Fredericksburg Parent

August 2013

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BOSTON Experience History Along BY DEBBY GIRVAN B oston's Freedom Trail is not just any ordinary path featuring sixteen important historic sites that played a role in the American Revolution. This 2.5 mile urban trail is a unique opportunity to immerse your family in the adventurous and entertaining stories behind Paul Revere's midnight ride, The Boston Massacre, The Boston Tea Party, and more. Sporting colonial tricorn hats, your kids can imagine what it was like to be Paul Revere on his midnight ride or to be one of his sixteen children who cooked over open fires and scrubbed dirty laundry with water lugged from a well. In Boston Harbor they'll learn the Boston Tea Party was anything but a celebration and you can climb aboard the U.S.S. Constitution, nicknamed, "Old Ironsides" for its ability to deflect cannon balls during the War of 1812. A former pasture for sheep and cows and a campground for more than 1,000 "Redcoats" in 1775, today, Boston Common is a beautiful public park and the site of festivals and other events. Designed as a self-led or groupled tour, the entire Freedom Trail is marked with bricks or red paint as it winds through modern, downtown Boston. Free maps, available online or in print at the Boston Common Tourist Center allow you to see the sites and explore at your own pace. For an entertaining and colorful experience, The 24 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • August 2013 FREEDOM TRAIL HISTORIC SITES Boston Common The starting point for the Freedom Trail, this 50-acre park is the oldest in the United States. Massachusetts State House Built in 1798, the "new" state house is located on Beacon Hill. Park Street Church Dating back to 1809, this church is the location of the first Sunday School. "My Country 'Tis of Thee" was sung for the first time by this church's choir in 1831. Granary Burying Ground Founded in 1606, many dignitaries, including three signers of the Declaration of Independence; Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Robert Treat Paine are buried here.

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