I did a day trip to Boston last week and had a couple of hours after my meetings to explore the Freedom Trail before catching my flight back home.
The Freedom Trail is a 2.5-mile-long path through downtown Boston that winds between Boston Common to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. It passes by 16 locations significant to the history of the country: Boston Common, Massachusetts State House, Park Street Church, Granary Burying Ground, King’s Chapel and King’s Chapel Burying Ground, Boston Latin School Site/ Benjamin Franklin Statue, Old Corner Bookstore, Old South Meeting House, Old State House, Boston Massacre Site, Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere House, Old North Church, Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, USS Constitution, and Bunker Hill Monument.
Faneuil Hall, now part of the Boston National Historical Park and a popular stop on the Freedom Trail, opened in 1743. Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others gave several speeches here encouraging independence from Great Britain. Today, it is a marketplace and meeting hall and ranks number 4 in America’s 25 Most Visited Sites according to Forbes Traveler.
Built in 1824 – 1826, Quincy Market was built to accommodate more shop space when Faneuil Hall grew beyond capacity.
Paul Revere was a goldsmith involved in politics and community service. He is best known for his famous ride to Lexington on the night of April 18-19, 1775 and immortalized by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “Paul Revere’s Ride” written in 1860 and published in 1861 in the Atlantic Monthly. |
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The Old North Memorial Garden located outside the Old North Church honors American and British service members who were killed in the Iraq-Afghanistan wars. |
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Located on a hill where a windmill once stood, Copp’s Hill Burying Ground is the final resting place for artisans, merchants, and craftspeople who lived in the North End. |
