Boston, Massachusetts — RayWilsonPix PHOTOGRAPHY

Boston

Massachusetts

Boston is one of the oldest cities in the United States. It is the capital and largest city in the state of Massachusetts and the largest city in New England. Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region. With a 2008 estimated population of 616,535, Boston is also the anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area called Greater Boston, home to 4.4 million people and the tenth-largest metropolitan area in the country.

Puritan colonists from England founded the city in 1630. During the late eighteenth century Boston was the location of several major events surrounding the American Revolution, including the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and the Battle of Bunker Hill. After independence from Great Britain was attained, Boston became a major shipping port and manufacturing center. Its rich history now attracts 16.3 million visitors annually.

The city was the site of several firsts, including America's first public school, Boston Latin School in 1635. Boston was also home to the first subway system in the United States.

With many colleges and universities such as Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology within the city and surrounding area, Boston is a center of higher education and medicine. The city's economy is based on research, finance, and technology; principally biotechnology.

Boston Common - once common land for pasture

1897 bronze relief memorial honoring the first African American volunteer unit in the Civil War.

Tremont Temple Baptist Church, Tremont Street

People leave 1 cent coins as a tribute to Benjamin Franklin.The Fugio cent, also known as the Franklin cent, was the first official circulation coin of the United States and minted dated 1787, by some accounts it was designed by Benjamin Franklin

Paul Revere was famous for his ride to warn the militiamen that the British were coming

James Otis grave. He was a lawyer in colonial Massachusetts. The phrase "Taxation without Representation is Tyranny" is usually attributed to him.

The 8 foot bronze statue of Benjamin Franklin standing in front of Boston's elaborate Old City Hall looks new but was the first public statue of a person erected in Boston in 1856

Franklin at the Declaration of Independence

Franklin conducting the electricity experiment with a kite

Old South Meeting House became the centre for massive public protest meetings against British actions from 1768-75. Patriots and Loyalists alike met to argue, inform and protest. Yet it was the series of meetings that culminated on December 16, 1773 that sealed Old South’s fate as one of this country’s most significant buildings, when over 5,000 men crowded into the meeting house to hotly debate the controversial tea tax. When the final attempt at compromise failed, Samuel Adams gave the signal that started the Boston Tea Party. The Sons of Liberty led the way to Griffin’s Wharf, where they dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbour.

Musket, reportedly used at the Battle of Lexington 1775

Washington Street - Great Lobster and Crab eatery!

Old State House. The original seat of colonial government & later state capitol, today housing historical exhibits.

On March 5, 1770, British sentries guarding the Boston Customs House shot into a crowd of civilians, killing three men and injuring eight, two of them mortally. Surrounded by jeering Bostonians slinging hard-packed snowballs, the small group of soldiers lost control when one of their number was struck. The soldiers fired despite explicit orders to the contrary. Americans called it the Boston Massacre. (They keep quiet about Native Americans later slaughtered by the U.S. Government)

Armenian Heritage Park, near the Rose Kennedy Garden

Old North Church, at 193 Salem Street, is the location from which the famous "One if by land, two if by sea" signal is said to have been sent.

Boston

Massachusetts

Kennebunkport, Maine

Newport, Rhode Island