Historic Sites in Suffolk County

History of Suffolk County

Suffolk County is Boston, Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop. It is one of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's original shires of 1643,. Boston was founded in 1630, and its Common, set aside in 1634, is the oldest public park in the United States.

The 2.5-mile Freedom Trail, marked out in 1951, links the Massachusetts State House (1798), the Granary Burying Ground, the Old State House, Faneuil Hall (1742), the Old North Church, where lanterns were hung in April 1775, and the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown, near where USS Constitution (launched 1797) is berthed. On Beacon Hill, the African Meeting House (1806) anchors the Black Heritage Trail. Out in the harbor, Fort Warren and Boston Light, the site of the first lighthouse in the American colonies (1716), guard the approach.