Sights in Boston
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Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum
After years of anticipation and restoration, the Tea Party Ships are moored at the reconstructed Griffin's Wharf, alongside a shiny new museum dedicated to the revolution's most catalytic event. Interactive exhibits allows visitors to meet re-enactors in period costume, explore the ships, learn about contemporary popular perceptions through multimedia presentations and even participate in the protest.
At the time of opening in 2012, visitors can board the fully-rigged Eleanor and the whaler Beaver to experience life aboard an 18th-century vessel. (The Dartmouth is expected to be built later.) Would-be rebels can throw crates of tea into the harbor, in solidarity with…
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Copp’s Hill Burying Ground
The city’s second-oldest cemetery – dating to 1660 – is the final resting place for an estimated 10,000 souls. It is named for William Copp, who originally owned this land. While the oldest graves belong to Copp's children, there are several other noteworthy residents.
Near the Charter St gate you'll find the graves of the Mather family – Increase, Cotton and Samuel – all of whom were politically powerful religious leaders in the colonial community. Front and center is the grave of Daniel Malcolm, whose headstone commemorates his rebel activism. British soldiers apparently took offense at this claim and used the headstone for target practice. The small plot of…
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Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology
The centerpiece of the Peabody is the impressive Hall of the North American Indian, which traces how native peoples responded to the arrival of Europeans from the 15th to the 18th centuries. Other exhibits examine indigenous cultures throughout the Americas, including a fantastic comparison of cave paintings and murals of the Awatovi (New Mexico), the Maya (Guatemala) and the Moche (Peru).
Founded in 1866, the Peabody Museum is one of the world’s oldest museums devoted to anthropology. The price of admission includes entry to the neighboring Harvard Museum of Natural History.
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Old City Hall
This monumental French Second Empire building occupies a historic spot. Out front, a plaque commemorates the site of the first public school, Boston Latin, founded in 1635 and still operational in Fenway. The hopscotch sidewalk mosaic, City Carpet, marks the spot where Benjamin Franklin, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Charles Bulfinch were educated.
Statues of Benjamin Franklin, founding father, and Josiah Quincy, second mayor of Boston, stand inside the courtyard. They are accompanied by a life-sized replica of a donkey, symbol of the Democratic Party. (‘Why the donkey?’ you wonder. Read the plaque to find out.) Two bronze footprints ‘stand in opposition.’
The…
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MassArt
This is the country’s first and only four-year independent public art college. It is one of the country's oldest art schools and – as such – was the first to grant an art degree. Originally the Massachusetts Normal Art School, the institution was part of a plan by civic leaders to promote fine arts and technology, in an attempt to ensure the state's continued economic growth.
Other parts of this plan included establishing the Museum of Fine Arts (founded in 1870) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1860).
Nowadays, there's always some thought-provoking or sense-stimulating exhibits to see at MassArt. In the South Building, the Bakalar and Paine galleries…
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Walden Pond
Thoreau took the naturalist beliefs of Transcendentalism out of the realm of theory and into practice when he left the comforts of town and built a rustic cabin at Walden Pond. Now a state park, the glacial pond is surrounded by acres of forest preserved by the nonprofit Walden Woods project.
The site of Thoreau’s cabin is on the northeast side, marked by a cairn and signs. Parking costs $5.
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Harvard Museum of Natural History
This esteemed institution is famed for its botanical galleries, featuring more than 3000 lifelike pieces of handblown glass flowers and plants. At the intersection of art and science, the collection of intricately crafted flora is truly amazing. The zoological galleries house an unbelievable number of stuffed animals and reassembled skeletons, as well as an impressive fossil collection.
The mineralogical and geological galleries contain sparkling gemstones from all over the world, including some found right here in New England. The museum sponsors loads of special programs for kids, so it’s worth checking the website when planning your visit. The price of admission…
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1712 Ebenezer Clough House
Behind the Paul Revere Mall in the North End. Ebenezer Clough, a Sons of Liberty member who participated in the Boston Tea Party, was a mason who worked on the adjacent Old North Church.
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King’s Chapel & Burying Ground
Bostonians were not pleased when the original Anglican church was erected on this site in 1688. (Remember, it was the Anglicans – the Church of England – whom the Puritans were fleeing.) The granite chapel standing today was built in 1754. If the church seems to be missing something, it is: funds ran out before a spire could be added. The church houses the largest bell ever made by Paul Revere, as well as a historic organ. Note the prestigious Governor’s pew, once occupied by George Washington, who came to hear a concert. Request a brochure to take a self-guided tour of the church’s architectural and historical highlights. After the revolution, King’s Chapel became the…
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Harvard Yard
Founded in 1636 to educate men for the ministry, Harvard is America’s oldest college. (No other college came along until 1693.) The original Ivy League school has eight graduates who went on to be US presidents, not to mention dozens of Nobel laureates and Pulitzer Prize winners. It educates 6500 undergraduates and about 12,000 graduates yearly in 10 professional schools.
The geographic heart of Harvard University – where red-brick buildings and leaf-covered paths exude academia – is Harvard Yard (through Anderson Gates from Mass Ave). The focal point of the yard is the John Harvard statue, where every Harvard hopeful has a photo taken (and touches the statue’s shiny…
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Salem Maritime National Historic Site
The witch phenomenon obscures Salem’s true claim to fame: its glory days as a center for clipper-ship trade with China, started by Elias Hasket Derby. The Salem Maritime National Historic Site comprises the customhouse, the ship Friendship and the wharves, as well as other buildings along Derby St that are remnants of the shipping industry once thriving along this stretch of Salem.
In all, the site comprises 10 different historic locations within a two-block area. Check in at the visitor center for a schedule of ranger-led tours.
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Rocky Neck Art Colony
The artistic legacy of Gloucester native Fitz Hugh Lane endures, as Gloucester still boasts a vibrant artists community at Rocky Neck Art Colony. The association operates the cooperative Bryan Gallery in a beautiful space overlooking Smith Cove.
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ICA
Boston is poised to become a focal point for contemporary art, with the highly touted opening of the new Institute of Contemporary Artsin its dramatic new quarters. The building is a work of art in itself – a striking glass structure cantilevered over a waterside plaza. The spacious light-filled interior allows for multimedia presentations, educational programs and studio space. More importantly, it provides the venue for the development of the ICA’s permanent collection of 21st-century art.
Several galleries are dedicated to the growing permanent collection and the ongoing Momentum series, while others rotate, showcasing national and international artists working in…
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Forest Hills Cemetery
Dating to 1848, Forest Hills is a gorgeous, green cemetery that is filled with art and whimsy. It is still an active burial ground, but it also plays the role of open-air museum. The walking paths are lined with sculptures paying tribute to individuals and causes from times past, while a contemporary sculpture path winds its way around the historic gravestones, connecting then and now.
Gravestones include such famous figures as revolutionary heroes William Dawes and Joseph Warren; abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and suffragette Lucy Stone; poets ee cummings and Anne Sexton; sculptors Daniel Chester French and Martin Milmore; and playwright Eugene O’Neill. The…
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Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center
Visit Gloucester’s working waterfront and see the ongoing restoration of wooden boats, watch the operation of a marine railway that hauls ships out of the water, and compare the different kinds of fishing boats that were used over the years. Sea Pocket Lab is a hands-on outdoor aquarium with exhibits on local marine habitats. It is a great chance for kids to get down and dirty with sea stars, sea urchins, snails, crabs and seaweed. The Stellwagen Bank Marine Sanctuary Exhibit is an excellent introduction for whale-watchers heading out on an excursion. From the Grant Circle rotary, take Washington St to its terminus then turn left on Rogers St to Harbor Loop. Be sure not…
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Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
Widely considered the father of landscape design architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted ran his operation from his home 'Fairsted', where he established a full-scale landscape-design office. Olmsted made an indelible mark on Boston’s urban landscape with the creation of the Emerald Necklace. He also was influential in the creation of the National Park Service, which manages the homestead as a historic site.
Visit Olmsted’s office, which remains as it was a century ago, and peruse his designs for the country’s most beloved green spaces, which include Central Park in New York City; Rock Creek Park in Washington, DC; national parks such as Acadia and the Great Smoky…
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Prospect Hill Park
On January 1, 1776, George Washington ordered the Grand Union Flag be flown from a 76ft mast atop Prospect Hill. Bearing thirteen stripes representing the united colonies with the crosses of St Andrew in the corner, it is considered the first American flag and this is the first time it was so proudly waved.
The flag flew over Prospect Hill until British troops were driven out of the city; and it served the purpose of the national flag until the new nation officially adopted the Stars and Stripes the following year.
The granite tower was built in 1903 to commemorate the site's historical significance. Today you can see why the patriots chose this spot to wave their flag,…
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Franklin Park Zoo
Tucked into Franklin Park, the zoo features a half-dozen different habitats, as well as special exhibits devoted to birds and butterflies. The zoo's highlight is the well-designed Tropical Forest pavilion, complete with lush vegetation, waterfalls, lowland gorillas and over 30 species of free flight birds. The Australian Outback Trail allows visitors to walk among red kangaroos and wallabies.
Several exhibits are devoted to life on the savannah, showcasing an African lion, as well as giraffes, zebras and wildebeests. The Franklin Farms lets kids get up close and personal with sheep and goats. Take bus 16 from Forest Hills station.
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Old Powder House
In the years leading up to the revolution, the Old Powder House contained the largest supply of gunpowder in the state. Which is why the patriots were alarmed when British troops raided the facility and confiscated the ammunition on September 1, 1774. It was part of a British attempt to keep the peace after levying the Intolerable Acts, but patriot sympathizers mistook the move to be threatening, and rumors spread wildly.
Men came from all over the region, forming militia groups that were prepared to fight. Known as the Powder Alarm, the tension was eventually diffused. But the incident caused the British to call for reinforcements from London; and it impressed upon the…
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Old State House
Dating to 1713, the Old State House is Boston’s oldest surviving public building, where the Massachusetts Assembly used to debate the issues of the day before the revolution. The building is best known for its balcony, where the Declaration of Independence was first read to Bostonians in 1776.
It occupies a once prominent spot at the top of State St (then known as King St), which was Boston’s main thoroughfare. The rooftop is graced with lions and unicorns, which were symbols of the British crown. These are replicas, as the originals were torn down in a fit of patriotism after the reading of the Declaration. Inside, the Old State House contains a small museum of…
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Mayflower II
If Plymouth Rock tells us little about the Pilgrims, Mayflower II speaks volumes. Climb aboard this replica of the small ship in which they made the fateful voyage, where 102 people lived together for 66 days as the ship passed through stormy North Atlantic waters. Actors in period costume are often on board, recounting harrowing tales from the journey.
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Custom House
Begun in 1837, the lower portion of the Custom House resembles a Greek temple. But the federal government wanted something grander, so in 1913 it exempted itself from local height restrictions and financed a 500ft tower. Nowadays there are many taller buildings, but the 22ft illuminated clock makes this gem the most recognizable part of the city skyline.
One of Boston’s first skyscrapers, the Custom House now houses a Marriott hotel. But that doesn’t mean you have to dole out big bucks to stay here or to appreciate the building’s history and aesthetics. The 1st-floor rotunda, a work of art in itself, also houses a small exhibit of maritime art and artifacts from…
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Essex Shipbuilding Museum
This unique museum was established in 1976 as a local repository for all of the shipbuilding artifacts of the local residents. Most of the collections of photos, tools and ship models came from local basements and attics, allowing Essex to truly preserve its local history. Most of the collections are housed in the town’s 1835 school house (check out the Old Burying Ground behind it). The historical society also operates the Waterline Center in the museum shipyard, a section of waterfront property where shipbuilding activities have taken place for hundreds of years. The historic Essex-built schooner, Evelina M Goulart, is moored here. From Rte 128, take exit 15 and turn…
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Whistler House Museum of Art
In 1834 Anna Mathilda (McNeill) Whistler, wife of the local agent for the Locks and Canals Corporation, gave birth to future artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834–1903). The coming of the railroad made locks and canals less important, and the Whistlers moved away from Lowell in 1837. Young James went on to become one of America’s greatest 19th-century painters. Whistler’s birthplace, built in 1823, is now the home of the Lowell Art Association. It contains a permanent collection of the artist’s works, and hosts exhibits of works by his contemporaries and modern New England artists. Outside, an 8ft bronze statue of the artist, completed by sculptor Mico…
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Boston Massacre Site
Directly in front of the Old State House, encircled by cobblestones, the Boston Massacre site marks the spot where the first blood was shed for the American independence movement. On March 5, 1770, an angry mob of colonists swarmed the British soldiers guarding the State House. Sam Adams, John Hancock and about 40 other protesters hurled snowballs, rocks and insults. Thus provoked, the soldiers fired into the crowd and killed five townspeople, including Crispus Attucks, a former slave. The incident sparked enormous anti-British sentiment. Paul Revere helped fan the flames by widely disseminating an engraving that depicted the scene as an unmitigated slaughter (an original…
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