Paul Revere midnight ride

Revere statue by Cyrus Dallin

April 18th, 1775, Paul Revere arranged for the lantern signal, then was rowed across the Charles River to begin his midnight ride to Lexington to raise the alarm about the arrival there of British regular soldiers.

Park Street Church winter Freedom Trail photo

Winter, snow, Public Garden, Park St. Church, BFTPark 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.

Boston Massacre + Old State House photo

Old State House, snow © Steve Dunwell

Old State House, snow © Steve Dunwell

The Boston Massacre occurred on a snowy evening, March 5, 1770, in front of the Old State House. Troops occupying Boston to enforce the new British taxes fired into a mob of about sixty rowdy Bostonians, wounding eight and killing five. Crispus Attucks, an African-american, was among the first to die.

Old Ironsides Freedom Trail photo

USS Constitution guns, snow, Charlestown, MA © Steve Dunwell

Deck cannons of “USS Constitution”, with snow. “Old Ironsides” carried several types of cannons. The 24-pound long guns had a range of 1200 yards.

Bunker Hill monument aerial photo

Aerial photograph looking over the Bunker Hill Monument, Charlestown, towards Boston, MA. The USS Constitution is at left. The famous battle took place June 17, 1775, on Breed’s Hill, on the right side of this photo.

Copps Hill Burying Ground photo

Copps Hill tombstoneTombstone of William Hough, 1714. Copp’s Hill, the Town’s second burying ground, was established in 1659 on a hill named for shoemaker William Copp. The site soon rivaled the Common as a public venue, hosting such spectacles as the 1704 execution of seven pirates. Cannons mounted near here shelled Charlestown during the Battle of Bunker Hill, 1775.

Old State House Boston reading the Declaration

Old State House, Boston, MA Freedom Trail site of Boston MassacreOn July 18, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read aloud to the public for the first time in Boston, from the Old State House, at 1PM. Colonel Thomas Crafts was the reader.

USS Constitution turn-around July 4th photo

USS Constitution turn-around on July 4th. Tugboats pull the ship out every year on Independence Day and turn her around to equalize weathering. Boston Towboat donates their tugboat time and charges $1 for service.

Mass. State House painting, Freedom Trail

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.

Copps Hill burying ground photo

Copps Hill tombstoneTombstone of William Hough, 1714. Copp’s Hill, the Town’s second burying ground, was established in 1659 on a hill named for shoemaker William Copp. The site soon rivaled the Common as a public venue, hosting such spectacles as the 1704 execution of seven pirates.