 1773 to protest the tax on tea. Debate was getting them nowhere, so they stormed to the waterfront where they dumped three shiploads of tea into Boston Harbor.
The Old State House was occupied by the British during the Revolution. On July 18, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read from the balcony. The citizens of Boston gathered in the street for this first public reading in Massachusetts.
A circle of cobblestones and a marker in front of the Old State House commemorates the Boston Massacre Site.
Since 1742, Faneuil Hall has been a marketplace and meeting hall for Boston. Samuel Adams and others gave speeches in this hall that fanned the colonists desire for independence.
The Paul Revere House is the oldest building in downtown Boston. Paul Revere lived here from 1770 to 1800.
The Old North Church is Boston's oldest church... and it was on the church's steeple that the lanterns were hung to signal the approach of the British... "One if by land, and two, if by sea...." Of course this one has to be on the Boston Freedom Trail.
The USS Constitution - "Old Ironsides" - is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. It's in the Charlestown Navy Yard which was one of the first shipyards built in the U.S.
Bunker Hill Monument marks the site of the first major battle of the American Revolution and the end of the Freedom Trail.
You can make this a self-guided tour or you can take a guided tour. Several are available through the Boston Common Visitors Center. If walking is too hard, you can take one of the trolley tours that are offered by different companies.. They take you to the sites along the Boston Freedom Trail with narration and let you hop on and off at selected stops to explore on your own.
Whether you walk or ride, the Boston Freedom Trail is a fun way to explore history.
About the Author
This travel tip is brought to you by Stuart Hely of BookCentralCoast.com.au, the specialists in Avoca Beach accommodation. Check us out for the best NSW Central Coast accommodation deals on Avoca accommodation, hotels, resorts, apartments and holiday houses.
Old Ironsides, Boston MA
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