Chapter 1 CREATING THE FREEDOM TRAIL Boston Massachusetts is a city filled with history The city was founded in 1630 when Massachusetts was a British colony Boston became one of the centers of action during the 1770s as the colonists struggled to become an independent nation In the days leading up to the American Revolution many people gathered in Boston to plan and fight for America’s freedom Later during the Revolution many places in Boston became sites of important events that helped create a new nation Millions of people visit Boston every year to see the famous places where history happened hundreds of years ago Although other cities have historical sites Boston has organized a special way to see its famous places In Boston you can see most of the famous sites by walking a special path called the Freedom Trail 4
William Schofield worked for a Boston newspaper called the Herald Traveler Schofield knew that many people came to Boston to see the city’s historic sites but he also knew there was no organized plan that linked the sites together The Old North Church In 1775 the Old North Church hung lanterns to signal Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride to tell the colonists the British were coming The Old North Church played an important role in the American Revolution and is one of the most popular stops on the Freedom Trail 5
On March 8 1951 Schofield wrote a column in the Herald Traveler In it he described his idea to link Boston’s important places Schofield wrote All I’m suggesting is that we mark out a Puritan Path or Liberty Loop or Freedom Way or whatever you want to call it so visitors and locals will know where to start and what course to follow You could do the trick on a budget of just a few dollars and a bucket of paint Not only would it add to the personality of the city but also it would please the tourists In his column Schofield also included a rough idea of the sites his path would include Over the next two weeks he kept on writing about his idea and even added a few more sites to his list Many people in Boston liked Schofield’s idea One of them was Mayor John B Hynes On March 31 Hynes announced that the city would go ahead with the plan to create a Freedom Trail The new Trail was ready to go by June Mayor John B Hynes 1897 1970 6
