Vincent DeWitt
History and innovation combine in Boston to create a small-scale destination that's easy to explore yet always surprising. This view from the city's Harborwalk takes in the impressive skyline of Massachusetts' state capital.
This 221-foot granite obelisk, can be seen from miles away. It honors the memory of the colonists who died in the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. The Marquis de Lafayette, the celebrated hero of the American and French revolutions, helped lay the monument's cornerstone in 1825.The top of the hill also provides great views of Charlestown's pleasantly varied architecture.
Boston is one of the only American cities in which a building whose cornerstone was laid in 1795 can be the "new" anything. Nevertheless, this is the new State House (as opposed to the Old State House--now a museum), designed by the great Federal-era architect Charles Bulfinch and possessing a roof sheathed in copper and 23-karat gold.
The Common is the oldest public park in the country (bought in 1634, set aside in 1640), and is a welcome splash of green in red-brick Boston. Today its 45 or so acres buzz with activity, from demonstrations to musical performances to picnic lunches.