The Freedom Trail

For those who prefer guided tours, the National Park Service, conducts a tour every half hour from the park visitor center at 15 State Street opposite the Old State House. And those who would rather not walk eh unofficial guided tours or the trolley tours are available though this gives a miss to some sites along the Trail.

To find out more about guided tours contact the Greater Boston Visitors and Convention Bureau (http://www.bostonusa.com/)

The Freedom Trail Foundation (http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/) works to keep this tour alive as an introduction to Colonial Revolutionary Boston.

Former site of the Old Corner Bookstore

Location:  Corner of School and Washington Streets.

This is one of the oldest surviving structures in Boston. The Bookstore was built in 1712 as an apothecary, office and home of Thomas Crease. Many famous books were published here, including The Scarlet Letter, Walden, and the Atlantic Monthly magazine. The Boston Globe Store is the current occupant. 

The Store is open Monday to Friday from 9:00am to 6:30pm; Saturdays from 9:00am to 6:00pm and Sundays from 11:00am to 6:00pm.

Old South Meeting House

Location: 310 Washington Street, Corner of Milk and Washington Street.

This one time Puritan house of worship was built in 1729, In colonial days this was the largest building in Boston. The Famous Boston Tea Party began at the Old South Meeting House. That was in winter 1773, when over 5,000 colonists gathered here to protest the tax on tea. At this meeting Samuel Adams made the fateful statement, “This meeting can do nothing more to save the country!”, which resulted in protestors storming the waterfront dumping three shiploads of tea into the Boston harbor. The rest is history. The Old South Meeting House is now a museum that recreates the tea party debates.

The Old South Meeting House is open daily 9:30am - 5:00pm from April through October and 10:00am - 4:00pm weekdays; 10:00am - 5:00pm, weekends from November through March. There is a nominal admission fee.

Old State House

Location: Corner of State and Washington Streets.

Old State House or Boston’s “Towne House”, was built in 1713. This was the political center in colonial Boston. The first public reading in Massachusetts of the Declaration of Independence was done from the Gallery of this Building. Till the New State House was built in 1798, the Royal Governor presided here. Today, the building houses the Boston history museum run by the Bostonian Society.
It is open daily 9:30am to 5:00pm. A nominal admission fee is applicable.

Boston Massacre Site

Location: Devonshire and State Street intersection.

On March 5, 1770, a minor dispute between a wigmaker’s apprentice and a British sentry became the straw that broke the camel’s back. The tensions between the British and colonists turned into a riot which cause British troops to open fire. The British firing killed five colonists. Samuel Adams and other patriots called the event a “massacre”. A circle of cobblestones in front of the Old State House commemorates the Boston Massacre.

Faneuil Hall

A wealthy merchant Peter Faneuil funded the construction of this building including the grasshopper weathervane that still perches on the building's cupola, in 1742. Faneuil Hall has served as a marketplace and a meeting hall since that time.The hall was used extensively by the patriots in their campaign against the British. Charles Bulfinch expanded Faneuil Hall in 1806.

Today, the first floor is still an active marketplace, the second floor is a meeting hall for many Boston City debates, and the fourth floor is maintained by the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company.

The Second floor meeting hall and market level information desk open daily 9:00am - 5:00pm. National Park Service rangers present historical talks every thirty minutes from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm, except when Hall is otherwise occupied. Admission is Free.