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Now the centerpiece of the downtown waterfront development, the aquarium’s construction in the 1960s paved the way for the revitalization of Boston Harbor. Seals cavort in a tank in front of the sleek modern structure (see New England Aquarium).

An active Episcopal congregation still worships at Boston’s oldest church, officially known as Christ Church (1723). The austere interior looks much as it did in its early days. It was here, in 1775, that sexton Robert Newman hung two lanterns in the belfry to warn horseback messenger Paul Revere of British troop movements (see Paul Revere’s Ride (1775)).

Home to Paul Revere for 30 years, this 17th-century clapboard house is the only surviving home of any of Boston’s revolutionary heroes. A place of pilgrimage for history buffs, it provides an intriguing glimpse into the domestic life of Revere’s family with displays of their furniture and possessions including silverwork made by Revere, who was highly regarded as a metalsmith. Well-trained staff perpetuate the tale of Revere’s legendary midnight ride (see Paul Revere’s Ride (1775))

Originally built in the 17th-century to connect the shipping wharves to Dock Square (now Faneuil Hall Marketplace (see Faneuil Hall Marketplace)), Hanover Street was widened in 1870 to accommodate the busy flow of commerce. Today, as the North End’s principal artery with cafés and eateries aplenty, it is the place to come for a slice of the action.

Trace the history of Boston on the thousands of tombstones here, from the mean-spirited Mather family, theocrats who ruled the early city, to the valiant patriots slain in the fight for freedom. In the Battle of Bunker Hill (see Washington Takes Command (1776)), the British, who occupied the city in 1775, manned a battery from this site and fired on neighboring Charlestown. There are sweeping views of the harbor.

The North End’s history as both revolutionary stronghold and Italian immigrant neighborhood comes together along this tree-lined mall, which old-timers persist in calling the Prado. Created in 1933, the pedestrian mall connects Hanover Street to the rear of Old North Church. Bronze plaques lining the walls capture snippets from the lives of former Bostonians, while an equestrian statue of Paul Revere surveys it all. Today, the mall is a social center, where mothers convene with baby carriages, kids play frisbee, and old men hunker over checkerboards.

Running parallel to Hanover Street, Salem is as narrow and intimate as Hanover is broad and public. Lined with a growing number of restaurants, this is also where North Enders shop for the necessities of daily life – from rabbit and veal to pillowy loaves of bread, which come fresh from local ovens around the clock. The Italian flavor of the neighborhood, though fading in recent years as gentrification inflates the cost of housing, remains its strongest on Salem Street’s narrow sidewalks.

Renowned architect Charles Bulfinch completely redesigned the church’s original 1714 structure in 1802–4. This church is the only surviving example of his religious architecture. The complex Neo-Classical exterior contrasts with the open, airy, and relatively unadorned interior. In 1862, the Roman Catholic archdiocese took over the church to accommodate the area’s growing number of Irish immigrants. Rose Fitzgerald, daughter of Boston mayor John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald and mother of President J. F. Kennedy (see John F. Kennedy (1917–1963)), is linked to the church. She was baptized here in 1890, and her funeral took place here in 1995.

Educators at this ground-breaking interactive museum for kids pioneered some of the features now found in similar facilities around the world, including giant soap bubbles and complex rampways for marbles (see Children’s Museum).

The historic occasion (known as the Boston Tea Party) when patriots, dressed as native Americans, threw a consignment of English tea overboard to protest against the Stamp Tax of 1773, proved to be a precipitating event of the American Revolution (see Boston Tea Party (1773)). The Boston Tea Party ship is a replica of the brig Beaver, one of the vessels deprived of its cargo that fateful December night. Aboard the ship, costumed storytellers recount events in rousing detail while visitors sip tea (or dump it over the rail). Over the centuries Boston has expanded into the harbor and the tea party site now lies firmly inland at 470 Atlantic Avenue, where a plaque marks the event.