Freedom Trail in Boston, MA - A Street Lined with Historic Sites

Bill Schofield, a Yankee descendent and editor, invented the Freedom Trail in March 1951 with the express objective of enhancing connection and accessibility of all historic places and trails within Boston, Massachusetts. In June 1951, the project was authorized, and by 1953, it was receiving over 40,000 tourists yearly. Dick Berenson, a local businessman and philanthropist who displayed unwavering efforts and donations to the project, added the Trail's distinctive red lines in 1958.

The Freedom Trail is a 4 kilometer foot route that cuts across 16 historic sites significant to America's history including the Boston Common, the Faneuil Hall and the Old South Meeting House . It is located in Boston, Massachusetts and runs from Boston Common on Tremont street near Park street MBTA Station, across the North End to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. It is architecturally beautified with brick with simple explanatory ground signs, historically significant structures such as churches, a historic naval ship and graveyards serving as sight stops of the area.

The very first Freedom Trail information station opened on Boston Common in 1966, with over 500,000 tourists receiving a free map annually. The Freedom Trail Foundation was later established in 1964 to promote, protect and maintain the Trail. By 1974, the famed Boston National Historical Park was also built in the vicinity resulting in a massive increase in annual visits. The trail is presently managed by the City of Boston's Freedom Trail Commission.

Throughout the course of years, the Freedom Trail has migrated from being a footpath to a mental platform for understanding the histories and battles of America's pioneers, especially the revolutionaries. Each of the I6 historic sites is marked by a bricked marker line. The trail starting point, The Boston Common, established in 1634 and once used for grazing , public hanging as well as military formation, has now become not just the county's oldest park but also a green space of recreation attracting over 3 million visitors.

The State House, designed in 1798 and built on once John Hancock's Cow Pasture Land of over 2.7 acres, has today become a haven for state lawmakers, governors and senator's daily meetings. Visitors always get thrilled at the sight of the 217 feet spire of the Parker Street Church sited at the "brimstone corner” a name derived from the church's involvement during the Revolutionary War in the 17th century. Granary Burying Ground was established in 1737 and serves as a cemetery for the ancient legends of Boston including Benjamin Franklin and legendary victims of the 1770 Boston massacre. 

Other Massacre victims were all buried at the Boston Massacre Site as a sanctified monument. The Bunker Hill Monument, which has 294 steps rising to the summit, commemorates the Battle of Bunker Hill, which took place near Boston, Massachusetts, and was one of the first important engagements between British and Patriot forces during the American Revolutionary War. Other stop sites of the Freedom trail include Boston Latin School Site, The Old Corner Bookstore, Old State House, King's Chapel and its commiserating Burial Ground, Paul Revere House, Old North House, Copp's Hill Burying Ground, USS Constitution and the formidable Faneuil Market serving as both a market hall and a meeting hall for the great people of Boston.