For today's walk we are going to go on Boston's Freedom Trail and go back in time to Colonial Boston.
This walk took me 3 hours, lucky for you it will only take 9 minutes to read/ listen to it and even quicker to scroll through the pictures!
Fanueil Hall
John Smibert and Charles Bulfinch, 1742
Note: As I was showing the statue of Samuel Adams I said he was the 2nd president. Correction: John Adams was the 2nd president.
I got a ride into town with a friend who works at the Coast Guard. I started the day and tour in the North End, right in the Italian part of town!
I paid $9.99 for the app Freedom Trail Boston Guide that took me to each significant spot on the Freedom Trail and told me about it.
I walked down the street from the Coast Guard building to the Old North Church.
Old North Church
The Old North Church was difficult to see and the gate was closed. The picture below, by the Paul Revere Statue is a better shot of the church and the steeple.
In 1775, the steeple was the highest point in Boston and lanterns were used to signal the patriots if the British were coming by land (one) or by sea (two). The sexton of the church hung two lanterns and Paul Revere and William Dawes rode to warn the patriots in Lexington and Concord. Which were the first battles of the American Revolution.
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Paul Revere Statue and Mall
The statue of Paul Revere was modeled 1885 by Cyrus Dallin and cast in bronze in 1940 and unveiled that same year to a crowd of 8,000.
Cyrus Dallin was born in 1861 in Springville, Utah. Which is very close to where I did my bachelor's degree in Provo, Utah. He moved to Boston when he was 19 years old and died in Arlington, Mass in 1944 at the age of 83.
Also interesting for me to know is that Dallin sculpted the angel Moroni statue on the Salt Lake Temple which was placed on the temple on April 6, 1892. He also sculpted the Appeal to the Great Spirit in 1908 and it is currently at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston!
Freedom Trail
The Freedom Trail is a red brick path that goes through Boston. Sometimes it is on the sidewalk and sometimes it crosses the street. It is easy to identify and follow.
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The Paul Revere House
The first stops were all about Paul Revere. Here we are at his house, which was built in 1680. Paul purchased the house in 1770. He left from this house to make is famous midnight ride. You can go in the house, which has been restored to when Paul lived there.
In addition to being immortalized for warning the patriots that the "British are coming" Paul was also a skilled silversmith and master caster. He was one of America's best known bell casters. He had 16 children, 8 with Sara Orne and 8 with Rachel Walker.
Faneuil Hall
Fanueil Hall is a beautiful Georgian building in Boston's Government center. Which is appropriate as it is sometimes called the "cradle of liberty". It is the where debates about the Stamp and Tea acts took place as well as meetings on what to do as the tensions grew with Britain.
The thing that was so interesting is that it is named after Peter Faneuil who was a merchant whose wealthy uncle said he would only bequeath his massive fortune to Peter if he agreed to never marry. He complied and used his inherited money to build this hall. Isn't history interesting?
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Old State House
Another beautiful Georgian building in downtown Boston. It was built in 1713 and was the symbol of British rule until 1775. Right outside the state house is also believed to be the site of the Boston Massacre.
Old Corner Bookstore
What is now a Chipotle restaurant used to be the Old Corner Bookstore and it is the oldest commercial building in Boston. I was built in 1718 and was a publishing house until the mid 19th century.
Ticknor and Fields publishing published boos by such people as Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Mark Twain. It also used to be a hangout for celebrated authors.
From the App, I also learned that
in 1960, the city schedule the Old Corner Bookstore for demolition, intending to build a parking garage there instead. Luckily, Bostonians rallied to buy the property, restore it, and protect it from future development.
Old South Meeting House
Old, Old State House, Old Corner Bookstore and Old South Meeting House. I guess when they are built in 1713, 1718 and 1729 before the United States was a country (1776) then they can be called old.
This is where the Boston Tea Party actually began. The Sons of Liberty gathered 5,000 colonists to this meeting house, which was the largest building in Boston at the time.
Members of the congregation of this church included Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, William Otis (we will see their graves a little later) and William Dawes, who rode with Paul Revere to Lexington.
Like the nearby Old Corner Bookstore the Old South Meeting House was also slated for demolition. A group of citizens including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Julia Ward Howe, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Louisa May Alcott raised the money to save the building.
I am impressed with the Bostonians and their efforts to save their history.
Old City Hall
Old City Hall is a beautiful building that is located where the Old Boston Latin School once stood. There is a statue of Benjamin Franklin as he attended this school.
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| Benjamin Franklin Statue | Donkey Statue | Josiah Quincy |
King's Chapel and Burying Ground
King's Chapel was founded in 1686, this building was completed in 1754. Remember that I mentioned that Paul Revere was a bell caster. In 1814 the churches bell cracked and Paul Revere recast it. The burying ground next to the church is Boston proper's first burying ground.
I enjoy cemeteries and this one being so old was especially interesting. One thing I noticed here and in the Granary Burying Ground is that many of the headstones have skulls with wings.
Two of the most notable people buried here are John Winthrop, Massachusetts's first governor and Mary Chilton, the first woman to step off the Mayflower.
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Granary Burying Ground
Very close to King's Chapel is the Granary Burying ground. I was listening to the app describe John Hancock and Paul Revere's burying places and I was so confused. I was still in the King's Chapel cemetery. The Granary is much bigger!
This cemetery was built in the 1660s and is the final resting place for three signers of the Declaration of independence (John Hancock, Samuel Adams and Robert Treat Paine) and the victims of the Boston Massacre as well as Peter Faneuil of Faneuil Hall and Paul Revere. There are also many other Bostonians through the years.
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I have mentioned it before. Cemeteries make me think of all the people that are buried there and the people that loved them and missed them when they died. This very old cemetery is also very beautiful.
Park Street Church
This beautiful evangelical church is on the corner and can be seen from the Granary Burial Grounds. I was founded in 1804 and and began weekly meetings in 1809.
According to the tour:
A lot has happened here, from abolitionist protests during the Civil War to women's suffrage demonstrations in the early 1900s. Bot the Park Street Church is most famous as the place where Samuel Francis Smith first sang "My Country "this of Thee" on July 4, 1831.
Massachusetts State House
What a beautiful and impressive building! The state capital is in the federalist style and was deigned by Charles Bulfinch and completed in 1798.
The cornerstone was laid by Samuel Adams and Paul Revere and they put America's first time capsule under the cornerstone. Paul Revere is also connected to the building in the fact that the first dome was covered in cooper by Paul Revere's Cooper Company. In 1874 it was gilded in gold leaf. During WWII it was paint gray to prevent reflection during blackouts. In 1997 it was re-gilded in 23K gold.
I would love to go inside some day. I went to Boston in July and walked the Freedom Trail in the early morning (I am glad I did). I learned a lot and it was very interesting. I would like to go into the buildings, churches, government buildings, and bookstores.
Shaw Memorial
What a great surprise to see the Shaw Memorial. I first learned about it on a tour of the National Gallery of Art in DC. I put a picture form that statue down below, in the middle.
This memorial honors Robert G. Shaw and depicts him leading one of the first all black regiments (54th Massachusetts) in the first against the confederacy during the Civil War.
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Boston Commons
The Freedom Trail tour ends (or starts) at Boston Commons. It the oldest park in the United States and was established in 1634. I is 50 acres (20 ha) in downtown Boston.
There are many activities at the Boston common such as Shakespeare, Outdoor Opera, Christmas tree lighting and Boston's First Night firework display.
Boston is a great city and walking the Freedom Trail and learning and seeing history from hundreds of years ago was a cool way to experience the city.
Sources:
Freedom Trail Boston Guide app
The Freedom Trail
Fanueil Hall
Old North Church
Paul Revere
Old South Meeting House
Park Street Church