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Photo: The original uploader was Lockley at English Wikipedia., Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Old City Hall, unlike the current city hall, is undeniably beautiful. This Second Empire style building was built in 1865 and served as Boston's City Hall until 1969. It has since been converted to office space and also houses an expensive steak house. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and is a much touted example of adaptive re-use in architecture.
Old City Hall is a building at 45 School Street in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., which housed the Boston City Council from 1865 to 1969. Designed by Gridley J. F. Bryant and Arthur Gilman, it was one of the first buildings in the French Second Empire style to be built in the United States. After the building's completion, the Second Empire style was used extensively elsewhere in Boston and for many public buildings in the United States, including the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., Providence City Hall in Providence, Baltimore City Hall in Baltimore, and Philadelphia City Hall in Philadelphia.
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Founded as an Anglican congregation in 1686, the first King's Chapel was built of wood around 1688. Today's stone building dates from 1754 and was built encasing the original wooden structure. Once complete, the wooden frame was disassembled and removed through the stone windows. The beams were shipped off to Lunenburg and reused in a new church. The church bell was forged in England and hung high in the belfry during 1772. Cracked in 1814, it was recast by Paul Revere and would be the largest—and final—bell ever to make its way out of his foundry. The bell is still rung during church services today.
Predating King's Chapel, this cemetery was founded in 1630, and is the oldest in Boston. Notable figures buried here include: John Winthrop, first governor of Massachusetts, Mary Chilton the first European woman to step ashore in New England, and Elizabeth Pain, whose headstone supposedly inspired the book The Scarlet Letter.
Two statues commemorate the 1845 Irish Famine, depicting a starving Irish family on their knees, and a well fed family walking away. The natural rise of the land here is used to great effect by the sculptor. As you walk up or down from the statues, it's easy to empathize with the predicament of either family. The physical pain of starvation and the emotional pain of leaving loved ones behind are each masterfully rendered in bronze.
Built in 1729, this church has been an important meeting place for centuries. Famous today due to events during 1773, when colonists used the space to organize what would become known as the Boston Tea Party. Almost destroyed by the fire of 1872, Bostonians saved the structure and it's now an important stop on the Freedom Trail.
Walk up these oddly placed steps just as British Royal Governors would have done 300 years ago. At one time they led up to a sumptuous governor's mansion, although George Washington put a stop to that in 1775. Today you'll find the Marliave's al fresco dining patio awaiting you in summer, and an unsightly dumpster or two when it's cold. Check the plaques for more information.
Get off the Freedom Trail for a second and spend a minute reading plaques in this narrow alley. Beneath your feet once flowed clean spring water used by the residents of Boston for hundreds of years. The lane runs parallel to Water Street so you know it's for real. Several other notes relating to Boston's history adorn adjacent building walls, if you're interested. Use caution during the evening, however, as the homeless sometimes use this semi-protected area as a campsite.