Some Boston Colonial Architecture

   Hi everyone. Happy Sunday. I hope you are having a lovely weekend.  Today I am linking up to Nicole's  Sunday in the Art Room  and Gillena's  Sunday Smiles .   Just an FYI-today's post is a litle long.

   Last Sunday was Free Ferry Day out to one of the islands in Boston Harbor. The ferry went to Georges Island, where there is a Civil War Fort. This island is operated by both the National Park Service and also the State Parks of Massachusetts. 

   My daughter doesn't work for the State Parks of Massachusetts but her department is within that group, so she had gotten an email about the free ferry day. There were 2 ferries that day, one at 10 AM and one at noon.  We hoped to catch the 10 AM ferry, and my daughter said she and her husband would get there at 8 AM when the ticket booth opened to get the tickets (since they could get 5 tickets a person). However, when my daughter arrived, the 10 AM ferry tickets were already gone, so she grabbed tickets for the noontime ferry.

   Since we were almost in downtown Boston when my daughter called with the news,  we decided to meet at a good gathering place near where the ferry would leave. We decided to meet at a place called Faneuil Hall/Quincy Marketplace and then take a walk over to the North End of the city since we had a few hours to kill.

    I found this vintage photo online of Faneuil Hall and the original marketplace.

Here's a couple of photos I snapped.

   If you're not familiar with colonial US history, Massachusetts was the second British colony in what would becomes the United States. Boston was settled in 1630, and  it's location allowed it to become the capital of the Bay State Colony.   Faneuil Hall was built in 1742 as an open air market. Later, in the 1970's it was restored. Quincy Marketplace was originally built in in the mid-1820's, and then in the 1970's when Fanueil Hall was revamped, it was also revamped. You can now find the National Park Service local headquarters in Fanueil Hall, and all kinds of things to eat in Quincy Marketplace. Sadly for us they didn't open until 11 AM, and it was still not even quite 9 AM. (But that's OK because I've been there many times before so at least I wasn't missing an experience.)

  On our way from where my husband and I parked our car  to Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market, we passed the old Massachusetts State House. This is Boston's oldest surviving building as it was built in 1713 (and then rebuilt in 1748 after a fire). Outside of this building is where the Boston Massacre happened which  was one of the big events that lead to the colonies to rebel against Britain in what is now called (here in the US) the Revolutionary War.

     Boston is famous for it's Freedom Trail. If you follow this brick line in the sidewalk it will take you to many sights from this colonial and Revolutionary War period. Here's my daughter in this photo also.

    I've walked parts of this trail before. And surprisingly for someone who is a Massachusetts native and who learned about all this history from about grade 1 onward, I have never walked the part of the trail in the North End. (But I have been to the North End of Boston before, just not walked on the Freedom Trail there.)

   I walked by 3 new places that I have heard about but never actually saw other than in photos.

   One of those places was the Paul Revere House. Paul Revere was a silversmith. During the early days of the Revolutionary War, he made a famous midnight ride to let citizens know the British were arriving to fight. Others also made this ride, but he seems to be the only one remembered by the general population. Although he never said "One if by land, two if by sea", he had lanterns lit in the steeple of the North Church. One lantern meant the British forces would be coming by land, and two lanterns by sea.

   We didn't go into the house, as it was early and it still wasn't open, but that was OK because I've been in a lot of colonial homes before. And just an FYI, two lanterns were lit in the steeple of the Old North Church which meant the British were arriving by sea.

    Here's that Old North Church where those lanterns hung. I'd never been here either. I would have  liked to go in and take a peek, but it was also too  early and the the building was still closed. 

   And here's the Old North Church as seen through a park and what would be your normal way to enter (but right now parts are under construction.) And below, a famous statue of Paul Revere in this park area.

    We stopped at one more spot along the Freedom Trail, and that was the second oldest cemetery in Boston, Copps Hill Burial Ground. I enjoy walking through old cemeteries, and even the short time we were there I took a lot of photos, but I'll share just a few since this post is already getting a bit long.

    I still can't say I've completed the Freedom Trail because I still need to visit the USS Constitution/Old Ironsides which is the oldest (US) commissioned ship still afloat and which was launched in 1797. I've seen it every time we drive over the Tobin Bridge from the north shore into the city, and I once took a duck boat tour which brought us over to the ship. But I haven't actually toured it. 

   The same is true for the Bunker Hill Monument, which I've also seen every time we drive into the city, but I have never actually been there.

    OK, this isn't the shortest post, so I think it's time to end it here. Hope you enjoyed a few views of colonial Boston. I still have some more photos to share for another time. Have a super rest of your weekend and start to the new week.