Freedom Trail Marker (Photo by Matthew Deming)

During my senior year of high school, I traveled with my parents to Boston to audition for Boston University’s classical music program. It was my first time visiting the city and I was immediately impressed with its beautiful green spaces and many well-preserved historic neighborhoods.

Having grown up in smaller towns in the Midwest, I had not seen anything like Boston’s old brownstone townhouses, 300-year-old quaint brick churches and state buildings, or private homes from the 1600s, such as the house of the industrialist Paul Revere, whose midnight ride in 1775 alerted minutemen of advancing British troops ahead of the battles of Lexington and Concord.

In retrospect, part of my decision to accept a spot at Boston University largely had to do with the appeal of the city itself. It is where the American Revolution really took shape, and so many of our country’s Founding Fathers lived and fought for their freedom in Boston. Today, you can wander the Freedom Trail on your own or book a tour, and depending on how far you are willing to walk, you can see the locations of some of the most important sites surrounding the birth of our great nation.

Boston is a very rich place to visit especially considering that it is quite a walkable city compared to many of the larger cities in the US. The Freedom Trail winds through several neighborhoods, but you can pick up the trail from any point along the way. Just follow the red brick pathway that marks the trail itself. I’d recommend that you begin in the park, Boston Common, particularly if you are in Boston for the very first time. The garden is thoughtfully laid out and if you manage to get there during springtime, you can see the park bursting with tulips, daffodils, and more. Since there are too many individual sites to mention here, I will highlight the stops that I have enjoyed the most.

The Massachusetts State House is one of the oldest state capitols still in use today and is a fine example of federal architecture. The Park Street Church stands on the corner of the Boston Common. Built in 1809, it was the tallest building in the US—with a steeple rising 217 feet—until 1828. Adjacent to the church is the Granary Burying Ground where the aforementioned Revere, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and victims of the Boston Massacre were laid to rest. There is an obelisk dedicated to the family of Benjamin Franklin, but he himself is not buried there, rather in Philadelphia.

Paul Revere’s House (Photo by Matthew Deming)

Continuing along the path, you reach the Old South Meeting House, built in 1729. Prior to the Boston Tea Party, several thousand colonists gathered at the meeting house to protest the tax on tea, but after the negotiations failed, a group of people went to the port and dumped the equivalent of 1.5 million dollars of tea into the harbor. Faneuil Hall was a center for commerce in the 1700s and was a meeting place and market for nearly 300 years. Today it has been built up as a shopping and dining area and includes a museum dedicated to its history.

When I was in college, Boston’s infamous “Big Dig” project was underway, burying the major highway that once split the historic area of the city in two all underground. It took many years but now these areas are connected with a lovely green parkway and are accessible to other parks within the city.

Two final spots on the trail that you cannot miss are of course Revere’s house and the Bunker Hill Monument. Revere lived in the house until 1800 and over the years the site served as a boarding house, shops, and apartments. By 1905 it was clearly in need of preservation and finally enough money was raised to purchase and restore it. By 1908 it had become a popular tourist attraction. It is worth the time to tour the home. It’s cozy by today’s standards and watch your heads if you are tall!

The last stretch of the tour ends with the Bunker Hill Monument, which memorialized the bloody fight between the British and the soldiers of New England. The Marquis De Lafayette set the cornerstone of this significant monument to the fight for America’s independence.

https://www.thefreedomtrail.org/