Paul Revere House

The Paul Revere House is the oldest building in downtown Boston. The home was built about 1680 on the site of the former parsonage of the Second Church of Boston. It stood just one block from the water, overlooking North Square. The first owner of the two-story townhouse was Robert Howard, a wealthy merchant. When Paul Revere bought the home in 1770, a third story had been added to the 90-year-old building. This added space was ideal for his growing family who moved here from their residence near Clark's Wharf. Revere worked as a silversmith at his own shop that was only two blocks away.

From this house on the evening of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere, a messenger rider and member of the Sons of Liberty, left for his famous Midnight Ride to Lexington. At the parsonage of Reverend Jonas Clarke, Revere warned Samuel Adams and John Hancock that the Regulars were out and on their way to arrest the patriot leaders and seize the colony's store of weapons and gunpowder. This event was later immortalized in the poem "Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. After the Revolution, Revere expanded his business interests and became one of America's first industrialists. He had opened a foundry by 1788, and produced bolts, spikes, nails, and cannons. After 1792 he cast bells, including one for Boston's King's Chapel that still rings today. In 1801, he opened the first copper rolling mill in North America where he produced copper sheeting for the hull of the U.S.S. Constitution and for the dome of the new Massachusetts State House in 1803.

Paul Revere sold his three-story home in North Square in 1800. As the years passed, it began to deteriorate along with the rest of the neighborhood. At various times, it served as a boarding house, a cigar store, an Italian bank, and a green grocer. By the early 20th century, there was some fear that the house might be torn down and replaced with a tenement apartment. In 1902, a Revere descendent bought the property and a few years later, a group of Revere family members, preservationists, and local officials formed the Paul Revere Memorial Association and raised the funds needed to restore the home to its original 1680 appearance. It opened to the public on April 18, 1908. Today, it is a wonderful museum that pays tribute to the memory of Paul Revere. Inside, you can view samples of his silver work, and in the courtyard you'll see a 900 pound bronze bell cast at the Revere Foundry in 1804.

Visitor Information:
Open 9:30 AM to 5:15 PM (mid April - October 31); 9:30 AM to 4:15 PM (November 1 - April 14)
Closed on Mondays in January, February and March
Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day
(617) 523-2338, www.paulreverehouse.org
Modest admission fee (see combination ticket)

Old North Church

The Old North Church, or Christ Church in Boston, was built in 1723. The walls of the church are over 2 ½ feet thick, and the building contains over 500,000 bricks! At 191 feet, its steeple has always been Boston's tallest. The original steeple was blown down by a hurricane in 1804, and its replacement was blown down in a similar storm 150 years later. Today, the steeple of Boston's oldest church matches its original colonial design. Inside the building's brick tower, are the first peal of eight bells brought to English America. They were cast in 1744 and still ring today. On the front of the tower, a tablet commemorates an historic event that took place here in 1775. It helped make the church a patriotic landmark.

On the evening of April 18, 1775, from the northwest window of Christ Church steeple, sexton Robert Newman held two lanterns aloft to warn the patriots in Charlestown of the British troops' march to Lexington and Concord. This signal, the brainchild of Paul Revere, occurred as he was being rowed across the Charles River to begin his Midnight Ride. Visitors to Old North today can view the window near the altar that Robert Newman climbed out after he displayed the lanterns. The inside of the church has changed very little over the past 250 years. The high box pews have plaques bearing the names of their original occupants. Two brass chandeliers with 12 candles on each hang above the central aisle. They have illuminated the church for evening services since 1724.

Visitor Information:
Open daily 9 AM to 5 PM, hours extended to 6 PM during the summer
Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day
(617) 523-6676, www.oldnorth.com
Admission is free (Donations Accepted)

Copp's Hill Burying Ground

Located on the highest piece of land in the North End, Copp's Hill Burying Ground is Boston's second oldest cemetery. It became a burial ground in 1660, and is named after 17th-century shoemaker William Copp, the property's original owner. In colonial Boston, Copp's Hill was much higher, extending as a cliff to the water's edge. Standing atop this cliff, one could view several of the town's shipyards and wharves, and see Charlestown just across the Charles River. From this location, in June 1775, British troops bombarded Charlestown during the Battle of Bunker Hill. In 1807, the upper section of Copp's Hill was removed and used as landfill for Mill Pond.

When British troops were encamped on Copp's Hill, they used the grave markers of patriots they disliked for target practice. Today, their musketball marks can be clearly seen on the marker of Captain Daniel Malcom, a member of the Sons of Liberty. Malcom, who died in 1769, asked to be buried "in a Stone Grave 10 feet deep" safe from British bullets. This request is noted on his headstone. Notable people buried at Copp's Hill are Robert Newman, the Christ Church sexton who displayed the signal lanterns; Prince Hall, a freed slave and founder of the African Grand Lodge of Massachusetts; Increase and Cotton Mather, Puritan ministers; and Edmund Hartt, builder of the USS Constitution.

Visitor Information:
Open daily 9 AM to 5 PM (Spring - Fall), 9 AM to 3 PM (Winter)
Admission is free

USS Constitution

At the Charlestown Navy Yard, you can visit the USS Constitution, one of the first vessels in the U.S. Navy and the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. Launched in the fall of 1797, the USS Constitution is two hundred four feet in length, has fifty-four guns, and carried a crew of 450 men. She was built mainly of live oak from the sea islands of Georgia. This rare wood was five times stronger than white oak and made the hull of the ship incredibly strong. When the Constitution battled the British vessel H.M.S. Guerriere during the War of 1812, cannonballs bounced off her hull and a seaman cried "Huzzah! Her sides are made of iron!" Crewmen began calling her "Old Ironsides" and the name stuck. The USS Constitution was in forty battles and was never beaten.

Because she was made of wood, the Constitution eventually began to deteriorate, and by 1830 she had become unseaworthy. Congress soon appropriated funds to restore her. During the mid 1800s, the Constitution, now obsolete in warfare, played a symbolic role for the nation. She sailed around the world in 1844-45. By 1905, the ship was in need of serious repair once again. Congress passed a bill to repair the vessel but provided no funds. In 1925, public fundraising efforts began and school children from across the United States donated pennies to save the ship. Congress finally provided additional funds to complete the restoration of "Old Ironsides."

After her restoration, USS Constitution was towed to many U.S. ports in the Pacific during the years 1931-34. After the journey, she returned to her home port of Boston where she would remain. The ship received a complete overhaul from 1992-97, just in time for her 200th birthday. On July 21, 1997, USS Constitution celebrated that birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years! On that historic day, the seamen aboard her hoisted a partial set of six sails on her masts, and the citizens of Boston cheered as their beloved ship sailed once again off the coast of Massachusetts.

Visitor Information:
Open Spring and Summer, Tues-Sun, 10 AM - 4 PM
(617) 242-7511, www.oldironsides.com
Admission is free
Also be sure to visit the USS Constitution Museum
Open daily, admission is free
www.ussconstitutionmuseum.org

Bunker Hill

The Battle of Bunker Hill was actually fought on nearby Breed's Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Today, a 221-foot granite monument stands on the site where this, the first major battle of the Revolutionary War took place. On June 17, 1775, an American regiment of nearly 1,500 men were entrenched in an impressive earthwork fort atop Breed's Hill. It was a terribly hot day with temperatures well into the nineties. The Americans were lead by Colonel William Prescott, Colonel John Stark, and General Israel Putnam. Colonel Prescott told his men "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!" Two thousand British soldiers advanced uphill toward the American position and were turned back twice. During a third assault, the defenders' ammunition finally ran out and the British and Americans fought hand-to-hand, with the British using bayonettes. In furious fighting, the British overtook the Americans.

The battle was a British victory, but privately, they viewed the losses their army sustained as greater than they could bare. Over one thousand British troops, including many officers, were either killed or wounded. A patriot general, Nathaniel Greene, noted "I wish I could sell them another hill at the same price." American losses were 441 men, the most well-known casualty being patriot leader Dr. Joseph Warren who was killed during the third assault. Although he held the rank of major general, Warren fought in the battle as a gentleman volunteer. Today, a beautiful marble statue of him stands inside the Bunker Hill Monument. Here, you can learn more about the battle and scale the 294 steps that lead to the observatory at the top of the monument. From this location, you can peer out the windows and view the harbor and surrounding towns.

Visitor Information:
Exhibit open daily 9 AM to 5 PM; monument open for climbing from 9 AM to 4:30 PM
Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day
www.nps.gov
Admission is free