Of all the great cities in the United States, Boston has perhaps the most fascinating and storied history.  Founded in 1630, it was the site of the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Massacre, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and Paul Revere’s midnight ride.  It was here that the first public school in the United States, Boston Latin School, was established, and in nearby Cambridge where the country’s first college, Harvard, was founded.  Boston’s colorful political, revolutionary and intellectual history lives on through a unique Bostonian culture.

Originally settled on a small peninsula known as Shawmut, Boston proper was 487 acres. This roughly encompasses the North End, Beacon Hill, and the downtown area into the Fort Hill section of Dorchester. Roxbury, the geographical center of the city, was only accessible on foot at low tide. Thus began the great filling in of the peninsula. By 1890 the Back Bay was filled in, adding more land to Boston than the entire original Shawmut peninsula.

Boston's harbor and its geographical position made it a natural in terms of shipping and ocean going commerce. Trading, both with Britain and with other colonies served to make Boston a wealthy city from the very beginning. For nearly a century she was the preeminent shipbuilding city. As the colonies south began to grow economically, other port cities such as New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore began to trade. As that trade began to be curtailed by Britain, it unwittingly sowed the seeds of rebellion among the now firmly entrenched middle class.  Further events were set in motion in the British Parliament, culminating in the Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 18, 1775.

For a complete list of great historic sites in Boston and to receive the official visitors guide you can visit the official site of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau.