and brick path. It winds through the city covering 16 historic sites from America's

colonial past and two and a half centuries of American History. The trail starts at Boston

Common, a 50-acre park which is America's oldest park. Cattle grazed there up until

1830, and until 1817 the park was the site of public hangings. The trail then heads north

where it visits the site of the Boston Massacre, which got its name from patriots like Samuel

Adams, who used the word to describe a riot between the colonists and British soldiers

in 1770. The trail continues on to other sites including the Old State House, Fanueil Hall,

and the Paul Revere House. The Paul Revere House is the oldest building in Boston and

was the home of Paul Revere from 1770 to 1800. The trail ends at the Bunker Hill Monument

on Breed Hill in Charlestown, the site of the first major battle of the Revolution.

Maps for the Freedom Trail can be downloaded online so you can easily do the tour on foot

without a guide. But there are also lots of official and unofficial tour guides who take

visitors to the 16 exhibits by foot or trolley every day of the year.