Alex R. Goldfeld
Boston's public historian
The Colonel George Middleton House on the Black Heritage Trail. Built c.1787, it is the oldest dwelling on Beacon Hill, and the oldest African-American home in Boston.
The Black Heritage Trail
Truly a hidden gem in Boston, this walk focuses on more than a dozen pre-Civil War houses, churches, and schools on the north slope of Beacon Hill ( part of the old West End). Established in 1963, the Black Heritage Trail highlights the African Americans who were at the center of the fight to end slavery in America, though it had been abolished in Massachusetts in 1783. The magnificent bronze monument to Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, the first African-American regiment from the North, is an integral part of this tour.
Minimum Tour Time is 90 minutes