Boston – Around Town : Beacon Hill (part 1)

by

With its elegant 200 year-old row houses, quaint
grocers, pricey antique shops, and hidden gardens, Beacon Hill screams
“old money” like no other area in Boston. That some of the city’s most
exorbitant apartment rentals can still be found here suggests it will
remain an enclave of exclusivity for years to come. Yet throughout the
19th century and well into the 20th, this inimitably charming
neighborhood was a veritable checkerboard of ethnicities and earning
groups – segregated though they were. Little of Beacon Hill’s diversity
has survived its relatively recent gentrification, but visitors can
still experience the neighborhood’s myriad pasts inside its opulent
mansions and humble schoolhouses, and along its enchanting cobblestone
streets.

Black Heritage Trail

By and large the Paul
Reveres and John Adams of this world have monopolized Bostonians’
under-standing of their city’s history. As a refreshing counterpoint,
the Black Heritage Trail posits that black Bostonians, through their
long-marginalized histories, have played an indispensable role in the
city’s development. The trail illustrates this point at every turn,
taking visitors past the homes and businesses of some of Boston’s most
influential black Americans. Tours leave from the Shaw Memorial at 10am,
noon and 2pm, Mon– Sat (Memorial Day to Labor Day) (www.nps.gov/boaf).






Ivy-clad façade, Beacon Hill

Attractions

  1. Massachusetts State House

    A
    200-year-old codfish, a stained-glass image of a Native American in a
    grass skirt, and a 23-carat gold dome crowned with a pine cone – such
    are the curious eccentricities that distinguish Beacon Hill’s most
    prestigious address .




    Senate Chamber, Massachusetts State House

  2. Museum of African American History

    Based
    in the African Meeting House (the oldest extant black church in the US)
    and the adjoining Abiel Smith School (the nation’s first publicly
    funded grammar school for African-American children) – the MAAH offers a
    look into the daily life of free, pre-Civil War African-Americans. The
    meeting house was a political and religious center for Boston’s
    African-American community and it was here that abolitionists such as
    Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison delivered anti-slavery
    addresses in the mid-19th century. The museum has successfully preserved
    their legacy and that of countless others through workshops,
    exhibitions, and special events.




    Sign, African Meeting House

  3. Nichols House Museum

    An
    1804 Charles Bulfinch design, 55 Mount Vernon is one of the earliest
    examples of residential architecture on Beacon Hill. Rose Nichols, the
    house’s principal occupant for 75 years, bequeathed her home to the city
    as a museum, providing a glimpse of late-19th and early 20th-century
    life on the Hill. A pioneering force for women in the arts and sciences,
    Nichols gained fame through her authoritative writings on landscape
    architecture and philanthropic projects.

    • 55 Mount Vernon St

    • 617 227 6993

    • Open Apr–Oct: noon–4pm Tue–Sat; Nov– Mar: noon–4pm Thu–Sat

    • Adm




    Drawing Room, Nichols House Museum

  4. Louisburg Square

    Cobblestone
    streets, a genteel little gated park, and a hefty dose of Boston
    Brahmin cachet make this tight block of townhouses the city’s most
    exclusive patch of real estate. Modeled after the traditional
    residential squares of London in 1826, the square was named in
    remembrance of the 1745 Battle of Louisburg in modern-day Quebec.




    Louisburg Square

  5. Harrison Gray Otis House

    One of the principal developers of Beacon Hill, Harrison Gray Otis
    served in the Massachusetts legislature and gained a reputation for
    living la dolce vita in this 1796 Bulfinch-designed manse. Like a
    post-Revolutionary Gatsby, Otis ensured his parties were the social
    events of the year. After falling into disrepair, the property was
    acquired in 1916 by the historical preservation society and restored to
    its original grandeur.




    Dining Room, Harrison Gray Otis House

  6. Appalachian Mountain Club Headquarters

    The
    Appalachian Trail, or the A.T. as it is known to hiking cognoscenti, is
    America’s premier walking path. Snaking through 2,168 miles (3,492 km)
    of pristine eastern wilderness – including 90 miles (145 km) in
    Massachusetts – the trail is maintained by members of the club. With a
    scale model of the trail, informative plaques on the walls, maps,
    guidebooks, and a knowledgeable staff, this is an essential stop for
    those planning a hike.

    • 5 Joy St

    • 617 523 0636

    • Open 9 am–5pm Mon–Fri

    • Free

  7. Beacon Street

    Although
    it extends well beyond the Fenway, Beacon Street finds its true essence
    in the blocks between Park and Charles streets. Here it passes such
    highlights as the Boston Athenaeum, one of the oldest independent
    libraries in the country, the Massachusetts State House, and the Bull and Finch Pub of Cheers TV fame.

  8. Boston Center for Jewish Heritage

    The
    Vilna Shul testifies to the area’s former vibrancy as Boston’s first
    predominantly Jewish quarter. The congregation was founded in 1903 by
    immigrants who came from Vilna, Lithuania. The synagogue has become a
    center of Jewish culture with programs and exhibits.

    • 13–18 Philips St

    • 617 523 2324

    • Call for hours


    • www.bcjh.org




    Boston Center for Jewish Heritage

  9. George Middleton House

    The
    oldest remaining private residence on Beacon Hill built by
    African-Americans is a highlight of the Black Heritage Trail. George
    Middleton, a revolutionary war veteran, commissioned the house’s
    construction shortly after the war. Legend has it that Middleton
    commanded an all-black company dubbed the “Bucks of America.”

    • 5–7 Pinckney St

    • Closed to the public




    George Middleton House

  10. Parkman House

    George
    Parkman – once a prominent physician at Harvard Medical School – lived
    in this house during the mid-19th-century. In 1849, in one of the most
    sensationalized murder cases in US history, Parkman was killed by a
    faculty member over a financial dispute. Both the crime and its
    aftermath were grisly – in the ensuing trial dental records were entered
    as evidence for the first time.

    • 33 Beacon St

    • Closed to the public