Walks and Tours: History, Culture, Nature
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Learn more about these tours in our catalog, page 15.
A History of Fort Point Channel Robin Dexter, Guide
South Boston’s Fort Point Channel area, or Innovation District, has had quite a history. From a once industrial and railway outpost to today’s bustling hotbed of urban chic, fallen strongholds have made way for newcomers, but their impact remains. On this walking tour, we will discuss the history of the Boston Wharf Company, the Congress Street Baseball Grounds, the founding of the artist community, the Necco Sweets buildings, and more.
Sec. 01 (Meet by the Independence Wharf building, Boston)
Day: Sa 11:00AM-12:30PM. Begins 8/28/2021. $25.00.
Tracing the Evolution of Boston’s North End: A Walk Jim O’Connell, Guide
Jane Jacobs introduces her classic book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) by describing Boston’s North End as an ideal urban neighborhood. Explore today’s North End to envision what Jane Jacobs observed 60 years ago and how it has evolved. Your guides, Boston University professors Jim O’Connell and Jim Pasto, are urban scholars and historians. Jim Pasto grew up in the North End and has been writing about its history.
Sec. 01 (Meet in the North End, Boston.)
Day: Sa 11:00AM-12:30PM. Begins 9/11/2021. $25.00.
Boston Public Garden: A Walk Through Time, Mary Margaret Griffin, Guide
The Boston Public Garden is one of Boston’s most beloved gems. Join us to hear about the string of events that took place and turned a muddy and polluted pond in the back of the Charles River into one of the world’s most famous gardens.
Sec. 01 (Meet outside the Boston Garden at the corner of Charles Street and Beacon Street, Boston.): # sessions: 1 Day: Su 1:00-2:30PM. Begins 9/19/2021. $30.00.
Brookline’s Green Hill, a Neighborhood of Gardners and Gardeners Mathew McDonald, NPS Guide
In partnership with the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
During the late 19th century Olmsted, the nation’s premier landscape architect, and Gardner, the founder of her eponymous art museum in Boston, changed and preserved much of the previously rural, natural landscape of Green Hill along Warren Street in Brookline. On this walking tour the history of the land, the intention behind the designed elements, and the impact of the inhabitants will be recounted. (Meet at Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, Brookline)
Day: Sa 1:00-2:30PM. Begins 9/25/2021. This is a free offering. Pre-registration is requested.
Urban Foraging for Wild Edibles David Craft, Guide
Upgrade your knowledge of the tasty wild plants grow abundantly in the area, many of which we walk right by without ever knowing they are there. Sampling in the field will be encouraged. (Meet at Larz Anderson Auto Museum, Brookline)
Day: Sa 10:30AM-12:30PM. Begins 9/25/2021. $30.00.
Mount Auburn Cemetery and Brattle Street: Planting in Public Spaces Stephanie Almasi, Guide
Join us to learn about the decisions that go into designing gardens in public spaces and the necessary considerations needed for each plant and site. With an emphasis on native and pollinator-friendly plants you’ll see and experience how gardens may be designed. (Meet at Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge.)
Day: Su 2:00-3:30PM. Begins 9/26/2021. $30.00.
Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway Mary Margaret Griffin, Guide
On this walking tour, we’ll explore the Rose Kennedy Greenway, the beautiful park that curves through the heart of downtown Boston. Meandering like a wavy ribbon of green for 1.5 miles, it stretches from the North End to Chinatown and connects Boston’s oldest neighborhoods to its waterfront. (Meet at Haymarket, Boston.):
Day: F 5:30-7:00PM. Begins 10/1/2021. $30.00.
The Architecture and History of Chestnut Hill Stephen Jerome, Guide
Chestnut Hill is a place of scenic, architectural, and historical interest. See well-preserved houses in various styles, including the Colonial Revival, Shingle Style, Tudor, and Arts and Crafts. Visit the Gothic Revival churches designed by architects Henry Vaughan and J. Lovell Little, the surviving Hammond family farmhouses, and the Gilded-Age estates of the Websters, Burrages, and other notable residents. (Meet in Chestnut Hill, Newton.)
Day: Sa 10:30AM-12:30PM. Begins 10/2/2021. $30.00.
Infamous and Lesser Known Weeds of the Urban Landscape, Alex Klein, Guide
Many of our urban and garden weeds have very interesting purposes and histories; some may be more familiar than you realize. Open your eyes to strange delicacies, exotic medicinal herbs, and old friends in odd circumstances. (Meet at Jackson/Mann School, Allston)
Day: Su 11:00AM-1:00PM. Begins 10/3/2021. $30.00.
Brookline’s Hidden History of Slavery and Freedom Barbara Brown, Guide
Much of Brookline’s history remains hidden in plain view. This walking tour will visit three sites that tell the stories of slavery and freedom in our town including an Underground Railroad house. (Meet at Brookline Town Hall)
Day: Su 1:00-2:30PM. Begins 10/3/2021. $30.00.
Brookline’s Hidden River Kenneth Dumas, Guide
Boston’s Muddy River is a significant part of Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace, a string of parks from Boston Common to Franklin Park. Recently, a $93 million restoration aimed at flood control has exposed the river’s beauty. Join us to stroll from Brookline Village to the Charles River in Back Bay, to learn about the history and growth of the area as we follow the river’s path. (Meet in Brookline Village)
Day: Sa 10:30AM-12:30PM. Begins 10/16/2021. $30.00.
Walking Tour of Roxbury’s Mount Pleasant Stephen Jerome, Guide
Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, Roxbury’s Moreland Street Historic District (also known as Mount Pleasant) is significant for its distinguished architecture. The area is known for its styles and residential building types prevailing in the Boston area from 1840 to the 1920s, for the evolution of its urban/suburban plan, and for its educational, charitable, and religious sites. (Meet at Warren Homestead, Roxbury)
Day: Su 10:30AM-12:30PM. Begins 10/17/2021. $30.00.
What’s New in Boston’s Seaport? Jim O’Connell, Guide
The Seaport District of South Boston is a constantly changing neighborhood. Join a city planner and architectural enthusiast for a walk through time as well as to discover what is new in 2021. (Meet at Seaport Boulevard, Boston)
Day: Sa 1:00-3:00PM. Begins 10/23/2021. $30.00.
Tracing the Shawmut Penninsula Kenneth Dumas, Guide
Downtown Boston was originally a hilly little peninsula almost completely surrounded by water. Over the past 400 years a series of landfills terraformed this tiny outpost into the bustling metropolis it is today. Come trace Boston’s original shoreline. (Meet at the Arlington Street Church, Boston)
Day: Su 10:30AM-12:30PM. Begins 10/24/2021. $30.00.
Boston’s Old South End Jewish Walking Tour Robin Dexter, Guide
From the 1840s to the 1920s, a vibrant Jewish neighborhood flourished just south of the Boston Common. Our tour will take us on a cultural journey past many sites and buildings that still stand today. (Meet on Hadassah Way, Boston. )
Day: Su 2:00-4:15PM. Begins 10/31/2021. $30.00.
Chelsea: Walk with a Historian Stephen Jerome, Guide
Bordered on three sides by water, and with close proximity to Boston, Chelsea has grown in popularity in recent years as a place to live for cost-savvy commuters. Its Colonial era rural character underwent sweeping changes as a result of the Industrial Revolution, and other distinguished examples of public architecture, houses of worship and residential districts. (Meet in Chelsea)
Day: Sa 1:00-3:00PM. Begins 11/6/2021. $30.00.
Boston’s Old North End Jewish Walking Tour Robin Dexter, Guide
From the late 1870s to the early 1920s Boston’s North End was home to a large community of Eastern European Jews, primarily situated in a triangular area of Hanover, Prince, and Endicott Streets. Concurrently, this oldest neighborhood in the city would house over a dozen synagogues. In this busy neighborhood we shall see street signs and buildings that bear witness to this time gone by. (Meet by The New England Holocaust Memorial, Boston)
Day: Su 11:00AM-12:30PM. Begins 12/5/2021. $30.00.
Fenway Studios History and Art Studio Tour Oana Lauric, Artist and Guide
Fenway Studios, a National Historic Landmark building built in 1905, is the oldest continuously functioning building in the country constructed for and dedicated solely to artists’ space. On this tour, you’ll learn about the building’s architecture and its history while also visiting with artists in their studios who work in all media and styles. (Meet at Fenway Studios, Boston)
Day: Sa 11:00AM-12:30PM. Begins 12/11/2021. $30.00.