Tag: map

Boston: Charlestown Walking Map

Boston: Charlestown Walking Map

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Charlestown is Boston’s oldest neighborhood—and over the years has arguably been its most volatile. For centuries the town trained and outfitted the nation’s military forces; it has seen ethnic, racial, and labor tensions simmer and erupt into violence; it has hosted one of history’s most infamous executions. And that’s not even to mention Charlestown’s two high points (literally!): Bunker Hill (where the first battle of the American Revolution was supposed to take place) and Breeds Hill (where it did). This walk will take you through the town’s compact heart and past its most colorful and historic sites.


Click for “WalkBoston’s Charlestown Walking Map” on Google Maps

Lexington Walking Map

Lexington Walking Map

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The extraordinary events of April 19, 1775 took place along a single dirt road between Boston, Lexington, and Concord. British troops, whose leaders were convinced that colonists had stores of arms in the area, planned to march on this road from Boston. Paul Revere and William Dawes traveled this road before dawn to warn the colonists. The “shots heard ’round the world” were fired early in the morning on a spring day in Lexington. On that day the American Revolution began.

As you stroll in and near beautiful Lexington, you’ll visit the sites of troop movements, skirmishes, and battles. The walk’s centerpiece, the Lexington Battle Green, is lined with many of the original buildings that witnessed the opening of the war. Interspersed among historic sites along the way are 19th- and 20th-century buildings that reflect Lexington’s development into a commercial center, and later a suburb.


Click here for “WalkBoston’s Lexington Walking Map” on Google Maps

Dedham Walking Map

Dedham Walking Map

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In Dedham the charm and grace of the early 1800s are still in evidence. Its center holds the town’s oldest houses and community buildings and still has bustling activity connected with the Norfolk County Courts. It stands distinct and removed from other parts of town, where farms became subdivisions and local industries once produced everything from shovels, boot to cigars.

Founded in 1635, Dedham was strategically located on the great highway of foot, horse, and wagon travel that ran from Virginia to New Hampshire. In its prime Dedham hosted presidents and political leaders, the nation’s first free public school, and notable events such as the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti.

The town lost much of its economic primacy before the twentieth century, however, and the automobile hastened its conversion to a suburban community whose boundaries blurred with those of its neighbors. This walk takes you on a loop around an oasis of history in a modern suburb.


Click for “WalkBoston’s Dedham Walking Map” on Google Maps

Hills of Somerville Walking Map

Hills of Somerville Walking Map

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Like an east coast San Francisco, Somerville’s street grid is imposed on its hills without regard to steep grades. Architects have capitalized on the city’s dramatic views with two- and three-family houses densely built in straight rows climbing the hills.

The city’s glacial hills and deep valleys were first settled by colonial farmers. Their roads—which followed crests or valleys—still exist in the form of modern-day Broadway, Somerville Avenue, Elm Street, Main Street, Washington Street, and others. The crosstown streets were once paths between farmers’ lands. The curious street grid may have helped guide the later grid layout of Midwestern and Western cities.

Early development followed the colonial roads; the unpaved range-ways were too hilly for horses. In the 19th century railroads, thoroughfares, and streetcars were all laid out, allowing Somerville to become both an industrial center and, at one point, the most densely populated city in the country.


Click for “Hills of Somerville Walking Map” on Google Maps