Boston National Historical Park - The Freedom Trail Part II

Our journey along the Freedom Trail in Boston was great fun and something that I definitely couldn't cover in just one post.  According to Google Maps we walked nearly three and a half miles around Boston.  It definitely made for a long day where we drank plenty of water and sought out shade as often as we could.  But we also had fun and made many wonderful memories.  I look forward to visiting Boston again someday with older kids when we'll plan to actually visit more museums instead of just walking past them.

This post will cover the second half of our journey along the downtown portion of the trail, starting just before the Old State House and concluding at the Copp's Hill Burying Ground.

I ended my last post at the Old Corner Bookstore.  Just down the street from this building we came upon the Old South Meeting House, the spot where the Boston Tea Party began.

While we didn't tour the building we did visit the gift shop since it was accessible separate from the rest of the facility.

 I thought their sign advertising the sale of honey was rather clever and topical.

The Old State House is just down the street from the Old South Meeting House.
The Old State House, Boston's oldest public building, was built in 1713 as the seat of British colonial government.  Here the Royal Governor and Massachusetts Assemblly debated the Stamp Acts and the Writs of Assistance.  The Declaration of Independence was first read to Bostonians from the east balcony on July 18, 1776.  The building served as the State House until 1798, and was also Boston's City Hall from 1830 to 1841.
--from building signage by The Bostonian Society

This is another beautiful building in a city full of them.  We walked inside briefly to check out the gift shop and saw this amazing staircase.

Just beyond the state house is the location of the Boston Massacre.  Did you know that John Adams defended the British soldiers accused of perpetrating the massacre in an effort to ensure that they were given a fair trial?  It is a good example of the rule of law being judged more important than the mob rule that sometimes did dominate conflicts during the Revolution and the years before the actual fighting began.
The Boston Massacre site marker is located at the intersection of State and Congress Streets in Downtown Boston, outside of the Old State House, a few yards away from where the Massacre took place. The Massacre site has been moved twice, both times from the center of the intersection. Today, a medallion on the Freedom Trail marks the site of the Boston Massacre and reenactments hosted by the Bostonian Society take place on the anniversary every year.
--from Freedom Trail website

We actually ate lunch right across the street from the state house in a tiny park-like area adjoining an office building.

We had a great view of the other side of the building as we ate.

After lunch we made our way to Faneuil Hall, an important meeting location in early Boston.

 Inside there was a small visitor center that included some exhibits.  There were also a number of small shops.  The upstairs was booked for a private event and we saw plenty of people outside waiting for their event to begin.

 Next to the hall are two buildings with many shops in them.  We didn't visit due to time constraints.
Quincy Center and Faneuil Hall Marketplace are located adjacent to historic Faneuil Hall and offers popular shopping and dining destinations in restored 19th-century buildings.
--from Freedom Trail website

 As we walked towards the Paul Revere House we ran into construction, though there were temporary signs to make sure that we didn't lose our way when the brick/painted path couldn't be directly followed.

Before we made it to the Revere House we ended up crossing over the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

 It was a fun place to walk and I can see it being a nice place for locals to visit throughout the year, but especially in the spring and summer.

In 1991, after almost a decade of planning, construction began on the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, more widely known as the "Big Dig". The project, recognized as one of the largest, most complex, and technologically challenging in the history of the United States, would remove the elevated highway and create a tunnel system below the city.

With the elevated highway to be relocated underground, community and political leaders seized the opportunity to enhance the city by creating the Greenway, a linear series of parks and gardens that would re-connect some of Boston’s oldest, most diverse, and vibrant neighborhoods. The creation of the Greenway was a joint effort of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA), the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the City of Boston, and various civic groups.
--from The Greenway website

Built around 1680, the Paul Revere House, owned by the legendary patriot from 1770-1800, is the oldest remaining structure in downtown Boston and also the only official Freedom Trail historic site that is a home.
--from Freedom Trail website

As we left the Revere House, where we'd rested for a time in a plaza across the street, we had to follow a spray-painted white trail for a while.

We passed through the Paul Revere Mall (no shops were present) where we saw a statue of the famous patriot astride his horse.

The area was a refreshing spot as we walked under the shade of many trees.

The mall was established in 1933 based upon a gift to the city.

 The Old North Church was our next stop just past the Revere Mall.

We had to take the stroller around due to stairs, but we ended up seeing a couple interesting buildings as we walked around.

I was quite tempted by this shirt in the Old North Church gift shop.

Our last stop for the day was the Copp's Hill Burying Ground, just up the street from the Old North Church.

Since the burial ground was another site higher than the surrounding ground we would have had to lift up the stroller.  Some of the kids were asleep and Amy was tired, so I ended up touring on my own.

Named after shoemaker William Copp, Copp’s Hill Burying Ground is the final resting place and burying ground of merchants, artisans, and craftspeople who lived in the North End.
--from Freedom Trail website

Just like in the Granary Burial Ground the grave markers were rearranged in the 1800s so that they no longer correspond to actual grave locations.

Cotton Mather and others in his family are buried under this marker.

 The cemetery was a nice spot to end our day on the Freedom Trail.

After I finished taking pictures we headed to the nearest metro station and took a train back to the Boston Common where we walked around a while before catching a train out of town so that we could head back to our campground for the evening.  The next day we planned on starting up our Freedom Trail tour at Bunker Hill.  All of the photos that I took along the Freedom Trail up to Copp's Hill are in this album.

~Matt