Boston is where the American Revolution began, and the city has kept the evidence: the meeting houses, churches and taverns where colonists argued, plotted and rang the alarm still stand among the glass towers. It is also a city of firsts, from America's oldest park and school to its first subway. Here are the facts and stories that make Boston special.
10 fun facts about Boston
- America's oldest public park: Boston Common was set aside in 1634. For more than 200 years residents grazed their cows on it, and today it is the starting point of the Freedom Trail.
- The first public botanical garden in America: the Public Garden next to the Common was established in 1837. Its pedal-powered Swan Boats have carried visitors around the lagoon since 1877.
- The oldest school in the country: Boston Latin School was founded in 1635, a year before Harvard, and is the oldest existing school in the United States.
- America's first university, just across the river: Harvard was founded in 1636 in Cambridge, on the other bank of the Charles River.
- One if by land, two if by sea: on the night of 18 April 1775, two lanterns were hung in the steeple of the Old North Church to warn that British troops were crossing by water. Built in 1723, it is the oldest surviving church building in Boston.
- A balcony and a massacre: on 5 March 1770 British soldiers shot five people in front of the Old State House, built in 1713. On 18 July 1776 the Declaration of Independence was read to Bostonians from its balcony.
- America's first subway: the Tremont Street Subway opened in 1897, the first in the United States. Its tunnels are still used by the Green Line today.
- The world's oldest annual marathon: the Boston Marathon was first run in 1897 and takes place every April on Patriots' Day.
- A wave of molasses: on 15 January 1919 a huge tank in the North End burst and released about 2.3 million gallons of molasses. The sticky wave, moving at around 35 miles per hour, killed 21 people and injured about 150.
- The first telephone call: on 10 March 1876 Alexander Graham Bell, who worked in Boston, spoke the first words over his new telephone to his assistant Thomas Watson.
The Boston Tea Party
In 1773 the British parliament passed the Tea Act, which let the East India Company sell tea cheaply in the colonies while keeping a tax that colonists had never agreed to. Three ships loaded with tea sat in Boston Harbor, and the town refused to let it be unloaded. On the night of 16 December 1773, a group of colonists, some disguised as Mohawk warriors, boarded the ships at Griffin's Wharf and threw 342 chests of tea into the water. London answered by closing the port of Boston in 1774, and within two years the colonies were at war.
The Freedom Trail, explained
In 1951 the journalist William Schofield suggested linking Boston's revolutionary sites with a single walking route. The result is the Freedom Trail, a red line of brick and paint that connects 16 historic places, from Boston Common past the State House, the Old South Meeting House, Faneuil Hall and Paul Revere's house to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. You can follow it on your own, in any order, and dip into the sites that interest you most.
What to eat in Boston
- New England clam chowder: a thick, creamy soup of clams and potatoes, served with small oyster crackers.
- Lobster roll: chunks of lobster in a buttered bun, either cold with mayonnaise or warm with melted butter.
- Boston cream pie: not a pie but a sponge cake filled with custard and topped with chocolate, created at the Parker House hotel in the 19th century and now the official dessert of Massachusetts.
- Boston baked beans: beans slow-cooked with molasses and salt pork, the dish behind the city's nickname, Beantown.
- Cannoli: crisp pastry tubes filled with sweet ricotta, the classic treat of the North End, Boston's Italian-American neighbourhood.
Good to know before you go
- Walking the Freedom Trail is free, but some sites along it, such as the Paul Revere House and the Old State House, charge admission.
- Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox, opened in 1912 and is the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball. Tours run on most days outside game times.
- Harvard and MIT in Cambridge are a short ride on the Red Line, and their campuses are free to wander.
- Autumn is the most beautiful season, with colourful leaves and mild days. Winters are cold and often snowy.
Explore Boston with World City Trail
Our Boston scavenger hunt turns these sights into a game you play on your phone. The route leads you through the main sights of the historic centre and takes around two hours, with about 29 minutes of walking.
At each stop you solve a puzzle and hear a short story, at your own pace. You can start whenever you like and play in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish or Portuguese.
Play the Boston scavenger hunt →
Facts checked in October 2026.