Support Us Button Widget

Visit these Black history landmarks in Boston

The trail includes 10 places that represent Black life in Boston in the 1800s.

The Shaw and 54th Regiment Memorial in Boston

Learn more about this bronze sculpture on Beacon Street.

We all know Boston has no shortage of walking tours — in addition to the Freedom Trail, our city is home to a 1.6-mile Black Heritage Trail with 10 sites that tell the stories of Boston’s 19th century Black community.

Before you grab your walking shoes, we’re sharing the legacies of a few of the stops you’ll pass on a self-guided stroll past these Beacon Hill landmarks.

📍 Robert Gould Shaw and 54th Regiment Memorial, Beacon Street
This bronze memorial by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens honors one of the first Black regiments of the American Civil War. Robert Gould Shaw served as the colonel, and abolitionists like Frederick Douglass helped recruit men for the regiment. The monument was restored and celebrated during a re-dedication event in June 2022.

📍 Lewis and Harriet Hayden House, 66 Phillips St.
This home served as the most active Underground Railroad safe house in our city, sheltering hundreds of people journeying toward freedom. The Phillips Street home was owned by the Haydens, two abolitionists who moved to Boston in 1846 after escaping slavery in Kentucky. Learn more about the Hayden family legacy.

📍 Museum of African American History, 46 Joy St.
The last stop on the trail is New England’s largest African American history museum. The Abiel Smith School + the African Meeting House are both part of the museum. The local school is the first building in the country created for the main purpose of educating Black children. The meeting house, designated a National Historic Landmark, is considered the oldest surviving Black church building in the nation.

Pro tip: Make plans to walk the trail again in the summer with a National Parks Service tour guide to learn more about pre-Civil War Black history in Boston.

More from BOStoday
BOS-Underground-Ink-Block
13 murals around Boston 🎨
Take an artsy adventure around the city to locate these murals.
Prepare for fall weather in Boston with these seasonal temperature and precipitation outlooks.
Check out these brunch restaurants, cafes, and diners in Boston, serving a variety of egg dishes, mimosas, bloody marys, and more.
We’ve made a concerted effort to orchestrate this roadmap, so you can focus on finding the artists you adore.
From lifting weights, indoor rock climbing, personal training, dance fitness, boxing classes, and martial arts programs — we’ve rounded up 26 gyms and fitness offerings around Boston.
Consider these our Hollywood signs.
U-Haul rolled out info on 2024 moving trends — and now you just might know a little more about your new neighbors.
We hope you’re ready to feast — Italian-style. Here are Italian feasts to check out this summer in the North End to honor a different Italian saint.
Check out the newest sports debuting at the Paris 2024 Olympics, plus where you can get involved with them here in Boston.