Monday,
May 25
Day
48
It
is Memorial Day today. After our visit to the battlefields in
Virginia, Washington DC and meeting the veteran from WWII and being
here in Boston with all this history of our country, it makes us very
mindful of the sacrifices in lives that have been made by the people
of our military. It is important to remember them today.
We woke up
and had another great breakfast. Janet and John were kind enough to
allow us to keep our car in their parking space while we walked
through Boston. We headed up Beacon Hill taking a different route
than yesterday and headed again to the Commons to go to the Visitor
Center to find information on the Freedom Trail, which is a 2 1/2
mile walk through many of the historical sights in Boston. Growing
up in the midwest and west, we learned all this in school but never
got to see where the beginnings of our country happened. We stopped
at the visitor center to purchase a guidebook for the Freedom Trail,
so we would know what we were seeing. The first stop is the Boston
Common which is America's oldest public park. Puritan colonists
purchased the land rights from the first settler of the area,
Anglican minister William Blackstone and originally used it as a
public pasture for the local livestock to graze. Over 1000 Redcoats
made camp on the common during the British occupation of Boston of
1775. It was also a place of celebration where people gathered after
the repeal of the Stamp Act and at the conclusion of the
Revolutionary War.
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| The brick trail goes for 2 1/2 miles along all the sights. It is impossible to get lost along the trail! |
The next stop, right next to the Common is the
Massachusetts State House which is one of the oldest buildings on
Beacon Hill. Under it's golden dome senators, state representatives
and the governor conduct the daily business of the government. It
was designed by the famous architect Charles Bulfinch. Originally
this land was where John Hancock grazed his cattle.
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| New State House (old one will be seen later on the trail) |
The Park Street
Church was built in 1809. Prison reform began in this church and
women's suffrage was strongly supported here. Some of the most
passionate protests against slavery were delivered inside these walls
and hosted an anti-slavery lecture series as early as 1823. My
Country 'tis of Thee was first sung on these steps on July 4,
1831.
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| Park Street Church |
The Granary Burying ground was established in 1660 and is the
final resting place for some of Boston's most famous people. Buried
there are Paul Revere, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, James Otis and
Robert Treat Paine. The last 3 mentioned were all signers of the
Declaration of Independence. Samuel Adams had the 5 victims of the
Boston Massacre interred in his family tomb. Benjamin Franklin's
parents are also buried here. Puritan churches did not believe in
religious icons or imagery, so the people of Boston used tombstones
as on outlet for artistic expression of their beliefs about the
afterlife. The Soul Effigy, a skull or death's head
with a wing on each side represented the soul flying off to heaven
after death.
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| Granary Burying Grounds |
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| Soul Effigy |
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| Paul Revere's tombstone |
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| Samuel Adam's tombstone - right next to it is the place where the five victims of the Boston Massacre are buried. |
The King's Chapel and Burying Ground was built in 1688
on the town burial ground by the Royal Governor as no one in the city
would sell him
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| The King's Chapel |
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| A family purchased their own pew. Parents could have their children face them so the could watch the preacher and their children at the same time. They could also bring in blankets or pets to help keep them warm. |
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| Site of Latin School |
Unfortunately, a
Chipotle is now housed in the Old Corner Bookstore. It began as an
apothecary shop and in 1828 a bookstore and printing shop were
opened. The works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Harriet Beecher
Stowe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Greenleaf
Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., Charles Dickens and Louisa May
Alcott were published here.
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| Old Corner Bookstore |
The Old South Meeting House was built in
1729 as a Puritan meeting house and was the stage for some of the
most dramatic events lading up to the American Revolution. One of
the most important occurred on December 16, 1773 a heated discussion
took place as to what should be done with the 30 tons of taxable tea
that sat in the holds of 3 ships at Griffin's Wharf. After the
failure of a final attempt to have the tea shipped back to England,
Samuel Adams addressed the crowd saying Gentlemen, this meeting can
do nothing to save the country. These words were rumored to be a
secret signal to the Sons of Liberty. A cry of Boston Harbour-a tea
pot tonight was heard throughout the hall and men disguised as mohawk
Indians marched to Griffin's Wharf to destroy the 342 crates of tea.
This was certainly a turning point in our history.
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| Old South Meeting House |
The old State
House is now 300 years old and is the oldest, most beautiful and
important public buildings still standing from the original 13
colonies. It was the center of ideas and events that sparked the
American Revolution. Right outside its doors, the Boston Massacre
occurred in 1770, resulting in the death of 5 men and sparking public
opposition of British authority. The Declaration of Independence was
read from the buildings balcony in July 1776. It was here, John
Adams delared, that the child Independence was born.
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| Old State House - Note the balcony |
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| Site of Boston Massacre |
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