African American Heritage Trail

Washington made his headquarters here during the siege of Boston from July 1775 through April 1776. From 1837 until 1882, it was the home of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow while he taught at Harvard. The site's collections deal mainly with Longfellow, but there are some Washington letters as well.

Yes, it's a cemetery. It just happens to be the first landscaped cemetery and in fact the first large-scale designed landscape in the U.S. The tower provides visitors with a breathtaking panoramic view of the cities of Boston and Cambridge, as well as the surrounding countryside to the north. The fact that it's the final resting place of some of the area's most influential figures (Sumner, Gardner, Eddy, and Longfellow) cements its status as a National Historic Landmark.

On July 3, 1775, George Washington officially took command of the Continental Army at ceremonies taking place beneath this Elm tree, which stood at the edge of the training grounds used by the troops. While this tale may be a myth, clearly the tree has remained a symbol of patriotism in Cambridge for generations. The tree finally succumbed to old age and disease in 1923, and today a small bronze plaque marks this historical spot.

The center and oldest part of the Harvard campus. An enclosed grassy yard including picturesque buildings dating as far back as 1720. While somewhat architecturally uninspiring, the freshman undergraduate dorms are located in Harvard Yard, which means that a long list of famous intellectual and political figures have lived here. Near the center is a statue of John Harvard, for whom the university is named. Tour guides will tell you that students rub the statue's left foot for good luck before exams, and the foot is indeed rubbed shiny. But in reality, most of the rubbing is probably done by tourists rather than students. It is also school tradition of some secret societies at Harvard to pee on the boot of the foot, but this may also be a lie.