Massachusetts - Boston by Aaron, Freedom Trail, Harvard University, MIT

Boston

Beautiful Boston Harbor



~ Aaron

      Boston is a very fantastic place. American revolution erupted here. History of Boston plays a central role on American Independent journey. Paul Revere, Samuel Adams among patriots, who helped fight for American freedom from Great British, buried at sites on Freedom Trail. Freedom Trail lets people go through American history in a 2.5 miles red-brick walk. The Super Duck Tour tells people about the history of Boston and gives a view of Boston landmarks and its harbor. World famous Harvard University is the oldest university in the U.S. (founded in the 1600s). Quiz time, which city has the biggest amount of smart people in US. The answer is... Boston. Why… Look at how many  famous universities and schools are in Boston. Can you imagine… Boston has the second largest amount of students in the world beside Tokyo? Many awesome places in Boston are waiting for us to explore.





Super Duck on land



Super Duck in the water
QUACK.QUACK...

      Don't forget to take Boston Super Duck Tours. It gives a lot of interesting facts about Boston's history. A tour guide tells fun facts about Boston on the road. Boston tides change a lot: 12 feet at high tide and barely a foot at really low tide! On the Super Duck Tour, we saw the very old U.S.S. Constitution and the youngest warship yet. Do you know that the DUCK is the vehicle which U.S. army used in World War II, because of its ability to drive on both land and water? The Super Duck Tours is something very cool to do.  

Walk the Freedom Trail



follow the red-brick,
walk the Freedom Trail

      Boston is a great walking city! Follow the red-brick 2.5 mile walking trail that will lead you to 16 historic sites including Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere House, the USS Constitution, the State House and more, covering about 250 years in about 2-3 hours. The Freedom Trail Foundation continues to try to preserve this perfect introduction to Colonial Revolutionary Boston. Red bricks or a painted line connect the sites on the Trail.



The Freedom Trail, Boston

Boston Common

Boston Common

      The nearly 50 acres sized Boston Common is the oldest park in the country as well as the starting point of the Freedom Trail. The "Common" has been used for many different purposes throughout its long history. Celebrities, including Martin Luther King Jr., Pope John Paul II, have given speeches at the Common. Do you know the huge and beautiful Boston Common used to covered with water.

Massachusetts State House

Massachusetts State House

Inside the State House

President Lincoln portrait

      Built in 1798, the "new" State House (now the oldest surviving building in the area) is located across from the Boston Common on the top of Beacon Hill. The land was once owned by the famous John Hancock. Charles Bullfinch, the leading architect of that time, designed the building. Charles was the designer of US Capitols also. The dome, originally made out of wood shingles, is now sheathed in copper by Paul Revere's company and covered by 23 karat gold. At the top of the golden dome sits a wooden pinecone symbolizing logging in Boston during the 18th century. The State House is the oldest surviving building in the area.

Park Street Church

in front of
Park Street Church

      Park Street Church dates back to 1809.  Its 217 foot steeple was the first thing that travelers saw when coming into Boston. Park Street Church is located at the Brimstone Corner which may have received its name because people spoke of fire and brimstone in Hell or because sulfur was stored in the basement. This church of "firsts" is the location of the first Sunday school. On July 4, 1829, William Lloyd Garrison gave his first public anti-slavery speech and in 1831, "My Country 'Tis of Thee" was sung for the first time by the church children's choir.

Granary Burying Ground


Ben Franklin parents
buried here

      Founded in 1660, the Granary is the third oldest burying ground in Boston. In 1737, the burying ground was renamed the Granary. Along with Massachusetts Governors, three signers of the Declaration of Independence: Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Robert Treat Paine, are buried here. About 5,000 people are buried at Granary even though there are only 2,300 gravestones. Since funerals were expensive, there would be only one headstone per family. Each grave contains at least 20 bodies.

King's Chapel and Burying Ground



King Chapel

      King's Chapel was constructed on land taken from a graveyard. To ensure the presence of the Church of England in America, King James II ordered a church to be built in Boston. Since none of the colonists were interested in selling any land for the Church, the King ordered Governor Andros to get a corner of the burying ground for the Church of England. The King's Chapel Burying Ground is the oldest burying place in Boston. The burying ground is the final resting place for many colonists, including John Winthrop, a 12 term governor of the colony and Mary Chilton, the first woman to step off the Mayflower.

First Public School Site and Ben Franklin Statue

Democratic Donkey

First Public School site

      The first public school in America was established by Pilgrim settlers in 1635 in the home of Schoolmaster Philemon Pormont, and was later moved to School Street. Only boys from various backgrounds could attend the Boston Latin School until 1972 when girls were also accepted. A statue of Benjamin Franklin  overlooks the old site of the Boston Latin School which Franklin, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock once attended. Franklin was born just one block away on Milk Street, across from the Old South Meeting House! The Boston Latin School is now located in Boston's Fenway neighborhood.



Former Site of the Old Corner Bookstore

Old Corner Bookstore,
now a restaurant

      Lots of famous books were published here, including The Scarlet Letter, Walden, and the Atlantic Monthly magazine. The Bookstore was built in 1712 as an apothecary shop, office and home for Thomas Crease. Anne Hutchinson, who was exiled from Massachusetts, owned the store before it was given to Timothy Harrington which turned it into a bookstore. The Old Corner Bookstore is also one of Boston's oldest still standing structures. The bookstore survived until last year. Unfortunately it changed into a restaurant now.

Old South Meeting House

Old South Meeting House

      Within the walls of Old South Meeting House, through meetings and votes, a revolution began. Since 1729, when it was built as a meeting house, Old South Meeting House has played an important role in American history. It was on this site that slave and poet Phillis Wheatley explored the meaning of liberty. In the years leading up to the American Revolution, thousands of colonists gathered at Old South Meeting House to challenge British rule. The largest building in colonial Boston, Old South Meeting House was the stage for an overflow meeting on December 16, 1773, which adjourned to Griffin’s Wharf for the famous event that would later become known as the Boston Tea Party. Almost a century later, Old South Meeting House was nearly knocked down in 1876, Bostonians fought to save the building from the wrecker’s ball, which was the first successful historic preservation effort in New England. Today Old South Meeting House is open as a museum and a haven for free speech in the heart of downtown Boston.

Old State House

Old State House

Old State House from far

      The Old State House dates back to 1713. This Georgian style structure was occupied by the British  soldiers during the Revolution and was a continuous reminder to the settlers of belonging to Great Britain. On July 18, 1776, citizens gathered in the street to hear the Declaration of Independence read from the building's balcony. The governor used to be found there until Thomas Gage left in 1775, but the seat of Massachusetts government still stayed at the building until the new State House was built on Beacon Hill in 1798. Today, the building is run as a Boston history museum.

Boston Massacre Site



Boston Massacre Site

      In front of the Old State House, a circle of cobblestones shows the site of the Boston Massacre. At this site, a battle happened between the British and the colonists on March 5, 1770. A minor disagreement between a young apprentice and a British sentry turned into a fight. The relief soldiers that came to the aid of the British were met by an angry crowd of colonists who threw snowballs, rocks, clubs, and said lots of insults. The soldiers fired at the crowd and killed five people. Patriots called the event a massacre. This is American Revolution's starting point.

Faneuil Hall





Faneuil Hall

      Faneuil Hall has served as a marketplace and a meeting hall since the 1742. Funding was provided by a wealthy merchant, Peter Faneuil, for the construction and local artisan to create the grasshopper weather vane that still survived to now. Inspirational speeches by Samuel Adams and other patriots were given at Faneuil Hall. Faneuil Hall was expanded in 1806 by Charles Bullfinch. When Boston became a city, the use of Faneuil Hall as a government meeting place came to an end but was still regularly used. Today, the first floor is still used as a lively marketplace and the second floor is a meeting hall. The fourth floor is being maintained by the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. On July 4, the Declaration of Independence was read from the balcony of Faneuil Hall to remember its first reading on July 18, 1776.

Paul Revere House

Paul Revere House

Paul Revere Statue

      Built around 1680, this house is the oldest building in downtown Boston. It served as the home of silversmith Paul Revere and his family from 1770 to 1800. Paul Revere is famous for his midnight ride to Lexington, Massachusetts informing Samuel Adams and John Hancock that the British soldiers were planning to arrest them. In the 1800s, hundreds of Irish, Italian, and Jewish immigrants of the North End lived in the Paul Revere House. A century later, the house was converted to a museum.



Old North Church



Old North Church

      Known as "Christ Church in the City of Boston", this church was built in 1723 and is Boston's oldest Church building. On the steeple of this church, Robert Newman signaled with lanterns the approach of the British soldiers; "One if by land and two if by sea". The steeple is 191 feet tall, making it one of the tallest steeple in Boston. The bells within the steeple were the first bells ever brought to America. Paul Revere was one of the neighborhood bell ringers. Many things in the church are all original.

Copp's Hill Burying Ground

      Copp's Hill Burying Ground is one of Boston's oldest burying grounds. The area was named after shoemaker William Copp who used to own the land. Thousands of people are buried on the Hill. In addition, thousands of African Americans who lived in the "New Guinea" community at the base of Copp's Hill are buried in unmarked graves on the Snowhill Street side.

USS Constitution and Charlestown Navy Yard

USS Constitution Museum



USS Constitution, the "Old Ironsides"



      USS Constitution is the oldest warship afloat in the world. It was first launched in 1797. Constitution is one of six ships ordered for construction by George Washington to protect America's shore. The ship's greatest glory came during the war of 1812 when she defeated four British frigates which earned her the nickname "Old Ironsides", because cannon balls glanced off her thick hull. The ship was restored in 1927 with contributions from the nation's school children. The Charlestown Navy Yard was one of the first shipyards built in the United States. During its 174 year history, hundreds of ships were built, repaired and modernized, including the World War II destroyer USS Cassin Young.



World War II destroyer USS Cassin Young

World War II destroyer
USS Cassin Young



Bunker Hill Monument

Bunker Hill Monument

      The 221-feet high Bunker Hill Monument stands at Breed's Hill, the site of the first major battle of the American Revolution fought on June 17, 1775. If the British got the high ground, they could easily control Boston. When colonial forces chose to fortify Charlestown they bypassed Bunker Hill and decided to fight on Breed's Hill which was lower and closer to the water. "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" is the legendary order said to be told by Colonel William Prescott to make sure that each shot would count. Even the poorly trained and unprepared colonial forces repelled two huge assaults by the British Army before retreating, killing or wounding almost half of the British soldiers.

          

Boston Public Library




reading at MHS

Boston Public Library

      The Massachusetts Historical Society is an independent research library and manuscript repository. They have millions of rare and unique documents and artifacts vital to the study of American history, many of them irreplaceable national documents. It was under remodel, but still open to the public. My brother and I enjoyed reading our favorite books here.

Boston Public Garden

Public Garden
swan boat on a pond



enjoy ride on
a swan boat

      The Public Garden was established in 1837 when Horace Gray petitioned for the use of land as the first public botanical garden in the U.S. Gray helped arrange political resistance to a number of Boston City Council attempts to sell the land in question, finally settling the issue of devoting it to the Public Garden in 1856. The Act establishing use of the land was submitted to the voters on April 26, 1856 where it passed with only 99 votes. The garden was so pretty and peaceful. We walked along the pond, enjoyed a swan boat ride, watched ducks and swans relaxing in the pond. We had a wonderful afternoon time in the garden.

Harvard University

John Harvard Statue
Do you know why his shoe is shiny?
People believe a touch would bring them good luck for their academic.

Harvard library

reading Alice adventures
in wonderland at Harvard

      The 379 year old Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts established in 1636. Its history and wealth have made it in the top 10 universities in the whole world! Harvard is also the United States' oldest institution of higher learning. Many Presidents of the United States have graduated from Harvard including Barack Obama, John Adams, John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Haynes, George W. Bush, and Theodore Roosevelt. I was amazed by the almost 400 years old red brick buildings. Tell you what, we even had our quiet reading time at its library. Guess what book we read...yes, Alice Adventures in Wonder Land. Harvard is celebrating its 150 birthday this year!

MIT

MIT

      The MIT University is very young: only about 154 years old. Thee current university was built n 1916. Buzz Aldrin, one of the first people on the Moon, was a graduate of MIT. Along with Neil Armstrong, they were the crew members of Apollo 11, the first mission to successfully land on the Moon. The designer of the United States Supreme Court building architect was Cass Gilbert, a graduate of MIT.

Lobsters Meal

enjoying yummy double lobster meal in Boston

      Do not forget Boston lobster meal! It is the yummiest food ever. It was so fresh and local. August is the right month to enjoy it. There are lots of lobster eggs come with the meal. Our whole family is sea food fun.

      The cool Boston is where Ben Franklin was born. The Freedom Trail shows the places where America won its freedom. The USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) was a very powerful warship. Harvard is one of the top 10 universities in the world! I love Boston!