Freedom Path in Boston (USA) – description, history, location. Exact address, phone number, website. Reviews of tourists, photos and videos.
This is a four-kilometer route that passes through downtown Boston past 16 points, one way or another connected with the history of the United States and the significant role that Boston played in it. The road is predominantly paved with brick and winds between the Boston Common and the museum-built Constitution ship in the Charleston area. All stops on the route are marked with markers on the pavement – these are historical buildings, graves, churches and the same old ship.
The idea to build a similar route came to Boston journalist W. Schofield in 1951. In practice, it turned out to be extremely successful: a couple of years later, 40 thousand people passed along the route every year.
Most of the stops along the way are open to the public free of charge, although you have to pay to visit the Old South Meeting House, the Old Capitol and the Paul Revere House.
The middle of the route is the Old Capitol at the corner of Washington and State streets. On its eastern facade, the balcony is carefully preserved, from which the Declaration of Independence was first publicly read.
According to Toppharmacyschools, the starting point of the route is the Boston Common and right there is the Massachusetts State Capitol (“new”). Stop #3 – Park Street Church, a functioning church at the intersection of Tremont and Park Streets. The church was built in 1804 and somewhat resembles the work of the great London architect Christopher Wren, standing out with a multi-tiered slender bell tower with a sharp spire. The next stop is Old Granary Cemetery, the third in Boston, where many Revolutionary patriots were buried, including three who signed the Declaration of Independence and five victims of the Boston Massacre.
The fifth and sixth points of the route are the King Chapel Unitarian Church and the cemetery attached to it. The chapel building, built in 1754, is considered one of the most successful works of the famous colonial architect Peter Harrison, and the cemetery, founded in 1630, was the first in the city.
Next, travelers see the statue of Benjamin Franklin and the site where the Boston Latin School used to be, after which they move on to the old Old Corner bookstore, which is still in operation, and then to the Old South Meeting House. In this former church building on the corner of Milk and Washington streets, the revolutionaries held their meetings, and here they met before the famous Boston Tea Party.
The middle of the route is the Old Capitol at the corner of Washington and State streets. Built in 1713, this Capitol is one of the oldest municipal buildings in the United States. On its eastern facade, the balcony is carefully preserved, from which the Declaration of Independence was first publicly read. Today, a historical museum is open inside.
In case the Freedom Path gets you pretty tired by now, there is an entrance to the subway to the State station right in the Old Capitol, from Devonshire Street.
Almost at the Old Capitol is the next stop on the route – the site of the Boston Massacre. The event took place in 1770 when British soldiers shot down a demonstration of civilians. In British sources, this event was more politically correct called the “King Street Incident”.
Stop #12 – Faignel Hall, former and current market Behind him is the House-Museum of the American Patriot Paul Revere. The next stop on the route is Old North Church on Salem Street. This church is known as the place where the famous signal “One – if from land, two – if from the sea” was given.
The meaning of the signal was to hang signal lights on the church, announcing from which side the British army was approaching the city. Thanks to Longfellow’s poem, this line has been memorized by countless American children.
Boston’s second oldest historic cemetery, Copps Hill, is stop 15 on the Freedom Road. After visiting it, tourists can only look at the Bunker Hill monument, a tall stone stele commemorating the first major armed conflict between the British and the Patriots during the Revolutionary War. The 67 m high granite obelisk was installed between 1827 and 1843. 294 steps lead to the top.
Finally, the route ends at the ship “Constitution” – a three-masted wooden frigate, named by Washington itself after the signing of the corresponding document. The ship most notably showed itself during the war of 1812 against Great Britain, when it captured many merchant ships and defeated five British warships in a sea battle. Today, a museum exposition is opened at the Constitution.
Practical Information
At the visitor center on the first floor of Faignel Hall, you can get free maps that show the route, or find a guide on it.
