Old State House, snow © Steve Dunwell
A snowy evening, March 5, 1770. Here on King Street, now called State Street. Rowdy Patriot mob + squad of British soldiers. Short skirmish and surprising gunfire leaves 5 dead.
Constitution, with sails, Boston
Feb 20, 1815 – decisive battle between USS Constitution and two British ships: Cyane and Levant. Victory for Constitution, her last major battle during the War of 1812.
Old South Meeting House on the Freedom Trail
The congregation of Old South Church (Copley Square) returns to its historic beginning at Old South Meeting House for a Thanksgiving service with Brass and Bell-Ringers. Boston history alive.
Fugitive Slave Act, 1850
Fugitive Slave Law, Sept 19, 1850. Protests galvanize Boston abolitionists. 54th Regiment marches to Civil War duty a dozen years later.
Centennial of the National Park Service. Many of the sites on Freedom Trail are part of the Boston Historic Park, supervised by NPS. Bunker Hill is one of the treasures.
Old North © Steve Dunwell
Christ Church in Boston, known as Old North, is getting an interior makeover. Preservationists are discovering the original colors, and finding painted cherubs around the ceiling.
Washington at Dorchester Heights
Evacuation Day and St. Patrick’s Day align in Boston, marking the departure of the British March 17, 1776. This ended the “Siege of Boston”. George Washington seized Dorchester Heights, fortified it with cannons, and surprised the British 2 weeks earlier. Painting by Gilbert Stuart.
the “Bloody Massacre” as depicted by Paul Revere. British troops fired on a crowd of citizens, wounding 8 and killing 5. March 5, 1770. Re-enactment 3/5/2016.
Park Street church, view from the Public Garden. The Park Street Congregational Church replaced the Town granary on the Common’s eastern corner in 1809. Peter Banner designed this brick Georgian structure with a 217-foot steeple, inspired by the latest London architecture. The Soldiers & Sailors monument is just to the left of the steeple in this winter scene.
Old South Meeting House © Steve Dunwwell
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.