Boston National Historical Park

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Boston National Historical Park
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LocationInner harbor at mouth of Charles River, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Coordinates 42°21′36″N71°03′23″W / 42.36000°N 71.05639°W / 42.36000; -71.05639
Area43 acres (17 ha) [1]
Built1776 (1776)
Architect Alexander Parris, et al.
Architectural styleGreek Revival, Colonial, Georgian
Visitation2,123,246 (2022) [2]
Website www.nps.gov/bost
NRHP reference No. 74002222 [3]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 26, 1974
Designated NHPOctober 26, 1974

The Boston National Historical Park is an association of sites that showcase Boston's role in the American Revolution and other parts of history. It was designated a national park on October 1, 1974. Seven of the eight sites are connected by the Freedom Trail, a walking tour of downtown Boston. All eight properties are National Historic Landmarks.

Contents

Five of the sites that make up the park are neither owned nor operated by the National Park Service, and operate through cooperative agreements established upon the park's creation. The park service operates visitor centers in Faneuil Hall and at the Charlestown Navy Yard.

Boston National Historical Park, along with Boston African American and Boston Harbor Islands, comprise the National Parks of Boston, all under the same superintendent. [4]

Locations

Park properties

Bunker Hill Monument

The Bunker Hill Monument, located at the top of Breed's Hill in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, is a granite obelisk that was constructed in the mid-19th century to commemorate the Battle of Bunker Hill, fought June 17, 1775. The property is owned and administered by the National Park Service.

Bunker Hill Museum

The park operates a small museum dedicated to the battle of Bunker Hill and other associated history, across the street from monument grounds. The museum is known for its large-scale diorama of the battle on the second floor. [5]

Charlestown Navy Yard

The Charlestown Navy Yard is located on the southern edge of Charlestown on the banks of the Charles River. Used during the American Revolutionary War as a shipyard, it continued to serve as a base of the United States Navy until 1975, when the Navy turned the property over to the National Park Service. The Yard is home to USS Constitution (the oldest floating commissioned naval vessel in the world), and USS Cassin Young, a destroyer from the Second World War that is now operated as a museum ship.

Dorchester Heights

Dorchester Heights was fortified by General George Washington in March 1776, compelling the British to withdraw from Boston and ending the Siege of Boston. A monument was erected on the site in 1902. Located in South Boston, Dorchester Heights is the only site in the park that is not on the Freedom Trail.

Affiliated sites and Freedom Trail partners

Faneuil Hall

Faneuil Hall, 2015 Faneuil Hall 3.jpg
Faneuil Hall, 2015

Faneuil Hall was first constructed in the 1740s, and was the site of important pro-independence speeches. The hall is owned and operated by the city of Boston, with the park service offering talks in the Great Hall.

Old North Church

The Old North Church, built in 1723, was the location where Paul Revere had signal lanterns lit on the night of April 18, 1775, prior to his "midnight ride" that led to the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the start of the revolutionary war. The church, the oldest operating in Boston, has an Episcopalian congregation, which owns and operates the building.

Old South Meeting House

Old South Meeting House, 2015 Old South Meeting House 2.jpg
Old South Meeting House, 2015

The Old South Meeting House, built in 1729 was the site of numerous pre-revolutionary meetings, including one, attended by a crowd estimated at more than 5,000, on the evening prior to the Boston Tea Party in December 1773. It served as a church until 1877, when it became a museum operated by a nonprofit organization dedicated to its preservation.

Old State House

The Old State House is the oldest municipal building in Boston. Built in 1713, it was the seat of the Colonial government, and afterward the State government, until 1798. The Boston Massacre took place in front of the building in 1770. In 1881 it was saved from destruction by the Bostonian Society, which was formed specifically to preserve it. The society still operates the City owned building as a museum. The Boston Massacre is reenacted regularly under the society's auspices.

Paul Revere House

The Paul Revere House is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Boston. It was built in 1680, and was purchased by Paul Revere in 1770. Today it is owned and operated by the Paul Revere Memorial Association as a museum.

Park Service activities

The National Park Service, in addition to managing its properties that are part of the park, operates visitor centers at Faneuil Hall (1st Floor) and at the Navy Yard. It offers guided tours of the Freedom Trail. The Navy offers tours of USS Constitution, which is adjacent to the Park Service's visitor center at the Navy Yard.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Navy Yard</span> Shipbuilding facility in the United States Navy

The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. It was established in 1801 as part of the recent establishment of the new U.S. Department of the Navy in 1798. After 175 years of military service, it was decommissioned as a naval installation on 1 July 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlestown, Boston</span> Neighborhood of Boston in Massachusetts, United States

Charlestown is the oldest neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Also called Mishawum by the Massachusett, it is located on a peninsula north of the Charles River, across from downtown Boston, and also adjoins the Mystic River and Boston Harbor waterways. Charlestown was laid out in 1629 by engineer Thomas Graves, one of its earliest settlers, during the reign of Charles I of England. It was originally a separate town and the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copp's Hill</span>

Copp's Hill is an elevation in the historic North End of Boston, Massachusetts. It is bordered by Hull Street, Charter Street and Snow Hill Street. The hill takes its name from William Copp, a shoemaker who lived nearby. Copp's Hill Burying Ground is a stop on the Freedom Trail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Faneuil Hall</span> United States historic place in Boston, MA (opened 1743)

Faneuil Hall is a marketplace and meeting hall located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts. Opened in 1742, it was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain. It is now part of Boston National Historical Park and a well-known stop on the Freedom Trail. It is sometimes referred to as "the Cradle of Liberty", though the building and location have ties to slavery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Granary Burying Ground</span> Cemetery in Boston, US

The Granary Burying Ground in Massachusetts is the city of Boston's third-oldest cemetery, founded in 1660 and located on Tremont Street. It is the final resting place for many notable Revolutionary War-era patriots, including Paul Revere, the five victims of the Boston Massacre, and three signers of the Declaration of Independence: Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Robert Treat Paine. The cemetery has 2,345 grave-markers, but historians estimate that as many as 5,000 people are buried in it. The cemetery is adjacent to Park Street Church, behind the Boston Athenaeum and immediately across from Suffolk University Law School. It is a site on Boston's Freedom Trail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom Trail</span> Historical walking trail in Boston, Massachusetts

The Freedom Trail is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) path through Boston that passes by 17 locations significant to the history of the United States, marked largely with brick. It winds from Boston Common in downtown Boston, to the Old North Church in the North End and the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. Stops along the trail include simple explanatory ground markers, graveyards, notable churches and buildings, and a historic naval frigate. Most of the sites are free or suggest donations, although the Old South Meeting House, the Old State House, and the Paul Revere House charge admission. The Freedom Trail is overseen by the City of Boston's Freedom Trail Commission and is supported in part by grants from various non-profit organizations and foundations, private philanthropy, and Boston National Historical Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bunker Hill Monument</span> United States historic place

The Bunker Hill Monument is a monument erected at the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston, Massachusetts, which was among the first major battles between the Red Coats and Patriots in the American Revolutionary War. The 221-foot granite obelisk was erected between 1825 and 1843 in Charlestown, Massachusetts, with granite from nearby Quincy conveyed to the site via the purpose-built Granite Railway, followed by a trip by barge. There are 294 steps to the top.

USS <i>Cassin Young</i> Fletcher-class destroyer

USS Cassin Young (DD-793) is a Fletcher-class destroyer of the U.S. Navy named for Captain Cassin Young (1894–1942), who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism at the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and killed in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in the fall of 1942.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old State House (Boston)</span> United States historic place

The Old State House is a historic building in Boston, Massachusetts built in 1713. It was the seat of the Massachusetts General Court until 1798. It is located at the intersection of Washington and State Streets and is one of the oldest public buildings in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of Boston</span> Seaport district in Boston, Massachusetts

The Port of Boston is a major seaport located in Boston Harbor and adjacent to the City of Boston. It is the largest port in Massachusetts and one of the principal ports on the East Coast of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African Meeting House</span> Historic church in Massachusetts, United States

The African Meeting House, also known variously as First African Baptist Church, First Independent Baptist Church and the Belknap Street Church, was built in 1806 and is now the oldest black church edifice still standing in the United States. It is located in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent to the Black American Abiel Smith School. It is a National Historic Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston African American National Historic Site</span> National Historic Site of the United States

The Boston African American National Historic Site, in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts's Beacon Hill neighborhood, interprets 15 pre-Civil War structures relating to the history of Boston's 19th-century African-American community, connected by the Black Heritage Trail. These include the 1806 African Meeting House, the oldest standing black church in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Revere House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Paul Revere House, built c.1680, was the colonial home of American patriot and Founding Father Paul Revere during the time of the American Revolution. A National Historic Landmark since 1961, it is located at 19 North Square, Boston, Massachusetts, in the city's North End, and is now operated as a nonprofit museum by the Paul Revere Memorial Association. An admission fee is charged.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neighborhoods in Boston</span>

Boston's diverse neighborhoods serve as a political and cultural organizing mechanism. The City of Boston's Office of Neighborhood Services has designated 23 Neighborhoods in the city:

USS Constitution Museum

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copp's Hill Burying Ground</span> Historic cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts

Copp's Hill Burying Ground is a historic cemetery in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1659, it was originally named "North Burying Ground", and was the city's second cemetery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Harborwalk</span> Public walkway that follows the edge Boston Harbor

Boston Harborwalk is a public walkway that follows the edge of piers, wharves, beaches, and shoreline around Boston Harbor. When fully completed it will extend a distance of 47 miles (76 km) from East Boston to the Neponset River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Bostonian Society</span>

The Bostonian Society was a non-profit organization that was founded in 1881 for the purpose of preventing the Old State House from being "moved brick by brick" from Boston, Massachusetts to Chicago, Illinois. Determined to save the historic building that was the site of the Boston Massacre and the place for the proclamation of the Declaration of Independence in Massachusetts, a group of citizens banded together formed "Boston's first successful historic preservation movement". The Bostonian Society no longer exists. On January 1, 2020, the Bostonian Society merged with the Old South Association in Boston to form Revolutionary Spaces.

The Boston Women's Heritage Trail is a series of walking tours in Boston, Massachusetts, leading past sites important to Boston women's history. The tours wind through several neighborhoods, including the Back Bay and Beacon Hill, commemorating women such as Abigail Adams, Amelia Earhart, and Phillis Wheatley. The guidebook includes seven walks and introduces more than 200 Boston women.

References

  1. "Listing of acreage – December 31, 2011" (XLSX). Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved 2012-12-26. (National Park Service Acreage Reports)
  2. "Annual Park Ranking Report for Recreation Visits in: 2022". National Park Service. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  3. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  4. Charlestown, Mailing Address: Boston National Historical Park 21 Second Ave; Us, MA 02129 Phone: 617 242-5601 Contact. "National Parks of Boston - Boston National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  5. "Bunker Hill Museum (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2022-03-18.