Charlestown
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USS
Constitution
Charlestown Navy Shipyard
South side of Chelsea Street
(617) 242-5671
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Affectionately known
as Old Ironsides, the USS Constitution is the world’s oldest
commissioned warship, though her fighting days are long behind her.
Launched on Oct. 21,
1797, the USS Constitution was designed by Joshua Humphreys and
built for $302,718 to carry 500 men. The ship earned its nickname
during the War of 1812 while battling the British ship
Guierriere
on Aug. 19, 1812, with legend recalling the cannonballs seemed to
bounce off the ship’s powerful exterior.
The USS Constitution
returned to Boston in 1815, then was dispatched to the Mediterranean
from 1821 – 1828. The federal government decided to scrap the ship
in 1829, but a 21-year-old Oliver Wendell Holmes shored up support
to stop the move with his 1830 poem,
“Old Ironsides.”
Old Ironsides has
been moored at the Charlestown Navy Yard since 1934 and is staffed
by 55 naval officers. The public can tour the vessel and the
adjacent USS Constitution Museum at the shipyard year round, or
watch it take its annual Fourth of July turnaround cruise in Boston
Harbor. The short trip keeps the USS Constitution in compliance with
the Navy requirement that all ships travel a nautical mile each year
to maintain active status.
Open April 1 – Oct.
31, Tues. – Sat., 10 am – 6 pm
Nov. 1 – March 3,
Thurs. – Sun., 10 am – 3:50 pm
Museum open daily
Oct. 16 – April 30, 10 am – 5 pm and daily May 1 – Oct. 15, 9 am – 6
pm
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Charlestown Navy Yard
(617) 242-5601
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This boatyard played a vital role in
protecting America, churning out more than 200 warships from 1800 –
1974.
The 30-acre Navy Yard became part of
the Boston National Historical Park after it closed. Besides touring the
stalwart USS Constitution, visitors can take in the USS Cassin Young, a
World War II destroyer, or the Commandant House where naval leaders
lived. Those wanting more still can call in advance to arrange a more
detailed tour of the entire yard. |
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Bunker Hill Monument Bunker Hill Monument
Monument Square
(617) 242-5641
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Standing 221 feet over the city,
this granite obelisk is both physical and historical excursion. The
marker honors the colonists who lost their lives in the fierce Battle of
Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, a battle the British won enroute to their
ultimate demise a year later.
The Marquis de
Lafayette of France, a key American ally, laid the monument’s
cornerstone in 1825, though it took another 15 years to complete
because of lackluster fund-raising. The effort eventually required
the sale of most the battlefield land.
Today, the monument
is overseen by the National Park Service and open free to the
public. Visitors who rise to the challenge of climbing its 294 steps
(sorry, no elevator) will be treated to grand views of Boston. For
those who want to skip the sweat, there is an exhibit space on the
ground. Each June, park rangers re-enact the bloody Battle of Bunker
Hill. Catch one of the four daily musket firing demonstrations in
the summer from Thursday – Sunday.
Monument open daily
9 am – 4:30 pm
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Copp’s Hill Burying Ground
Hull and Snow Hill streets
(617) 635-4505
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Dating back to the 1660s, Boston’s
second oldest burial ground sits high on a hill once owned by shoemaker
William Cobb. It holds the graves of prominent preachers Cotton and
Increase Mather.
The Mathers lie on the hill where
the British shot their cannons at the colonists during the Battle of
Bunker Hill. The father and son’s bodies lie alongside thousands of
graves, including those of: Shem Drowne, crafter of Faneuil Hall’s
grasshopper weathervane; Prince Hall, founder of the Black Masonic
Order; Edward Hartt, builder of the USS Constitution; and Robert Newman,
who displayed the light in the Old North Church while his friend Paul
Revere took his famous ride to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams the
British were coming. Along Snow Hill Street are hundreds of unmarked
graves belonging to free African-Americans who lived in the nearby New
Guinea community.
Increase Mather was a Boston
minister whose power went far beyond the church. He served as Harvard
College’s first president and traveled to England to secure a charter
for the new colony. Both he and his son Cotton Mather were involved in
the study of witchcraft and believed it was present in Salem. |
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