Boston North End Cultural Heritage Tour

The North End Cultural Heritage Tour provides a comprehensive, succinct and entertaining journey through the layers of history, heritage and culture of Boston's first neighborhood. You are about to embark on an amazing adventure through the most unique and romantic village in America.

Boston's Little Italy - The North End
Join us and discover all the wonders of this Italian village and the wealth of history within its shores. Stroll with us through the lively narrow streets of the North End and savor the aromas of Italian regional cuisine and absorb the treasures of its history, heritage and culture.

Please Visit Our New Website! The North End Cultural Heritage Tour

Please email comments to: chris@BostonHeritageTours.com

How would you like to have a new Experience? See Little Italy from a new perspective? Be overwhelmed by the possibilities.

Create Memories for a lifetime!

Join us with a local guide on an exciting three-hour walking tour through the North End, Boston.

Discover the history, heritage and culture of the North End

Savor the aromas of these enticing restaurants and pastry shops as we walk by and describe what the best restaurants have to offer you!

Feel the pulse of a vibrant romantic Italian Village as it draws you in

See all the historical sites and curiosities in the North End

Appreciate the ethnic and social diversity of those who once lived here

Experience a behind the scenes look at hidden histories and lost stories

Learn the various styles and incarnations of Boston Architecture

Hear the latest gossip, politics, and news in the North End

Celebrate the joy of all Little Italy has to offer

Have Fun laugh and enjoy yourself, you’re worth it!

Lively and historically significant, this three hour guided walking tour will lead you from the shores of the Boston Harbor Waterfront, through the narrow streets and alleys of time and testimony to discover how each culture influenced the next to define our heritage.

A Wonderful Three Hour Guided Walking Tour
This 3 hour guided walking tour will and run twice daily at 9am and 2pm; Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Sunday's at 12 noon

Please Visit Our New Website – http://www.bostonheritagetours.com/

Please contact me at:

chris@bostonheritagetours.com

Participants are limited to 14 people per tour

Fascinating Anecdotes

Listen as your guide narrates a myriad of remarkable stories, anecdotes and curiosities of customs, traditions and taboos from each century to shape the heritage of the North End.

Discover hidden histories of those who once walked these narrow crooked streets and see the North End from a new perspective.

Cultural Perspective

Using historical photographs, sketches, prints and reproduction artifacts, your guide will illustrate the changes in culture, architecture and landscape throughout the North End. Discover tales of the changing wharves and wars and how Boston became one the largest seaports in the country. Along the way you will visit more than 20 historically significant sites and places of interest, including the North End Freedom Trail and several sites along the Boston Harborwalk.

We are also proud to include the North End Women’s Heritage Trail, interpreting women's contributions to the city's cultural, social, economic, and political life, and in many cases, their influence on national affairs.

The North End Walk presents the lives of women from the variety of ethnic groups who have lived in the North End. Beginning with Yankee women active in support of the American Revolution, the walk continues with the activities of the Irish, Jewish, and Italian women who have made the North End their first home in Boston.

This trail was developed by the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.

Layers of History, Heritage and Culture of America’s First Neighborhood

This is the first and only cultural heritage tour that offers a comprehensive history of life from the early 1600’s to the present time on what the Algonquin Native Americans called the Shawmut Peninsula (meaning Living Waters).

Discover not only who lived here, but why. Legions of ethnic cultures and religious beliefs from Europe and beyond seeking a chance for economic opportunity, freedom and prosperity.

Discover the variations and incarnations of English Protestants and their effect on each other.

From the 17th to mid 18th century, Boston’s African-American community principally lived in the Copps Hill area of the North End along Snow Hill Street. In Copps Hill Burying Ground there are over 1,000 unmarked graves of the African Americans who lived there; notably, Prince Hall (the father of Black Freemasonry).

The heritage of the Irish, the Polish and the Russian Jewish culture will be revisited along this tour. We will also review the significance of Religious Feasts, Italian enclaves and their exclusive provincial loyalty.

As the Culture changed so did its Coastline
Learn how Boston “Made Land” in the North End to accommodate its increasing population and burgeoning economy.

Photographic Opportunities

Bring your camera along with you on our walking tour and enter your best photograph in our Photo of the Month Contest to win 4 Free Tour Tickets. Remember Light, Content and Moment.

Ideal for Groups

This tour is perfect for couples, independent travelers, family groups, tour groups, business travelers, corporate events, school groups, fundraising events and orientation for newcomers. I’m certain the locals will love it too.

Paul Revere Museum

As we wind our way from the Waterfront into the North End we intersect the Freedom Trail in North Square at the Paul Revere House. Restored to its original 1680 condition, the museum offers a fascinating way to validate the past and preserve our cultural heritage. This is the 100th Anniversary of the Paul Revere House as a Museum.

Italian Restaurant Information

As we continue our journey towards Hanover Street savor the aromas and textures of flavor as a wave of Italian restaurants embrace you. Along the route your guide will issue a list Restaurants highlighting our choice of places to eat by category of ambiance and flavor.

Catholic Churches

After visiting 3 Catholic Churches ( Sacred Heart, St. Leonard's and St. Stephen's) we go off the beaten track and momentarily wind around narrow Colonial Streets where we meet the Freedom Trail again at the Paul Revere Mall, known as the Prado. Hear the true story of his midnight ride and savor the ambiance and heritage of this soothing park.

Old North Church

Crossing Unity Street we enter the grounds of one of the most beautiful and historically significant places on earth, The Old North Church. We will roam the gardens and courtyard surrounding this iconic sanctuary and marvel its Colonial interior.

Walking down Charter Street time slows down as we find a hidden oasis in the city. A quiet tree lined cobblestone park where Paul Revere lived in his later years.

Waterfront View of Charlestown

Our walking tour then takes us to the Puopulo and Langone Waterfront Parks, where we have a fabulous view of Boston Harbor, the USS Constitution and the Bunker Hill Monument. Watch the locals play the ancient game of Bocci Ball. At this point we are also at the site of the 1919 Molasses Disaster. Your guide has insightful knowledge of this historical event.

Copp's Hill - Windmill Hill

As we slowly walk the stone steps of Copp's Hill Terrace, The view of the harbor is magnificent from this location; another great photo opportunity.

Copps Hill Burying Ground is the highest point in the North End, even though North Enders cut 15 feet from its summit to help fill in Mill Pond. At one time Copp's Hill had 4 Windmills on its peak to grind grain for the settlers. The Puritans soon discovered its strategic overlook of the Harbor and of the Charles River to the west and found the steep hill well-protected from the three great annoyances, of 'Wolves, Rattle-snakes and Musketos."

The tour continues down one of the most photographic streets in Boston, Hull Street. Here, the narrow street and row of houses create a perfect frame of the Old North Church Steeple.

The North End Cultural Heritage Tour

Historical Stops and Conversation Include:
· Christopher Columbus Park and Lewis Wharf Harborwalk
· North Square and its Historical Dominance
· The Paul Revere House
· Three Catholic Churches: Sacred Heart, St. Leonard's, St. Stephens
· Paul Revere Mall (The Prado)
· Old North Church and the Gardens
· Hidden Oasis in the Neighborhood
· Langone Park and Bocce Ball Courts
· Site of the 1919 Molasses Disaster
· Copps Hill Terrace (the Golden Staircase)
· Copps Hill Burying Ground (Windmill Hill)
· 15 Sites along the Historical Women's Heritage Trail

Layers of History and Cultural Heritage – The Narrative
· Early Native American Settlements and Tribal Wars
· Original Explorers of the 16th Century
· Religious Cultures of the 17th Century European Settlers
· Pilgrims, Puritans and Quakers
· Mysteries of the Witch Hysteria Revealed
· Tales of Old Boston Taverns, Bars and Brothels
· The Riots of Pope Night
· Colonial America and the Revolutionary War
· When the North End was a Mariners' Neighborhood
· As the Culture of Boston changed so did its Coastline, "The Big Fill"
· Immigration: Evolution of Opportunity
· Irish, Polish, Russian, Portuguese, and the Villages of Italy
· Courage, Perseverance and Triumphs of an Italian Neighborhood

Everyone Returns To The North End

Famous for its friendliness, the North End has everything that creates an authentic Italian neighborhood experience. This vibrant village within a village has more to offer than any other place on Earth; history, culture, heritage, wine tasting, bakeries, markets, restaurants, culinary delights, shops and specialty stores all wrapped in a timeless history within your grasp

Oliver Wendell Homes metaphorically referred to Boston as the Hub of the Solar System; but when you’re standing at the corner of Hanover and Parmenter Streets you’ll understand why the North End is the Nexus of the Universe.

Handouts and Valuable Resources for Out of Town Visitors and Bostonians with an interest in History and Preservation:

· Historical Chronology of the Shawmut Peninsula from 500 AD to 2008

· Three historical maps- including the changing coastline of Boston

· A Restaurant List highlighting our choice of places to eat by category (ambiance and flavor) elegant boutique, bistro, family, romantic, regional, Old Fashioned Homemade Italian American comfort food and yes, Chinese.

· Selective menus from our favorite restaurants

Summer Schedule of all the feasrts

The North End is a celebration of life, so let’s start living it. Indulge yourself, you’re worth it.

“History is the story of what happens, humanity places significance on that story.”

“Those who are different change the world; those who are the same keep it that way.”

"Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe."- H.G. Wells

Boston Cultural Heritage Tours is honored to include:

The North End Women’s Heritage Trail

This North End Women's Heritage Trail was developed by the Boston Women's Heritage Trail at http://www.bwht.org/ and introduces the lives of women from a variety of ethnic groups who have a historical significance; and lived in the North End. The tour will present Yankee women active in support of the American Revolution, the walk continues with the activities of the Irish, Jewish, and Italian women who have made the North End their first home in Boston.

Boston Public Library; North End Union
A community organization formed to meet the needs of Irish, Jewish, and Italian immigrant families.

Poto Family Grocery Store
The home and store of community activist Clementine Poto Langone.

Home of Rachel and Paul Revere
Home of Paul Revere’s second wife and their many children.

Mariners House
Boarding house for sailors run by the Seaman’s Aid Society.

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Birthplace
Birthplace of the daughter and mother of Boston’s most prominent political families.

Old St. Stephen’s Church
The church attended by Rose Kennedy.

Plaques to North End Women
Plaques to honor Ann Pollard, Dr. Harriet Keziah Hunt, and Charlotte Cushman.

Paul Revere Pottery and Library Clubhouse
Site of the famous pottery that employed young Italian and Jewish women and girls.

North Bennet Street School
A leading industrial school founded by Pauline Agassiz Shaw.

Hebrew Industrial School
A needlework school founded to train young Jewish women.

Universalist Meeting House
Site of church attended by writer and educator Judith Sargent Murray.

St. Leonard’s Church
The first Roman Catholic Church founded by Italian Americans and later preserved by women.

Rose Kennedy Greenway
Three Hundred acres of landscaped open space containing fourteen parks.

Goody Glover, Goody Glover Tavern
An Irish servant who was accused by Cotton Mather of witchcraft and hanged in Boston 1688.

Home of Sophie Tucker
Part of the Jewish comunity of Salem Street, she became a philanthropist for Jewish causes.