Boston Common - Where Cows Grazed and Redcoats Camped

Photo: AbhiSuryawanshi, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

A stop on Boston Freedom Trail, a free self-guided tour.

You're standing at the edge of the oldest public park in the United States. In 1634 the Puritan settlers bought this land from William Blackstone, the peninsula's first European resident, and set it aside as common ground where every family could graze its cattle.

The Common was never just pasture. Public punishments and hangings took place here, and in 1775 British troops pitched their tents on this grass while they occupied the town. On the night of April 18, 1775, redcoats marched from the Common's edge to the boats that carried them toward Lexington and Concord.

The land itself was taken first from the Massachusett people, whose name the colony and state still carry.

Today it's a place for picnics, protests and pickup games. Before you set off, find the red-brick line in the sidewalk near the Visitor Center: it will lead you to every stop on this tour.

Getting here: Start at the Boston Common Visitor Center at 139 Tremont Street, a short walk from the Park Street T station.

Did you know?: Bostonians kept grazing cows on the Common until 1830, when the city finally banned the practice.

Photo op: Walk a few steps uphill onto the Common and look back toward Beacon Street to frame the golden State House dome above the trees.

More on Wikipedia: Boston Common · William Blaxton · Battles of Lexington and Concord

Boston Common - Where Cows Grazed and Redcoats Camped

Stops on this tour