The Boston Area - The Freedom Trail

 3 August 2023 to 14 August 2023 - East Wareham MA to Concord MA 

Part 2 - The Freedom Trail

We took two days to trek the Freedom Trail in Boston. We followed the red brick stripe that starts in Boston Common and used a self-guided tour app to find our way to the Naval Shipyard. Along with half the tourists on the Eastern Seaboard, we learned about the role Boston and its citizens played in the creation of our nation.  Lots of buildings and museums to tour. It was crowded, but fun. The sidewalks were mostly uneven, upheaved brick, which added to the atmosphere, but wreaked havoc on the old bones.

Back in the day, Boston Common was used for cattle grazing, community gatherings and administering punishments.  Today, you will find several interestingly decorated cows. You can take a self-guided tour to find the 75 decorated cows and donate money for your favorite.  Punishments using pillories, stocks and gallows were conducted here in colonial times.

Massachusetts State House is directly across the street from the Boston Common.

The Granary Burying Ground contains many famous revolutionaries and historical figures.  But you will be hard pressed to find where they are actually buried. A beautification effort in the 1800s removed all the tombstones, landscaped the grounds to allow for mowing, added walkways and then put the tombstones back in somewhat orderly rows. They just didn't know how to match the tombstones to the bodies. 

We learned a lot about the art of tombstone carving in the 1700s.  They were often decorated with skulls and skeletons.

The victims killed in the Boston Massacre were buried together. They were from the poorer castes of society and their deaths would not usually have drawn attention.  But the revolutionaries made the event into a highly charged political trigger, helping to fuel the fires of unrest among the colonists.

A small square paid homage to the Irish who came to Boston to flee the potato famines.  See the building in the background? Constructed in the early 1700s, the Old Corner Bookstore was the birthplace of literary America; the owners developed the concept of royalties and created modern publishing. It was going to be demolished in the 1960s, but was saved...only to become a Chipolte.

Old South Meeting House, largest building in colonial Boston.

Old State House. James Otis delivered his powerful Writs of Assistance, sparking what would, years later, become the American Revolution.  Fifteen years later, the Declaration of Independence was first read to the citizens of Boston from the 2nd floor balcony.

Behind the status of Sam Adams is Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. These were the central marketplaces for Boston.  Built by a slave trader (slaves were sold at the dock area, not here,) the buildings and square were gathering places for anti-slavery speeches given by such abolitionists like Fredrick Douglas and Sojourner Truth. Today, the place is full of small kiosks and cafes.

The cows were everywhere!

A street performer entertained the crowds.

The building was built in 1716.  It became the restaurant in 1826.

We ran into the Haymarket farmer's market.  It was two blocks of every kind of produce you could want.

Paul Revere's house.  He had to wait nearly a year to return to it after his famous ride.  

The North Side, where Revere's house is located, is a very vibrant Italian district.  Lots of wonderful restaurants and Italian markets.

Paul Revere statue in small square on way to Old North Church.

One if by land, two if by sea.  This spire was very tall and could easily be seen from the shores of the Charles River, which is where Paul Revere waited for the signal.  The man who lit the signal had to climb out of one of the windows in the church to escape the British who were coming to extinguish the lights.

Families who were rich could buy a pew.  Others had to sit or stand in the nosebleed section. Blacks, freed and enslaved, were members, as were other people of poor means. But there was a definite caste system on where you sat and what you were allowed to do in church life.

Locks on the Charles River.  When we were returning to our car, we took the route that allowed us to actually cross the locks.

One of the art pieces in the Naval Shipyard.

This is a Gilbert Stuart painting of Commander William Bainbridge, who commanded the U.S.S. Constitution during one of its most famous battles of 1812.

Known as Old Ironsides, the Constitution is an active-duty Naval ship, serving for over 3 centuries. It is America's Ship of State and sails in Boston Bay every July 4th. It is actually a pretty big ship, especially for it's time.

I think the Pilgrims would have paid for extra space like these hammocks.