Freedom Trail in Boston, MA: 250 Years of American History in 16 Stops

Freedom Trail is a fantastic urban

trail

in downtown Boston that is 2.5 miles long. The

trail

covers 16 historic sites ranging from buildings and churches to cemeteries. The trail is easy to follow with a brick line connecting all 16 locations and is a great way to get through. half a day in the city my dad and I set out to do it on a recent trip to the east coast and here is everything you can see on the Freedom Trail let me know what you think in the comments the best way to start the trail is To take public transportation to Boston Common, we will go directly to the airport after completing the trail, so we parked in the parking lot next to the USS Constitution.

From there we grabbed an Uber and took it back to the trailhead at Boston Common. At the start of the trail you will find a visitor center with guides who can answer your questions and a store where you can buy an official map. There are also guided tours that you can take from here at certain times of the day that also officially start. the Freedom Trail appears to be off the trail. Hello, there you go, the tour starts at Boston Common, which is the oldest park in the United States. From here you can explore the grounds that were once a common sheep grazing area or you can simply walk along the brick line to the next one.

Stop for this trail is about two and a half miles round trip and luckily it's very easy to follow as you just follow these red bricks the entire time. They'll pick up a map for three dollars so you can see more information about the sites during During the summer, the Common is a great place to hang out in Boston with Shakespeare in the Park concerts and all kinds of other things. There is a lot of

history

here, from hangings and duels to speeches by Martin Luther King Jr. that happen on the grounds after about a five-minute walk you will reach the second stop, which is the Massachusetts State House.

The State House here was built in 1798 and the land it stands on was originally owned by John Hancock. Unfortunately the State House is closed today but sometimes you can go in, the first mile of this hike is where most things are so if you're short on time you can always do the first half and then head back out of the house state. It's another five minute walk, basically back to where you started the Freedom Trail to get to the Park Street Church. I was told that almost everything would be open on Mondays, but unfortunately that was not the case for some of the churches along the way, we were only able to see this one and another from the outside, hopefully it will be open for you to go in if you go.

The church here was built in 1809 and its memorable steeple is supposedly one of the first things travelers saw when they arrived in Boston, right next to the church is our Third stop on the Freedom Trail The Granary Cemeteries There are many different cemeteries to along this trail, but this is the one with the most well-known people, which is why it is also the most visited in Boston. It became a cemetery in 1660 and here. You'll find everyone from Paul Revere and James Otis to Benjamin Franklin's parents and all the people who were killed in the Boston Massacre said love John Hancock, why do you love John Hancock?

He is the one who wrote his name big so the king will make sure to see it, it is quite easy to find the main tombs like John Hancock and Paul Revere as there are often groups of tourists gathered around them. People often think that the large obelisk in the middle of the cemetery is for Ben Franklin, but it is actually for his parents. Also in Outer Edge is the headstone of Samuel Adams, this is incredibly popular with visitors due to its historical importance and Due to the brewery in Boston of the same name, just across the street from the Bean Town Pub, is the Puffs Graveyard found. an old friend to hang out with I know you're in your golden

years

, but you're probably pretty sure you know that Sam Adams appears on the other side of the screen and continues from the graveyard.

The next stop was another five minute walk here. find the King's Chapel and the King's Chapel cemeteries such as Park Street Church. The King's Chapel was also closed the day we were there, but we were able to walk through the King's Chapel cemetery. This cemetery was actually the first cemetery in Boston. It doesn't have many notable political figures, but it supposedly has the grave of the first woman off the Mayflower. The Freedom Trail simply takes a short detour to go to that cemetery and then continues along the front of church one. One of the things I love about the Freedom Trail is the number of people you'll find enjoying it on any given day.

It's amazing, the

history

has been preserved very well and it's very easy to interact with. The next place you will reach is the Site of the first public school that was built here in 1635. The school still operates today, just not at this location. Here you will also find a statue of Benjamin Franklin that was placed here in front of the Old City Hall in 1865. You don't want to do a self-guided version like we are doing. You can take tours. We have already seen six or seven tours. That will guide you and tell you the history of the places where we are.

Next stop is the old Corner Bookstore, which is now Chipotle. I mean, I love Chipotle, it's one of my favorite places, but it's a shame it's no longer the old Corner Bookstore from the mid-1800s. This building was the home of publishers Ticknor and Fields who published many famous books such as The Scarlet Letter and Uncle Tom's Cabin. Across the street from Chipotle you can see the Irish Famine Memorial, not part of the Freedom Trail but worth a visit, right in front of the monument, our next stop is Old South Meeting House, this one requires you to purchase a ticket to enter, which was fifteen dollars when we went, but also includes the old state house which is a few

stops

away.

This site was built as a church in 1729 and was supposedly the largest building in Boston in its time over the

years

it was used as a church attended by many leaders such as Samuel Adams and was also used as a meeting place for many of the different conversations that were had about the American Revolution. All of this is highlighted in the exhibits you can see as you walk through the museum leaving the Old South Meeting House. The path continues through a more modern part of downtown Boston on its way to the Old State House. The ticket we purchased earlier works for Old State House.

The museum too, the Old State House, was built in 1713 and is another museum you can visit on the Freedom Trail. Here is the Freedom Trail we are walking through town on the old map. It was a really fantastic museum as it follows so many different ones. events leading up to the American Revolution Upstairs you can also walk through some of the government offices in the council chamber as they would have been in 1764. Just outside is the site of the Boston Massacre. This is the next stop on the Freedom Trail and was the site where British redcoats killed five people on March 5, 1770.

I think surveying this building along with all these skyscrapers, less than a five-minute walk away, takes you to the historic Faneuil Hall, we arrive at the market. take a break and have some lunch this building was used as an open air market and meeting place and now has a store for the National Park Service here you can learn more about the trail see a map of it and even buy souvenirs there There are also some other stores located here. The town only has a few stores for the National Park Service, basically, but you can have lunch here.

There are many restaurants just across is Quincy Marketplace which is a great stop to get to. lunch if you're walking the trail and it's around this time my dad and I stopped at the Boston Chowder Company that had a deal that gave you a lobster roll, a clam chowder and a drink. Dad has the famous award-winning clam chowder in a bread bowl and if you remember in the PCH video we were trying chowder all over the place, so here I am in the real place. New England clam chowder is very good some of the places in California are better when in Boston it is good it is not as good as the one we had yesterday but it is good not a bad place for lunch there are many options in terms of lobster roll.

If you're staying in Boston, you can definitely find a better lobster roll than that, but it's not bad for a walk on the

freedom

trail. If you have more time and are looking for a lunch spot you might also consider Union Oyster House, this is supposedly the oldest restaurant in the United States so it's a fun lunch spot on the Freedom Trail. It's something you really want to do so I definitely recommend making a reservation as it's often busy, even if you're not going to eat here be sure to pop your head in as it has a unique decor about Boston history.

I Need an Oyster House This is supposedly one of the oldest restaurants in the United States. I haven't eaten there, but it's cool to go in and see the history. Let me know if it's worth it if you eat there in the comments as we continue. On the way to Paul Revere's house we decided to make a brief stop to eat some of Boston's famous cannolis. In Boston there are two famous stores to get them about a five-minute walk from each other. Mike's Cakes and Modern Cakes in case you've never tried one. Cannoli used to be an Italian delicacy, basically it is a fried pastry that is wrapped in a tube and then filled with sweet ricotta cheese.

Most places also fill it with lots of other things and have lots of different toppings to put on it. Alright, here's our extremely scientific test, we have modern here and we have microphones here and we just made traditional ricotta with chocolate chips and a simple wrapper, so let's do it, we'll start with modern, modern, a little bit thinner, yeah You realize, wow. That's delicious, that's good, wow, that's delicious, what's the rating for that one that came out of your head? No, I've never tried one before. I'll call it nine or ten. I don't know, okay, here we go, round two. scientific test Mike this one isn't that sweet I don't think it's right.

I probably would if it was a nine, this is like a 9.5 oh, you like it better Mike, a little better, not much better, but a little better, okay, pops go with microphones. Okay, first I get modern, it's very good, friendly, both are very good. I think I have to do mics too, but just with the smaller Edge, let me know which one is your favorite in the comments if you had both after our cannoli detour. We only have a few more

stops

on the Freedom Trail after reading about it. I heard that most tourists prefer microphones and most locals prefer modern, so I guess our review followed and our next stop was a visit to the Paul Revere House, which was built in 1680 and is the structure oldest remaining in downtown Boston.

Tour of the house, but we didn't have time on this trip so we just looked at it from the outside and then continued from here, the trail continues through downtown Boston towards the Paul Revere Mall. where is the famous statue of Paul Rivera which you have probably seen before and which is very popular for tourist photographs, although this area is relatively small, there is a nice fountain in the middle and then there are many information plaques and memorials on the left side in honor to the famous. Boston folks At the end of the mall is the old North Church, which is where the two lanterns that began Paul Revere's famous walk were hung.

It's Monday, so unfortunately the old North Church is not open. I have to continue, there is a sign in the church talking about how it was used to warn people about the march of the British to Lexington and Concord after visiting the old Church of the North, the trail goes up the hill to the last cemetery in Freedom Trail Copps Hill dates back to 1659, it was the largest burial site in the city's North End, one of the famous revolutionaries who was buried here was Robert Newman, who hung the lanterns for Paul Revere. When you leave the cemetery, it is about a 15-minute walk around the sites of Charlestown.

Many people turn here because this is the end of the downtown Boston area, but I suggest continuing if you have the chance. Freedom Trail is interrupted around here, so we have to go back across the street. This is the temporary Freedom Trail until they fix the exciting Freedom Bridge. The trail has been with our line painted on the ground. Chance is, late October is a great time to visit the city as you'll see some fall colors like we saw. As the trail continues you will cross the bridge and go over a few different ones. At crosswalks, it's always easy to follow the brick path and there's even science pointing out the FreedomTrail As you walk, once you get to the Charlestown area, there are only two things to see: Bunker Hill Memorial and USS Constitution, and that ends your As you walk along the Freedom Trail, you will see a park called Training Hill.

Here you can see a monument to the Americans who lost their lives in the Battle of Bunker Hill. As you continue forward, you will see one of the last stops on the Freedom Trail, which is the Bunker Hill Monument. This monument is 221 feet tall and was dedicated to the battle that was important in the early part of the American Revolution. We arrived at the Bunker Hill Monument that you used to be. You can go up inside but since covid they said they don't let people in there if you haven't heard of this battle I definitely recommend reading about it it's where famous people don't shoot until they see the whites of their eyes the quote comes from that It was a bloody battle and it's interesting to learn how the colonists were able to hold the hill during a few waves of attacking British soldiers, so the Freedom Trail actually ends there, you're either making their stop or you can go down and see the USS Constitution which is another small branch of the Freedom Trail.

Here we are back in the park and this is where the split is where we go up to Bunker Hill and now we continue towards the Navy Yard from Bunker Hill. It's about a 10-minute walk to the USS Constitution at the Boston Naval Shipyard. See the historic ship with the Boston skyline. Behind him, the ship is closed today for cleaning, but let me know how it is if you visit in the comments. The ship is closed every Monday and Tuesday, so we couldn't visit it when we were there. There is the USS Constitution Museum. at the end of the Freedom Trail, which you can go to, this museum has great interactive exhibits that talk about the ship and its history, including how she got the name Old Ironsides.

I really enjoyed it and it's great for a whole family as it tells you a lot about how the sailors lived on the ship and many more stories of the history of that time and so we get to the end of the Freedom Trail and the Freedom Trail appears and a

freedom

path. I hope you enjoyed exploring the path of freedom. with us in Boston, this is an amazing urban trail, come out here and see it for yourself and I'll see you in the next video.