%uThe Massachusetts State House%u and other Massachusetts, MA Things to Do Tips

Construction on the Massachusetts State House started in 1795 and was completed in 1798. It was designed by Charles Bulfinch, Boston's prominent architect at the time. The design of the building served as a model for the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., as well as for many other state capitol buildings across the nation.

The dome, which is made of copper sheathed in gold, serves as the zero mile marker for distances measured in Massachusetts.

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Directions: The Massachusetts State House is located at the intersection of Beacon Street and Park Street, just north of the Boston Common and west of the Financial District.

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Things To Do: The New England Aquarium

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Updated by traveldave

on Mar 23, 2004

The main feature of the New England Aquarium is its 200,000-gallon (900,000-liter), four-story Giant Ocean Tank. A curving walkway runs around the outside of the tank from top to bottom, allowing visitors to observe sea life at various levels. The tank contains a Caribbean coral reef and many species of ocean animals, the most visible of which are sharks, sea turtles, moray eels, and barracudas.

The New England Aquarium also features a penguin colony and an outdoor tank with a group of harbor seals.

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Directions: The New England Aquarium is located on Central Wharf, right on Boston's waterfront.

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Things To Do: The Museum of Science

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Updated by traveldave

on Mar 24, 2005

The Museum of Science straddles the Charles River atop an inactive flood-control barrier at the mouth of the river.

Built in 1951, the museum is oriented toward families with children. More than 1,000 interactive exhibits covering natural history, medicine, astronomy, and physical science are designed to teach children and adults about scientific principles.

The museum also boasts the Magar Omni Theater, Boston's Computer Museum, and the Charles Hayden Planetarium.

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Directions: The Museum of Science is located at 1 Science Park, north of the Financial District.

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Things To Do: The John Hancock Tower

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Updated by traveldave

on Mar 23, 2004

The 60-story John Hancock Tower is the tallest building in Boston and New England, at 791 feet (241 meters).

During construction, 65 windows, each weighing 500 pounds (1,100 kilograms), came crashing to the ground as a result of a defect in the way they were attached to the building. In all, 10,344 windows had to be replaced at a cost of over $7,000,000 before the building could be occupied.

An observation deck on the 60th floor offers visitors a spectacular panoramic view over Boston and its surrounding cities.

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Directions: The John Hancock Tower is located at 200 Clarendon Street, in Boston's Back Bay, to the west of the Financial District.

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Things To Do: The Custom House

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Updated by traveldave

on Aug 28, 2007

The Custom House was built in a Greek Revival style of architecture, with fluted Doric columns. It was completed in 1847, but in 1915, the pointed tower was added to the structure. At 495 feet (151 meters), the Custom House stood for many years as Boston's first and only skyscraper.

Nowadays, visitors can tour a small museum of maritime history in its nineteenth-century rotunda, or stay in a Marriott Hotel which occupies several floors of the building. Expensive timeshare apartments take up the remaining floors.

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Directions: The Custom House is located at 3 McKinley Square, just to the east of the Financial District.

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Things To Do: The New City Hall

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Updated by traveldave

on Mar 23, 2004

The controversial New City Hall was designed by the architectural firm of Kallmann, McKinnell & Knowles, who won a nationwide contest for the design of Boston's new city hall.

Completed in 1968, the cantilevered Modernist building is hated by many Bostonians as being an ugly eyesore placed in the middle of their historic and beautiful city.

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Directions: The New City Hall is located at 1 City Hall Plaza, right in the heart of the Financial District.

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Things To Do: The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge

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Updated by traveldave

on Mar 23, 2004

Part of the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, also known as the "Big Dig," the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge carries traffic across the Charles River between Boston and Charlestown.

The bridge is classified as a cable-stayed bridge with a multi-cable fan arrangement.
The main span is 745 feet (227 meters), the pylon height is 322 feet (98 meters), and the deck width is 184 feet (56 meters).

There are two pylons, one at each end of the bridge, designed to resemble the shape of the Bunker Hill Monument. The second pylon is on the left, outside the range of this picture.

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Directions: The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge spans the Charles River, and connects Boston's Financial District and the North End with Charlestown.

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Things To Do: The Public Garden

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Updated by traveldave

on Aug 28, 2007

When the Charles River mudflats were filled in the 1830s, it was decided that the area would become Boston's Public Garden. There was a succession of landscape plans submitted before the city finally chose the English-style garden theme designed by George Meacham.

Nowadays, the 24-acre (ten-hectare) park offers green lawns, landscaped flower beds, trees, walking trails, sculptures, and a lagoon. The Lagoon Bridge (pictured here) was designed by William G. Preston and constructed in 1869. (The lagoon had been built in 1861).

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Directions: The Public Garden is within walking distance to the west of Boston's Financial District.

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Things To Do: "Make Way for Ducklings"

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Updated by traveldave

on Sep 16, 2003

The Make Way for Ducklings sculpture depicts a duck and her trailing brood of ducklings. It is based on Robert McCloskey's classic children's story of the same name. The sculpture is located in Boston's Public Garden, which is where the story took place.

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Directions: The Public Garden is within walking distance to the west of Boston's Financial District.

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Things To Do: The Old State House

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Updated by traveldave

on Mar 23, 2004