Over the course of my 4 days in Boston, I spent most of my time (when not at my conference) exploring town on the Freedom Trail. Heck, the trail passed right in front of the hotel I stayed in. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Freedom Trail, it's a 2.5 mile long trail, marked with a red line,
that meanders through downtown Boston and Charlestown passing 16 historic sites. What an interesting way to hike and experience history at the same time! Here is my experience with it as I hiked parts of it on 3 different occasions.
The Freedom Trail starts in historic Boston Common, a short walk from my hotel, the Omni Parker House.
Boston Common itself was established in 1634 and is the oldest public park in the United States. The trail heads north to the Massachusetts State House,
then back south before leaving Boston Common and passing Park Street Church.
Park Street Church is an attractive structure dating to 1809 and is the site where William Lloyd Garrison gave his first anti-slavery speech. Perhaps even more interesting though, is the adjacent Granary Burying Ground.
The Granary Burying Ground contained some of the most ornate (and perhaps creepy) old, carved headstones that I've seen in any cemetery.
It is most significant though as the burial site of such famous patriots as John Hancock,
Samuel Adams,
Paul Revere,
Robert Treat Paine (a signer of the Declaration of Independence).
Mother Goose
and Benjamin Franklin's parents
are buried in the Granary Burying Ground as well. From the Granary Burying Ground the trail continues on Tremont Street to King's Chapel.
When I visited the King's Chapel site on Monday, it was raining hard, and so I did not spend much time exploring it or the adjacent burying ground. The cemetery there contains the grave of Massachusetts' first governor John Winthrop and Winthrop's grave is said to have inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne to write
The Scarlet Letter. From The King's Chapel the trail turns onto Schools Street and passes the site of the first public school in America. Today the Old City Hall stands there, along with a nice statue of Benjamin Franklin.
The trail continues on to the Old Corner Bookstore which was a meeting place for such writers as Hawthorne, Longfellow, Emerson, and Dickens. Today it houses a Chipotle and on Thursday I stopped in to eat a burrito just like Charles Dickens would do if he were alive today.
From the historic Chipotle restaurant, the heads across the street to the Old South Meeting House.
When I stopped by on Sunday, they were having their yearly Thanksgiving service inside and so I did not get an opportunity to see the exhibits inside. It was at a meeting in this location that the ideas that hatched the Boston Tea Party were first discussed. From the meeting house the trail follows Washington Street to the Old State House.
The Old State House is, perhaps, one of the most recognizable historic landmarks in Boston. It houses a subway station and a museum. When I visited on Sunday I discovered the museum to cost a whopping $10. I felt the admission was a bit pricey, and so I headed back outside. I'm glad I did, because I got to see some history going on outside the building right before my very eyes. Located on the building are a gilded, gold lion and unicorn which are symbols of the British monarchy. The existing statues are replicas of the originals that burned in 1776. The replicas themselves, however,date from 1882 and were recently restored. I got to see the restored unicorn lifted using a crane and hoisted over the Old State House to be set back in place on top of the building.
After leaving the Old State House the Freedom Trail heads over to Faneuil Hall
and the large marketplace there. On Saturday night I attended the tree lighting ceremony here. The Hall itself houses the Great Hall
which seems to be a meeting space used for ceremonies and also house the National Park Service visitor center for Boston National Historical Park.From Faneuil Hall the Freedom Trail weaves through the streets of the North End. Interestingly I saw a Highland Brewing sticker on a post along the trail.
It was a little reminder of my current home in the southeast.
After passing a plethora of Italian restaurants the trail finally arrives at another historic site, this time the Paul Revere House.
I paid to go into the house and was pleased with my self-guided tour of the small home. I than headed back out onto the street for the walk to Old North Church.
Again I paid to see the interior of the Old North Church
which is the site from which the two lanterns were hung to warn the patriots of the advancing British. From the church
there the trail heads up Hull Street to the Copp's Hill Burying Ground.
Copp's Hill is another old cemetery, though it is not as interesting as the Granary Burying Ground. Still, I enjoyed seeing all the old headstones.
From Copp's Hill the Freedom Trail crosses the Charles River into Charlestown.
In Charlestown is the interesting Bunker Hill Monument which I visited twice. My first visit was at night which was peaceful and quiet.
My second visit was during the day
and allowed me an opportunity to go inside
and climb the nearly 300 stairs to the top. The top was a bit small and crowded, so after snapping a quick photo looking back towards downtown Boston
I headed back down and then over to the Charlestown Navy Yard.
The highlight of the Navy Yard is the USS Constitution,
or Old Ironsides, as she is affectionately known.
However, there is a lot more to the Navy Yard than the Constitution. There is the interesting Commandant's House,
the USS Cassin Young,
and all the structures associated with a shipyard
including the dry dock
and this interesting advertisement.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time "hiking" the Freedom Trail. My only regret is that I did not have enough time to fully explore its sites. I guess that just means I will have to head back to Boston at some point to explore again. Hopefully, Noelle and Sierra will be able to visit with me in the future!
