Welcome to Boston, Massachusetts!

Do you remember when you went on field trips in grade school and the last thing that you were interested in was the tour or the tour guide? Well full disclosure: I was the nerd in the back of the school bus with his face pressed to the glass, taking notes in a spiral ring note book and hanging on every word the guide said at the Old North Church! More than half a century later, I have not lost my passion for history, art and architecture, and I am so excited to show it all to you!

A bit about me, I grew up in west suburban Boston and am a recently retired administrator from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA. I began doing guided tours of Boston on weekends and holidays in 1980.

I was an art history major as an undergraduate, and of course I love talking about the art and architecture of the city, but also Boston's pivotal role in the events that led to the American Revolutionary War. My work at MIT awakened an interest in civil engineering, so I'll talk about projects like "The Big Dig" or the filling of the Back Bay. My tours will also recognize the cultures of the First Nation peoples who had been living in our area for at least 2, 000 years before even Europeans arrived!

Along the way, you'll make some nifty discoveries. Did you know that Boston has the oldest underground transit in the Western Hemisphere? Or that native people used finely woven fences made out of branches and twigs called "fish weir" to catch fish in the tidal areas?

In my free time, I enjoy all this city has to offer. I love biking along the Charles River Esplanade. I live about 5 blocks from Fenway Park, and can easily hear the crowds roar from my open windows when there's been a home run or a base hit. I love to go to our lovely Museum of Fine Arts and the English and American "Period Rooms" have been my favorites since I was a kid.

Boston is compact but delivers a historical bang for the buck that cannot be matched!

Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts and French from the University of Massachusetts.
Master's Degree in Education from Simmons University.
Regular contributor to the Fenway News (neighborhood newspaper) under the byline, "The Urban Detective".
40 years plus experience navigating the legend and the lore of Boston.

For the Boston based tours we will be walking or in the case of the Cambridge Tour, we will be traveling by MBTA Red Line subway.

Like its neighbor the Back Bay, the Fenway is landfill. Up until 1900, this was a brackish water tidal estuary where the Stoney Brook and the Muddy River (still) empty into the Charles River. Starting in the late 1870's, Frederick Law Olmstead was engaged by the city of Boston to devise a sanitary solution for this polluted water course and provide a park for the expanding city. With more room to grow, the Fenway quickly became the home for museums, schools and our baseball stadium Fenway Park (1912). Today, the Fenway is the most culturally rich neighborhood in the city of Boston.

Choose the 10 AM-1PM tour if: You are headed to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts or the Isabella Stewart Museum. (note: these two museums are CLOSED on Tuesday!). Choose the 2-5 PM tour if you are going to an evening Red Sox game!

Back Bay (west) and The Fenway

Visit two of Boston's most iconic neighborhoods on foot!

We start in Copley Square with its stunning 19th and 20th century architecture. Walk through the opulent interiors of the 1880's Boston Public Library with its lavish murals and imported marble staircase. See the Boston Marathon finish line and the memorial to the victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

Moving down Boston's premier shopping street, Newbury and then tree lined Commonwealth Avenue. We'll see the elegant 19th century row houses and you'll learn how this uber elegant neighborhood was once a swamp (and a public health hazard)! Passing through the Boston Public Garden and onto Beacon Hill with its late 18th and early 19th century row houses. With its Georgian architecture, cobblestones and gas street lamps, you will truly think that you are in Old England!

We will finish on the Boston Common, which is America's oldest park, set aside as a "common" area in 1634 and once a British military encampment in 1775-76.

Copley Square/Back Bay and Beacon Hill Walking Tour with a Private Guide

The Freedom Trail was created in the 1950's to guide visitors on foot along the historic sites in the city. The trail is indicated by a red line (red brick or red paint) on the sidewalk, and while the total Freedom Trail is 2. 2 miles (4 km) long, we will only be walking the most concentrated portion of it from the Boston Common to the Old North Church, which is approximately 1. 3 mile (roughly 2 km). The Charlestown Freedom Trail sites are roughly a 20 minute walk from our finishing point if you would like to continue on your own.

While many of the sites have a direct connection to the events leading to the American Revolutionary War, other sites nonetheless explore the theme of Freedom: such as the Underground Railroad, the Abolitionist Movement and the War of 1812. Along the way, we'll make one or two small detours off the trail to show you some "other" iconic locations that testify to the dynamism of the city!

Tour guide in Boston Massachusetts Edward B.

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