The Robert Gould Shaw and the Fifty-Fourth Regiment Memorial is a large, high-relief bronze sculpture set into the edge of the Boston Common, directly across from the Massachusetts State House. It depicts Colonel Robert Gould Shaw on…
Beacon Hill Black Heritage Walk
This walk takes you through the brick-paved streets of Beacon Hill's historic north slope, the heart of Boston's 19th-century free Black community. You'll visit the homes, schools, and churches where courageous activists organized the Underground Railroad and fought for civil rights.
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1. Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment Memorial
2. Charles Street Meeting House
The Charles Street Meeting House is a brick structure with a three-story tower and a wooden cupola that sits at the corner of Mount Vernon and Charles streets. Completed in eighteen oh seven, it was designed by the architect Asher Benjamin…
3. John J Smith House
The John J. Smith House at eighty-six Pinckney Street is a three-story brick townhouse, distinct for its white bay window and black trim. It served as the residence of John J. Smith between eighteen seventy-eight and eighteen ninety-three.…
4. Phillips School
The Phillips School is a four-story brick building standing at the corner of Anderson and Pinckney Streets. Constructed in eighteen twenty-four, it first opened as the Boston English High School before becoming a grammar school in eighteen…
5. Lewis & Harriet Hayden House
The Lewis and Harriet Hayden House at sixty-six Phillips Street is a modest brick row house that served as the most prominent Underground Railroad safe house in Boston during the eighteen fifties. Lewis and Harriet Hayden, both formerly…
6. John Coburn House
The John Coburn House stands at the corner of Phillips and Irving Streets, a Greek Revival structure designed by architect Asher Benjamin and completed around eighteen forty-four. It was the home of John P. Coburn, a successful local…
7. Smith Court Residences
The Smith Court Residences are a collection of historic homes on a narrow, dead-end street that served as the center of Boston’s African American community during the nineteenth century. The site includes buildings like the thin,…
8. Museum of African American History
The Museum of African American History on Beacon Hill is distinguished by a red brick exterior featuring three tall, arched windows positioned above two black doors. This site encompasses the African Meeting House, constructed in eighteen…