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Historic Boston Historic Boston This tour encompasses elements of the Freedom Trail, Black Heritage Trail, and Women’s History of Boston tour into one walking tour. The tour will take approx. 1 hour and 45 minutes without stopping to investigate inside some points of interest. Please allow approx. 3 hours if you would like to walk inside some of the stops along the tour. Cost: $4.00 for round trip on the T Starting T Stop: Charles/MGH (red line) End T Stop: North Station (green line) DIRECTIONS FOR STARTING T STATION: Board the red line inbound train at the Kendall Square T Station, towards Park Street. Take the red line 1 stops to Charles/MGH. Exit the train station on the right side with the Charles Rive to your back. Charles Street is located perpendicular to the T station. Walk down Charles Street, away from the T station to find stop 1. (Map is at the end) 1. CHARLES ST. MEETING HOUSE This former meeting house and church was built in 1804 and became an important landmark in the Boston abolitionist movement. In the mid-1830s the segregationist tradition of New England church seating was challenged by one of the church's abolitionist members, Timothy Gilbert, who invited black friends to his pew one Sunday to test the rule. Although he was expelled for he action, Gilbert went on to found the first integrated church in America. Later influential abolitionists, such as William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Tubman and Fredrick Douglas, all spoke from the house’s pulpit. The African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E.) remained here until 1939 and was the last black institution to leave Beacon Hill. 2. LOUISBERG SQUARE Louisburg Square, still known by its denizens "Lewisberg," was planned in 1826 as a garden square in the English manner. In 1844, the proprietors of Louisburg Square met to ensure preservation of the Square through developing what has come to be the prototype of civic organizations. 3. HOME OF JUSTICE HORACE GRAY #79 Mt. Vernon St. - Justice Horace Gray lived here while serving on the Massachusetts Supreme Court. He was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1832. He’s thought to be the first judge to employ law clerks, including Justice Louis D. Brandeis. 4. HOME OF DANIEL WEBSTER # 57 Mt. Vernon St. - Former home of the great orator Daniel Webster. Webster, a lawyer and statesman, known for his impassioned oratory, is one of the most pervasive figures in Massachusetts legal history. Webster is immortalized in the Stephen Vincent Benet story, "The Devil and Daniel Webster." 5. HOME OF LEMUEL SHAW #49 Mt. Vernon St. - Shaw was one of Massachusetts' most influential judges and author of the Charter of the City of Boston. As Chief Justice, he wrote the unanimous opinion of the court in Commonwealth v. Aves , stating that "slavery was contrary to natural right," and that a slave brought into Massachusetts could not be forcibly detained or removed." 6. PORTIA SCHOOL OF LAW # 45-47 Mt. Vernon St. - Began in 1908 and named after the Shakespearean character Portia, who disguises herself as a lawyer, Portia School of Law was the first school to provide legal education exclusively to women. In 1920 the first L.L.B. degrees were awarded to 39 women. In 1923, Blanche Woodson Braxton, a 1921 graduate, became the first African American woman to be admitted to the Massachusetts Bar. She later became the first African American woman in Massachusetts admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court. 7. HOME OF JULIA WARD HOWE #32 Mt. Vernon St. - Julia Ward Howe, author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", was an outspoken feminist, abolitionist, and suffragist. In 1872, Howe initiated the first Mother's Day, characterizing it as a Day for Peace. Howe was a part of the Radical Club, a club for women and men who were "daring thinkers," which met at this site from 1867-1880 8. AFRICAN MEETING HOUSE Referred to as the Black Faneuil Hall, the African Meeting House was built in 1806 in the heart of Boston's 19th century black community and is the oldest black church edifice in the US. The Meeting House was the host to giants in the Abolitionist Movement who were responsible for many monumental historical events. The building was sold in the late 1800’s when the black community began to migrate to Boston’s South End and it served as a synagogue until the Museum of African American History acquired it in 1972. 9. MASSACHUSETTS STATE HOUSE The State House, designed by Charles Bulfinch, was built on the property of John Hancock’s house. The cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1796 by Gov. Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. Hancock's home’s foundation can still be found in the basement. The signature dome was gilded with gold leaf in 1874, but it spent WWII painted grey to prevent enemy ships from using the dome to aim their guns. The grounds boast a number of statues directly across from the state house is a monument commemorating Bostonian Robert Gould Shaw and his 54th Massachusetts infantry -- the first unit of black soldiers recruited for the Civil War. The Oscar-winning film Glory is based on Shaw and his soldiers. 10. BOSTON COMMON The Common is the oldest public park in the history of the US. Boston settlers engineered the purchase of the land in 1634 with the intent of designating it as a common pasture. It was used for military training, public hangings, and witchcraft trails for centuries. The gallows were removed in 1817 and grazing cattle was forbidden in 1830. Today it is a public park bordered by Beacon Hill, the Public Garden and downtown. 11. PARK STREET CHURCH Park Street Church was erected in 1809. William Lloyd Garrison gave his first antislavery address here in 1829 and "America" (My Country 'Tis of Thee), by Samuel Francis Smith, was first sung here 1831. 12. OLD GRANARY BURYING GROUND Set aside in 1660, the Burying Ground displays some of Boston’s oldest headstones. Buried here are three signers of the Declaration of Independence, Ben Franklin's Bostonian parents, Samuel Adams and Elizabeth Foster Vergoose, believed to be the real "Mother Goose." 13. OMNI PARKER HOUSE The Parker House has long been a favorite of notable literary, legal and presidential figures including: Emerson, Longfellow, Holmes, and Hawthorne. Charles Dickens first read “A Christmas Carol” here. JFK proposed to Jackie here. The restaurant invented the Boston Crème Pie and the Parker House roll. The hotel’s notoriety also lies with former staff. Malcolm X and Ho Chi Minh both worked here. 14. KING’S CHAPEL King's Chapel was founded in 1686 as the First Church of England in Boston and after the Revolutionary War became the first Unitarian Church in the nation. For year’s it was simply called Stone Chapel. A plaque affixed to the gate of King's Chapel burying ground, located on the far side of the chapel, lists judges who lie buried there. 15. OLD CITY HALL Built in 1862, the building was saved and converted to commercial use as an example of Boston's dedication to preserving its landmarks. The skyscraper behind is the New Court House. The courtyard features two statues, Benjamin Franklin and Josiah Quincy. The hopscotch form in the School Street sidewalk nearby recognizes this as the site of the America’s first public school. 16. IRISH FAMINE MEMORIAL The Irish Famine Memorial commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Irish potato famine. It honors the arrival of Irish immigrants to Boston and their contributions to the city. 17. OLD CORNER BOOKSTORE The Bookstore building was built in 1718 as an apothecary and residence. By the mid-19th century, the building held the publishing house of Ticknor & Fields, effectively making it the literary center of America. Noted authors Longfellow, Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, Beecher Stowe, Dickens, Thackeray , and Holmes often gathered here to chat. It was once said that, "with a little exaggeration all Boston may be said to pass through The Old Corner Bookstore in a day." 18. OLD STATE HOUSE Built in 1713, the Old State House is the oldest public building in Boston. James Otis argued against the Writs of Assistance here in 1761, laying the ground for the American Revolution. On July 18, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed from the east side balcony. The building was the seat of the Massachusetts government until 1798 and Boston’s city hall from 1830-1841. Today the building is a historical museum tracing Massachusetts' growth since its conception as an early British settlement. 19. SITE OF THE BOSTON MASSACRE A bed of cobblestones on State Street marks the site of the Boston Massacre. On March 5, 1770 five colonists were killed, including Crispus Attucks the first African-American to be killed in the Revolution, on this site. The five were buried as heroes in the Granary Burying Ground, despite laws against burying blacks with whites. 20. FANEUIL HALL AND QUINCY MARKET Faneuil Hall was built in 1742 and rebuilt by Bulfinch in 1802, and has always been part market and part meeting hall. The 2 nd floor contains the meeting hall. Paintings on the 2 nd floor chronicles the country’s founding. The 170-year-old Quincy Market, located directly behind Faneuil Hall, served as Boston's wholesale food distribution center until the 1960s. Today the food stalls inside this stately granite building offer culinary delights to thousands of visitors a day. Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market are the historic location of Boston's great women's fairs and protest meetings.
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