2012 AAHPERD National Convention & Exposition



2012 AAHPERD National Convention & Exposition

Geocaching Along the Boston Freedom Trail

Tuesday March 13 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Begin in Room 205 Depart for Trail at approximately 1:45 pm

About the Boston Freedom Trail

The entire Trail takes the walking visitor to 16 historical sites in the course of two or three hours, The two and a half mile trail covers places not not only representative of the American Revolution, but also notes two and a half centuries of America's most significant past. A red brick or painted line connects the sites on the Trail and serves as a guide. Our session will cover the first half of the trail

Reminders:

Smart Phone / Android users : When using your maps, you can type in the coordinates and use the turn by turn feature.

Participants in the program must remember to obey the Pedestrians and Traffic Laws and to use good judgment when walking and using the GPS Units.

Guide phone numbers: _________________________________________

Public Garden

The starting point of the Freedom Trail is the 50 acre Boston Common. It is the oldest park in the country. The "Common" has been used for many different purposes throughout its long history. Until 1830, cattle grazed the Common, and until 1817, public hangings took place here. British troops camped on Boston Common prior to the Revolution and left from here to face colonial resistance at the April 1775 Battle of Lexington and Concord.

Boston Common Frog Pond

During the winter, the Frog Pond Skating Rink features concessions, skate rentals, rest rooms, and a warming area.

Massachusetts State House

Built in 1798, the "new" State House is located across from the Boston Common on the top of Beacon Hill. Charles Bullfinch, the leading architect of the day, designed the building. The dome, originally made out of wood shingles, is now sheathed in copper and covered by 23 karat gold which was added to prevent leaks into the State House.

In the House of Representatives chambers hangs a wooden codfish which is called the Sacred Cod. The Sacred Cod signifies the importance of the fishing industry to the Commonwealth. At the top of the golden dome sits a wooden pinecone which symbolizes logging in Boston during the 18th century.

Park Street Church, located on the corner of Park and Tremont Streets, dates back to 1809.  Its 217 foot steeple was the first landmark travelers saw when coming into Boston. This Evangelical Church of "firsts" is the location of the first Sunday school in 1818 and the first prison aid in 1824. On July 4, 1829, William Lloyd Garrison gave his first public anti-slavery speech here and two years later, "My Country 'Tis of Thee" was sung for the first time by the church children's choir.

Granary Burial Ground

Founded in 1660, the Granary is the third oldest burying ground in Boston proper. In 1737, when grain was stored where the present Park Street Church stands, the burying ground was renamed the Granary. Along with Massachussetts Governors, Clergymen, and Mayors, three signers of the Declaration of Independence, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Robert Treat Paine, are buried here. Approximately 5000 people are buried at Granary even though there are only 2300 headstones. Since funerals were expensive, there would be one headstone per family. Each grave contains at least 20 bodies

King’s Chapel

The King's Chapel, located on the corner of Tremont and School Streets was constructed on land taken from the burying ground. To insure the presence of the Church of England in America, King James II ordered an Anglican parish to be built in Boston. Since none of the colonists were interested in selling suitable land for the Church, the King ordered Governor Andros to seize a corner of the burying ground for the Church of England. King's Chapel Burying Ground is the oldest burying place in Boston proper. The burying ground is the final resting place for many colonists, including John Winthrop, the Colony's 12 term governor and Mary Chilton, the first woman to step off the Mayflower.

The first public school in America was established by Puritan settlers in 1635 in the home of Schoolmaster Philemon Pormont and was later moved to this site on School Street in 1645. Boys from various socio-economic backgrounds attended the famous Boston Latin School until 1972 when girls were also accepted. The Boston Latin School moved from School Streeet and is now located in Boston's Fenway neighborhood.

A statue of noted alumnus Benjamin Franklin overlooks the former site of the Boston Latin School which Franklin, Samuel Adams,Robert Paine, and John Hancock once attended (Franklin dropped out). Franklin's place of birth was just one block away on Milk Street, across from the Old South Meeting House.

The Site of the Old Corner Bookstore on School and Washington Streets. The Bookstore was built in 1711 as an apothecary shop, office and home of Thomas Crease. In 1828 a bookstore and printing shop was opened, and it peaked under the management of publisher Ticknor and Fields which became the nation’s leading publisher between 1833 and 1864. They produced the works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., Charles Dickens and Louisa May Alcott, many of whom were frequent visitors to the building. The Old Corner Bookstore is one of Boston's oldest surviving structures and was restored in 1960. Today, the building is occupied by a private vendor.

The Old South Meeting House, located on the corner of Milk and Washington Streets, was built in 1729 as a Puritan house of worship. It was also the largest building in colonial Boston. The Old South Meeting House is best known as the site of where the Boston Tea Party began. In the winter of 1773, more than 5,000 colonists gathered at Old South in a meeting to protest the tax on tea. After many hours of debate, Samuel Adams announced, "This meeting can do nothing more to save the country!" Protestors stormed out of the Old South Meeting House to the waterfront where they dumped three shiploads of tea into Boston Harbor, changing the course of American history.

The Old State House

The Old State House was the seat of British Government before the Revolution and afterwards served as the Commonwealth’s first capitol building. Located at the crossroads of the city’s two main streets, the Townhouse, as it was then called, was the center of Boston’s civic, commercial, and political life. The distinctive cupola was once the tallest point in town, and the building’s façade was topped by the lion and unicorn, symbols of royal authority that were torn down and burned after the Declaration of Independence was read to the people of Boston from the building’s balcony in 1776.

Some of the most significant events leading up to the Revolution took place inside and around this handsome Georgian structure, and many of the basic concepts underlying American government were first voiced within its walls. In its Assembly Hall, Samuel Adams urged resistance to taxation imposed without representation. The Old State House is today maintained as an historic site and museum by the Bostonian Society.

Faneuil Hall

Christened the Cradle of Liberty, Faneuil Hall's vital role in revolutionary politics hadn't been part of its original plans. Peter Faneuil, a wealthy merchant, built the hall as a center of commerce in 1742. Faneuil Hall was rebuilt 1763 when it burned down. Charles Bulfinch redesigned the current building in 1805.

While the market stalls on the first floor house successful shops to this day, it is the second floor meeting hall that has the greater legacy. It was at Faneuil Hall in 1764 that Americans first protested against the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act, setting the doctrine that would come to be known as no taxation without representation. Gatherings to protest the Stamp Act, the Townshend Act, and the Redcoat occupation would follow, as would one of the first in a series of meetings that would culminate in the Boston Tea Party.

Come celebrate your geocaching completion and receive your coin at the Black Rose! 160 State Street

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