Boston: A Historic Walking Tour

Images of America: Massachusetts

by Anthony Mitchell Sammarco

Oliver Wendell Holmes coined the Massachusetts State House as the “Hub of the Universe.” In Boston: A Historic Walking Tour, readers are guided on a series of downtown walking tours that radiate out from this Boston landmark. Featuring different excursions that explore Boston’s prominent neighborhoods and districts, visitors and natives alike will see how this city has become one of the country’s oldest cultural destinations. Boston’s growth and development in the 19th and 20th centuries has contributed to it becoming the unofficial “Capital of New England”; its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region is far reaching. Although Boston is known for its notoriously crooked streets and narrow alleys, it is a mecca for walkers looking to take in historic sites and surround themselves with history. Walk along Tremont, Washington, Beacon, and Summer Streets to explore downtown Boston. Saunter down Beacon Street on Beacon Hill and Boylston Street in the Back Bay to take in the city’s most beloved sites.

131 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 16, 2013

About the author

Anthony Mitchell Sammarco is a noted historian and author of over sixty books on the history and development of Boston, and he lectures widely on the history and development of his native city. He commenced writing in 1995, and his books Lost Boston, The History of Howard Johnson’s: How A Massachusetts Soda Fountain Became a Roadside Icon, and The Baker Chocolate Company: A Sweet History
are among his many books that have made local bestseller lists.

Reviews

[Claire Steckbauer]

This book had lots of history about buildings and monuments in Boston. It focuses a lot on architecture. There wasn’t a map and never being to Boston before (reading up before an upcoming trip) made the spatial awareness of the locations completely unknown. The pictures in the book were great and I’m sure there will be many times I remember tid-bits while walking around.

[Nick Vantangoli]

Decent

This book is far from exhaustive. Perhaps the other should have spent less time waxing poetic on architectural styles and more time on the meaty history of it all.

[Judy]

3.5, rounded up to 4 because it had good historical material but too much focus on architecture - should have renamed the title as an architecture walking tour