#080-Ben's Boston Neighborhood

Boston - Day Tripper Guide

# 080-Ben's Boston Neighborhood, Day Tripper Self-Guided Tour

1.4 mile walk:
Let me start Ben’s Boston story by sharing his family history. His father, Josiah, was born in the village of Ecton, Northamptonshire, England. He was the ninth child of blacksmith Thomas Franklin. In 1682, Josiah, his wife Anne, and Ben's older siblings arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Unfortunately, Anne passed away in 1689 while giving birth. Josiah then remarried a girl from Nantucket named Abiah Folger Franklin, who later gave birth to Ben.anklin. Josiah, his wife Anne, and the older siblings of Ben arrived in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1682. Anne died in 1689 during childbirth. Josiah remarried a Nantucket girl named Abiah Folger Franklin, who gave birth to Ben.

Spot Hero Parking

Parking - Faneuil Hall is most convenient parking area, a short walk from the starting point at the Waterfront and just a few blocks from the last stop at Hanover and Union, Josiah Franklin's Candle Shop location.
Philly Town 76 has partnered with Spot Hero a digital parking reservation service that will connect you to available parking lots in the recommended parking area. You can reserve and pay for parking spaces with the available parking lots, parking garages and valet services in this area. Click on the Spot Hero Parking Icon, schedule the day and time of your Day Trip, make your choice and Book your parking.

Long Warf Harbor Walk starts on the waterfront where Ben’s family would have landed. You get a wonderful view of Boston Harbor, where you can imagine what it may have looked like in the 1700s. This is a busy area with a ferry terminal, Boston Harbor Cruises, the New England Aquarium, boat rentals, and many restaurants.
Follow the Warf to Old Atlantic Avenue, past Legal Sea Foods, to Milk Street.
Follow Milk Street towards the Old South Meeting House .06 mile.

Ben’s Birthplace, 1 Milk Street, is the presumed spot where Ben’s house was actually located. There’s a plaque above the door. This location and the official birthplace, 17 Milk Street, are across from Old South Meeting House. The number 17 bears a bust and the words “Birthplace of Franklin.” Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, and lived here for six years with his father, Josiah, his mother, Abiah, and his 16 siblings. Benjamin was the 15th and youngest son. He lived with his family until 1723. The family later moved to Hanover and Union streets, where Josiah's soap and candle shop was located. Both of these buildings were destroyed in the 1800’s.

Make a left on Washington, then a right on Bromfield.

Old South Meeting House Just a few feet from Ben’s birthplace, on the corner of Washington and Milk, is this historic church built in 1729. Ben was baptized on the day of his birth by Old South Church, the congregation of his parents, Josiah and Abiah. He was carried across the street from his home to the Cedar Meeting House, which was replaced in 1729 by the Old South Meeting House. It is more famously known where, on December 16, 1773, a large group of angry colonists gathered to protest the Tea Tax. They left here and walked to the Harbor, probably right down Milk Street, to raid the three British Merchant ships and dump 46 tons of tea into the harbor. …the Boston Tea Party. Make a left from the front entrance of the Meeting House on Washington, then a right on Bromfield for two blocks to Tremont. .02 mile

Granary Burying Grounds Located on Tremont Street, behind Park Street Church, and founded in 1660, the Granary Burying Ground is the third oldest burying ground in Boston. The area was initially connected to the Common and used to store grain, hence the name. It's in the middle of a busy city, but it’s quiet, and you feel a sense of peace here. Among the many graves are the following famous individuals: Peter Faneuil, Sam Adams, Crispus Attucks, John Hancock, James Otis, Robert Treat Paine, and Paul Revere. But this tour focuses on Ben. Upon entering the grounds, you probably couldn’t miss the large obelisk that seems out of place. This is the Franklin grave.

Ben had a stone set on brick over his parents' grave with an epitaph around 1758. The soft stone had weathered poorly, and the inscription had been largely eroded. But in 1826, a group of Boston citizens erected today's granite monument. The name FRANKLIN is engraved, and a plaque has the original epitaph.

“Josiah Franklin and Abiah his wife lie here interred. They lived lovingly together in wedlock fifty-five years. Without any estate, or any gainful employment, by constant labor and industry, with God's blessing, they maintained a large family comfortably, and brought up thirteen children and seven grandchildren reputably. From this instance reader, be encouraged to diligence in thy calling and distrust not Providence. He was a pious and prudent man; she, a discreet and virtuous woman. Their youngest son, in filial regard to their memory places this stone.”

Head north on Tremont and right on School Street. .02 mile

Boston Latin School At 8 years old Benjamin started attending South Grammar School (Boston Latin). He showed great talent for writing and little for arithmetic. The original wooden Boston Latin school building was torn down in 1745 to make room for King's Chapel and Boston Old City Hall. The school has continued in different locations and is currently located in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston. The Burial Grounds of King’s Chapel hold the remains of some notables. John Winthrop. William Dawes, (Paul Revere's compatriot on his ride to Lexington) and the Reverend John Cotton.

Walk a little farther down School Street to visit the wonderful statue of Ben Franklin in front of the Old City Hall. It was constructed in 1856, and the base has engravings on all four sides. Ben working with electricity, signing the Declaration of Independence, working on a printing press and lastly a side showing him working on the Treaty of Paris.

Old Corner Bookstore is 400 feet away at the corner of School and Washington Streets. Young Franklin loved reading; he would borrow books from friends and save every penny to buy books. He read voraciously, trying to improve his writing style, grammar, and eloquence. Don’t be fooled by the Chipotle’s on the first floor. This building is one of the oldest brick structures in Boston. Although Ben was known to have a great appetite, I doubt he ate there when he was book shopping. However, when he was 16, he became a vegetarian, partly because he did not like to eat anything that was killed and partly because he wanted to save money to buy books. Only a small plaque on the side of the building confirms that a bookstore once operated here. Look up at the gambrel roof and look for the bands of bricks marking each floor, and you're seeing the same building Ben saw as he walked down the street eating a vegetarian taco in 1718. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Alfred Tennyson, Harriett Beecher Stowe, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and many others gathered here to discuss their works

The Great Spring of Boston is only a few feet up Washington Street. Don’t blink, or you’ll walk right by Spring Lane. Its narrow width is typical of what Boston’s streets, or lanes, looked like in the seventeenth century. About halfway down the path, which is sandwiched between modern buildings, you will find plaques that tell us the spring once there was the reason the settlement chose this area to build their village on the Shawmut Peninsula. Get back on Washington, make a right, and walk to Court St. .01 mile.

James Franklin’s Print Shop Right near the present-day corner of Washington and Court Streets is where James first published the New England Courant. This was also the print shop where Benjamin was first introduced to the printing press. In 1717, his father sent him to work with his brother as an apprentice to prevent Ben from becoming a sailor. James was unsatisfied with his position, so he secretly started writing letters published in the New England Courant under the pen name of Silence Dogood. Because of the subversive undertones of these writings, James was jailed. He became one of the first fighters for journalistic freedom in America. In 1723, at age 17, Benjamin took advantage of this situation and decided to leave and go to New York in search of work. He didn’t find work in New York, so he “Boogied on Down to Philly Town.”

Boston Massacre Site Today, the site of the massacre is marked by a cobblestone ring on the traffic island at the intersection of Devonshire and State Streets. The Boston Massacre occurred on the evening of March 5, 1770, and was one of the pivotal events leading up to the American Revolution. It was a street fight that happened between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers. Several colonists were killed, and this led to a campaign by speech-writers to rouse the ire of the citizenry.

Josiah Franklin’s Candle and Soap Shop was located at Hanover & Union streets, just .2 mile from the massacre site. The Franklin family lived and worked at this address. As a 10-year-old, Benjamin was in charge of cutting wicks for candles, filling molds, attending the shop and running errands. His father intended for his young son to inherit the business when he retired however Ben did not want to follow his father’s steps, he wanted to be a sailor. He was employed in this father’s business for 2 years. There is nothing marking the site now, the building was torn down in 1858, but it’s a great spot to stop your tour.

Hotels in Ben’s Boston neighborhood

Kimpton Nine Zero Hotel 90 Tremont St
The Godfrey Hotel 505 Washington St
Omni Parker House 60 School St
XV Beacon Hotel 15 Beacon St
Hyatt Centric Faneuil Hall 54-68 Devonshire St
The Bostonian Boston 26 North St
Harborside Inn 185 State St

Restaurants in Ben’s Boston neighborhood:
There’s a ton of good places to eat around there. I don’t know about you, but I’ve worked up an appetite writing and I may hit Union Street or maybe Faneuil Hall.

The Point 147 Hanover St.
The Green Dragon Tavern 11 Marshall St.
Durty Nellies 108 Blackstone St.
Paddy O’s 33 Union St.
Union Oyster House 41 Union St.
Sons of Boston 19 Union St.
Hennesys’s 25 Union St.
Bell in Hand 45 Union St
Faneuil Hall 4 S Market has 35+ places to eat.

COVID-19 restrictions, some of these places may not be open or have limited capacity. Food and Beverage establishments may have, curbside pickup, take-out and outdoor dining only.