National Park Service Faneuil Hall On the night of April 18, 1775, Adams denounced the tax Boston merchant Peter Faneuil sexton Robert Newman hung laws of Parliament. The world's gave this hall to the town of two lanterns in the steeple to first gallery where the public Boston in 1742. It burned in signal that the British were could watch government in 1761 and was rebuilt 2 years leaving Boston by sea. This action was established in this later. The present building is prearranged signal was in­ building as a result of a the result of architect Charles tended to give the Charlestown motion by James Otis in the Bulfinch's enlargement of the militia warning of the British Massachusetts House in 1766, structure in 1806. march toward Lexington and Concord, even if Paul Revere The square in front of the Market stalls occupied the first should be captured. This is State House was the scene of floor, while the hall above the oldest church building still the famous Boston Massacre was used for Boston town standing in Boston. on March 5, 1770. In 1776 the meetings and the discussions Declaration of Independence that led James Otis to call it was read for the first time in the "Cradle of Liberty." Charlestown Navy Yard Boston from the eastern (Boston Naval Shipyard) balcony. The oldest military company One of the country's first naval in North America, the Ancient shipyards was established and Honorable Artillery Com­ in 1800 on "Moulton's Point" Paul Revere House pany, has its armory and in Charlestown. Here in 1833 Built about 1677 after one of museum on the third floor. one of the first two dry docks the great fires of Boston, this in the country began opera­ is the oldest frame dwelling tion. The first ship to enter left in the city. It was con­ Bunker Hill Monument the dock was the U.S. frigate structed on the original site of The Battle of Bunker Hill, Constitution, which now lies Rev. Increase Mather's house June 17, 1775, (actually fought at the Navy Yard. This frigate and was the home of Paul on and around Breed's Hill) helped drive French privateers Revere from 1770 to 1800. was the first significant battle from the American coast and Paul Revere, on the night of of the Revolutionary War. As the West Indies in the 1790s April 18, 1775, began his Boston was besieged by the and became famous for her famous ride to Lexington from Americans. British general actions in the War of 1812. this house. Thomas Gage planned to "Old Ironsides" is the oldest fortify Dorchester Heights to commissioned ship in the protect the city. On hearing United States Navy. Old South Meeting House of Gage's plan, the colonial Erected in 1729 as a Congrega­ forces decided to occupy tional meeting house, "Old Charlestown peninsula and Old State House South" served as the site for fortify Breed's Hill. Although The Province of Massachusetts Boston's town meetings when­ the British won the ensuing Bay was governed from this ever they became too large for battle, they suffered heavy building. Here colonial courts Faneuil Hall. losses. The Battle of Bunker met, James Otis argued Hill rallied the colonies and against Writs of Assistance, In this building on the night National Park Service prodded the Continental Con­ and John Hancock and Samuel after the Boston Massacre in U.S. Department of the Interior 01 gress into organizing an March 1770, Bostonians waited American army. until Gov. Thomas Hutchinson promised to remove British tr regiments from Boston. On Old North Church December 16, 1773. partici­ 5 CO The Old North Church, built pants in another town meeting O in 1723 as a place of worship dispersed to Griffin's Wharf to for non-Puritan Anglicans, was carry out the famous Boston styled after Sir Christopher Tea Party. (0 Wren's churches in 17th- century London. o o. National Historical Park, Massachusetts A Beacon for Rebellion England brought the downfall of the king and British ships, and dumped cargoes of tea into The New Park Other National Park Service the establishment of a Puritan commonwealth in the harbor. areas in Massachusetts are- Cape Cod National Seashore; England, the colonists saw the hand of God in Longfellow National Historic their salvation. The success in retaining their Early the following year Parliament passed the Site. Cambridge; John F. In 1630, on the hilly peninsula the Indians charter reinforced the belief that their holy Coercive Acts to punish Boston for destroying As Boston rushed into the Kennedy National Historic Site. 20th century, it rearranged it­ Brookline; and Saugus Iron called "Shawmut," an experiment was be­ experiment had divine sanction. private property during its "Tea Party." The self from shoreline to hilltop, Works National Historic Site. gun. Settlers from England, escaping the fear port was closed, the colony's charter powers but in the midst of change Saugus. of religious persecution, came to Boston to A half century later Boston again resisted. curtailed, town meetings were restricted, and the past was not forgotten. Many cherished historic General information on the worship in their own manner, to begin a life Again their charter was threatened. The colony British troops were authorized to be quartered scenes were preserved by park can be obtained by with new opportunities, and to "set a city upon had progressed and developed independently without consent in private homes. The colonies private groups and individuals writing: a hill"—an example to the world. A century of royal direction. But another king, determined called them "Intolerable Acts," and in response as reminders for the present. Project Manager Boston National Historical Park and a half later the experiment begun here— to control the wayward colony, annulled the a Provincial Congress met in Concord and a Today, seven of Boston's National Park Service and now much changed—reached back across Massachusetts Bay charter. The northern Continental Congress in Philadelphia. oldest and most important his­ 150 Causeway Street the sea and reshaped not only England's colonies were combined into the Dominion of toric sites have a new dimen­ Boston. MA 02114 future, but the world's. sion. In recognition of the New England under a single appointed gover­ Some leaders on both sides of the Atlantic national significance of these Cooperating Associations and nor. In 1688 England was beset by strife. The urged reconciliation, but matters went from bad areas, the President signed Organizations within the The colonists who came to Shawmut were Glorious Revolution put William and Mary on to worse. Gen. Thomas Gage, British governor into law, on October 1, 1974, Boston National Historical Park the throne of England, and Massachusetts was legislation that authorized the embarked on a business venture, but they in Boston, on April 19, 1775, ordered troops establishment of the Boston City of Boston; Metropolitan brought with them rebellion, a mission, and a chartered as a royal colony under the sovereign. to Concord to seize military supplies stored National Historical Park. District Commission; Bostonian charter. They were Englishmen: industrious, Once more resistance succeeded, and Massa­ there by the Provincial Congress. Lanterns These seven sites on Boston's Society; The Ancient and chusetts retained its separateness. Freedom Trail are the Old Honorable Artillery Company educated, and bitter. Loyal to their king and were hung in the steeple of Old North Church State House, Old North Church, of Massachusetts; Paul Revere Parliament, they had left their homeland to to warn the Charlestown militia of the British Faneuil Hall, the Old South Memorial Association; The Old Meeting House, Paul Revere's worship in their own way and crossed 3,000 For over a century Boston played an active move. Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Dr. South Association in Boston; Samuel Prescott raced to warn the countryside. House. Bunker Hill, and part Christ Church in the City of miles of ocean to pursue their convictions in role in the British Empire; it carried the produce of the Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston (Old North Church); peace. Their charter, detailing their rights and of the Empire in the colony's ships and fought including the U.S.S. Consti­ United States Navy; U.S.S. Rebellion burst into armed conflict at Lexington tution. Constitution Museum Founda­ privileges, eventually was to provide a means in England's wars against the Indians, the tion Inc.; The Freedom Trail for changing a business company into a self- Spanish, and the French. The city grew pros­ Green, Concord's North Bridge, and in a Boston National Historical Foundation Inc. governing commonwealth in which free men perous through these years, but in 1763 the running battle back to Boston. Patriots con­ Park will be based upon co­ benevolent relationship between England and verged on the besieged British Army in Boston. operative agreements which Administration had a voice in the affairs of the community. will combine the expertise and her colonies changed. The French and Indian Two months after the first shots, the Americans As the Nation's principal con­ resources available at each of servation agency, the Depart­ It was an English town they established on War ended with Canada a part of the British threw up earthworks on Breed's Hill behind the sew with ment of the Interior has Empire, but England was impoverished. While Charlestown. The British landed troops near those of the National Park responsibility for most of our Shawmut peninsula. Boston defined itself in a Service. This form of manage- Englishmen in England had to pay high taxes, the site of the present Charlestown Navy Yard nationally owned public lands maze of cobblestoned streets, cowpaths, and ,non the con­ and natural resources.