Old State House
Boston's oldest surviving public building (1713) once stood taller than everything else in the city — and it still holds the same ground.
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For most of the 18th century, all three branches of Massachusetts government — judicial, legislative, and executive — operated from this single brick building. Now a history museum, it runs Boston-focused exhibits and live reenactments inside rooms that once set colonial and state policy. It sits on the Freedom Trail and is a National Historic Landmark.
What to look for
- A lion and unicorn decorating the gable roof, with a central tower rising above them
- The east-facing balcony on the upper facade
- The spiral stair that rises through the interior rotunda
The basement connects directly to the MBTA's State subway station — you can walk straight in from the platform.
Old State House is one of 31 sights worth the detour in Boston, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Boston pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Boston
- Museum of Fine Arts BostonFour hundred and fifty thousand works of art under one roof — one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas.
- TD GardenThe subway stops underneath it — TD Garden is built directly above MBTA's North Station, so you step off the train and you are already at the door.
- Harvard College ObservatoryOn the night of July 16-17, 1850, astronomers here made the first daguerreotype of a star — Vega — through a telescope that was the largest in North America.
- Fenway ParkThe oldest active ballpark in MLB, where a cramped city block accidentally invented some of baseball's most famous features.
- Isabella Stewart Gardner MuseumIn 1990, thieves walked out with thirteen works worth $500 million — none have ever come back, and the case is still open.
- Boston Public LibraryJohn Adams' personal 3,800-volume library lives here — and any Massachusetts adult can walk in and access it.