Touring Boston’s Freedom Trail
May 8th, 2009
While today’s Boston is a modern urban metropolis, some of its best attractions have existed as such for several centuries. The Freedom Trail, featuring the Revolutionary War’s icons and battle sites, is a must-see for any history buff.
The State House
Perhaps the city’s most recognizable edifice, the State House’s iconic gold dome was originally a wood and copper construction, plated by Paul Revere. It’s the actual home base of Massachusetts’ state government, but it’s also an architectural and artistic curiosity. Visit the war murals and the House of Representatives chambers for the diplomatic experience. And, for a bit of folkloric Massachusetts kitsch, pay a visit to the Sacred Cod, an immense hanging monument to the state’s fishing industry that was famously stolen by Harvard practical jokers in 1933.
Old South Meeting House
Boston’s erstwhile largest building is now dwarfed by skyscrapers, but its Revolutionary significance makes it one of the city’s most oft-visited landmarks. In its heyday, it was both a Puritan house of worship and a patriot congregation, most famously playing host to the planning of the Boston Tea Party. It now functions as a museum, housing a permanent “Voices of Protest” exhibition that charts the building’s various contributions to the American narrative.
Faneuil Hall
“The Cradle of Liberty,” an infamous meeting place and English-style market, is one of the most popular stops on the Freedom Trail. It now functions as a hybrid of a market and a mall, one in a series of shopping destinations alongside Quincy Market and the North and South Markets. Besides its distinctive façade and pilasters, its most recognizable feature is its grasshopper weather vane. According to popular lore, revolutionaries used the vane as a symbol to indicate loyalties; if a soldier couldn’t identify what was atop Faneuil Hall, he was deemed an enemy spy.
Paul Revere House
The only private dwelling on the Freedom Trail is also its oldest site, existing in downtown Boston since 1680. The house was already something of a relic when patriot Paul Revere moved into it in 1770. A charming contrast to its surrounding apartment towers, the house has operated as a parsonage, a candy store, a cigar factory, and currently as a museum. Among the house’s holdings are accounts and depictions of Revere’s famous Midnight Ride, one of the folkloric gems of the Revolutionary War era.
The Old North Church
A logical next step following the Revere house, the Old North Church is one of the key monuments of Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride. It’s the site of the famed “one if by land, two if by sea” signal system, the origin of the Revolutionary message relay. Now Boston’s oldest active church and a National Historic Landmark, the church hosts a gallery of its Colonial-era mementos that includes the original Revere lantern. Also, it regularly produces beautiful music for the whole North End to enjoy thanks to its eight change ringing bells, utilized by MIT’s Guild of Bell Ringers.
Bunker Hill Monument
This granite obelisk is a victim of misnaming, residing atop Breed’s Hill rather than Bunker. Likewise, its namesake epic battle, the first major skirmish of the Revolutionary era, also took place on Breed’s Hill. The obelisk is one of Boston’s most recognizable icons, poised atop roughly three hundred steps and memorializing, in particular, a local doctor and freemason who died in the battle. The site also houses a statue of Colonel William Prescott, one of Boston’s most famous Revolutionary heroes.
Find guaranteed lowest rates and maximum availability on hotels at Hotels Cheap.
Categories: Travel Info
