The Other Revolution
The north slope of Beacon Hill was the center of free Black life in pre-Civil War America — the churches, schools, and safe houses where abolition was organized. This is the revolution the Freedom Trail walks past.
Shaw / 54th Regiment Memorial
Building / Landmark · Start hereBegin at Saint-Gaudens' bronze masterpiece — the 54th Massachusetts, the Union's most famous Black regiment, marching down Beacon forever.
Open Shaw / 54th Regiment Memorial →The full route
- 1Shaw / 54th Regiment MemorialStart · Building / Landmark
Begin at Saint-Gaudens' bronze masterpiece — the 54th Massachusetts, the Union's most famous Black regiment, marching down Beacon forever.
- 2Massachusetts State House2 min walk walk · Building / Landmark
Under the gold dome, where Massachusetts abolished slavery by court decision in 1783 — a lifetime before the nation followed.
- 3African Meeting House2 min walk walk · Building / Landmark
The oldest surviving Black church building in America, 1806 — Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison both spoke here.
- 4Beacon Hill6 min walk walk · Neighborhood
Walk the north slope's brick lanes — Underground Railroad stops hide in plain sight among the townhouses.
- 5Granary Burying Ground9 min walk walk · Building / Landmark
End among the graves — Crispus Attucks, first to die in the Massacre, buried with the patriots he preceded.