• The pulpit, floor, and pews in the African Meeting House, the center of the free African American community in antebellum Boston and birthplace of the Abolition Movement.

    Boston African American

    National Historic Site Massachusetts

Things To Do

Black Heritage Trail
The Black Heritage Trail® explores the history of the 19th century free Black community of Boston. The trail consists of 14 sites and begins at the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial on Beacon Street. Self-guided tours can be conducted at any time, Monday through Sunday. Maps and site brochures can be obtained at the Abiel Smith School during site hours.

Ranger guided tours of the Black Heritage Trail® are conducted as follows:

Summer Season (Memorial Day - September 2nd):Monday-Saturday; 10:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m. Please call 24 hours in advance to reserve a tour for groups of 5 people or more.

Fall Season (September 3rd, 2012 - November 24th, 2012): Monday-Saturday at 2 p.m.

Winter Season (November 25th, 2012 - March 17th, 2013): No walking tours.

Spring Season (March 18th, 2013 - May 26th, 2013): Monday-Saturday at 2 p.m.

Tours are 90 minutes long.

Group Size Limit is 15 people.


Special Events

Throughout the year Boston African American National Historic site will be conducting specialized tours on a variety of topics relating to the African American community and Civil Rights in Boston. For more information, please see our Events page.


NOTE: The Robert Gould Shaw Memorial is owned by the City of Boston, is located on the Boston Common and is open 24 hours, 7 days a week. The African Meeting House and the Abiel Smith School are owned by the Museum of African-American History. The Abiel Smith School is open to the public during site hours only and houses the National Park Service visitor area. All of the other sites on the Black Heritage Trail are privately owned and are not open to the public.

Did You Know?

African Meeting House, Boston

The African Meeting House in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood is the oldest standing black church structure in the country, with the first service on December 6th, 1806.