242 years ago this week. December 16, 1773 – A great crowd gathered at the Old South Meeting House to hear speeches protesting new taxes on imports, including tea. Shouting “Boston harbor a tea party tonight,” they went down to the nearby docks. Thinly disguised as “Mohawks”, fifty men boarded three East India ships – Dartmouth, Beaver and Eleanor. Breaking open 342 chests of imported tea, they dumped the lot into the harbor. The “Intolerable Acts” soon followed as punishment.
Tag Archives: Cradle of Liberty
Boston Common aerial photo Freedom Trail
Boston Common, autumn, looking East. The Freedom Trail starts at the Visitors Center, near the corner of Park St. and Tremont St., (top left in this view)
USS Constitution stamp
USS Constitution stamp
Old Ironsides is now in drydock for repairs, so no “turnaround” this weekend July 4th. This Commemorative stamp is from 2012, on the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812.
USS Constitution to drydock photo
USS Constitution prepares to enter the drydock, at 12:30AM May 20. The booms are off, the cannons are off, much of the rigging has been removed, and the ship floats much higher than usual.
Paul Revere statue Boston photograph
Revere statue by Cyrus Dallin
Celebrating Paul Revere’s midnight ride on April 18th, 1775, this statue stands near Old North Church in Boston’s North End. The famous ride began with “two if by sea” and ended near Lexington, early on the 19th. Patriot’s Day, and the Boston Marathon, take place on the monday following.
Boston Tea Party starts at today Old South Meeting House – photo
Old South Meeting House © Steve Dunwwell
241 years ago. December 16, 1773 – A great crowd gathered at the Old South Meeting House to hear speeches protesting new taxes on imports, including tea. Shouting “Boston harbor a tea party tonight,” they went down to the nearby docks. Thinly disguised as “Mohawks”, fifty men boarded three East India ships – Dartmouth, Beaver and Eleanor. Breaking open 342 chests of imported tea, they dumped the lot into the harbor. The “Intolerable Acts” soon followed as punishment.
Old State House photo Freedom Trail
Boston’s oldest public building, erected in 1713 overlooking Long Wharf, replaced an old wooden Town House dating from 1658. After the Great fire of 1711, the town financed a brick building with a room for the Elder’s meeting, a library, an arsenal, and an arcaded farmers’ market “for the country people that come with theire provisions…to sitt dry and warme both in colde raine and durty weather.” It became the hub of the colony’s trade.
Preserved and operated by The Bostonian Society.
new State House by Bulfinch – painting
State House, Boston, MA
Designed by Charles Bulfinch. Cornerstone laid on July 4, 1795, with Paul Revere and Gov. Sam Adams presiding. This view is from a banjo clock, ca. 1870. Painted on glass, it shows the view from the Boston Common. The original dome was copper, from Revere’s workshop.
Battle of Bunker Hill, Charlestown, MA
Battle of Bunker Hill
June 16, 1775. The Battle of Bunker Hill. British troops attacked the fortified hill top, with disastrous results. The colonial militia was finally pushed back, but the British suffered 800 injured and 226 killed. This painting, by John Trumbull, is in the Yale Art Museum.
Shaw memorial+54th Regiment sculpture photo
on Memorial day, consider the 54th Regiment of African-American soldiers, led by Col. Robert G. Shaw. They went south on May 28, 1863, to fight in South Carolina. Their first attack, at Fort Wagner, was a disaster. Monumental bas-relief by Augustus St. Gaudens, on Beacon St.