Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Otis House Museum
Legendary architect Charles Bulfinch designed this gor-
geous 1796 mansion for his friends Harrison Gray Otis, an up-and-coming young
lawyer who later became mayor of Boston, and his wife, Sally. The restoration was one
of the first in the country to use computer analysis of paint, and the result was revo-
lutionary: It revealed that the walls were drab because the paint had faded, not because
the colors started out dingy. Furnished in the style to which a wealthy family in the
young United States would have been accustomed, the Federal-style building is a col-
orful, elegant treasure. Guided tours (the only way to see the property) discuss the
architecture of the house and post-Revolutionary social, business, and family life, and
touch on the history of the neighborhood.
141 Cambridge St.
&
617/227-3956.
www.historicnewengland.org. Guided tour $8. Tours every 30 min. Wed-Sun
11am-4:30pm. T: Blue Line to Bowdoin (weekdays only), Green or Blue Line to Government Center, or Red Line to
Charles/MGH.
5 African-American History
The 1.6-mile
Black Heritage Trail
covers sites on Beacon Hill that preserve the
history of 19th-century Boston. The neighborhood was the center of the free black
community, and the trail links stations of the Underground Railroad, homes of famous
citizens, and the first integrated public school in the city. You can take a free 2-hour
guided tour with a ranger from the National Park Service's
Boston African American
National Historic Site
(
&
617/742-5415;
www.nps.gov/boaf ). Tours start at the
Robert Gould Shaw Memorial,
on Beacon Street across from the State House. They're
available Monday through Saturday from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and by request
at other times; call ahead for a reservation. Or go on your own, using a brochure (avail-
able at the Museum of African American History and the Boston Common and State
Street visitor centers) that includes a map and descriptions of the buildings. The only
buildings on the trail that are open to the public are the
African Meeting House
and
the
Abiel Smith School,
which make up the
Museum of African American History
(p. 160). Check ahead for special programs in February.
Across the river, the
Cambridge African American Heritage Trail
focuses on sig-
nificant sites in the history of the city's large black community. To buy the guide, visit
the office on the second floor of 831 Massachusetts Ave., download an order
form from the website, or send a check for $3.50 (includes shipping), payable to the
Focus on Women's History
The
Boston Women's Heritage Trail
(
&
617/522-2872;
www.bwht.org) cre-
ates walking tours with stops at homes, churches, and social and political
institutions associated with women who made great contributions to soci-
ety. Subjects include Julia Ward Howe, social reformer Dorothea Dix, colo-
nial religious leader Anne Hutchinson, and less famous Bostonians such as
Phillis Wheatley, a slave who became the first African-American published
poet, and abolitionist and feminist Lucy Stone. You can buy a guidebook at
the National Park Service Visitor Center at 15 State St., at some local historic
sites and bookstores, or online.
