The Back Bay, originally a mudflat, was filled in with gravel brought from suburban Needham by train between 1852 and 1890. The land is flat, with streets laid out in a straight grid. The cross streets are conveniently named alphabetically from A to H. This elegant neighborhood includes … [Read more...] about Back Bay East
Walk the Streets Where Boston’s Historical Women Walked
Boston Women’s Heritage Trail offers Self-Guided Tours to take you where women from a wide variety of settings, occupations, and backgrounds made history. These tours were developed by BWHT board members to fulfill our mission to restore women to their rightful place in the history of Boston and in student curriculum.
Self-Guided Tours
Back Bay West
The Back Bay West Walk starts at Copley Square and ends at the Boston Women's Memorial. Focusing on women of the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the sites demonstrate the high energy devoted by women to the arts and education, pointing out educational institutions, clubs, and art … [Read more...] about Back Bay West
Beacon Hill
The Beacon Hill Walk begins at the Massachusetts State House with the statues of two seventeenth century women religious dissenters. The walk continues up, down, and across Beacon Hill, often paralleling the Black Heritage Trail. Starting with intense activity in the period before and after the … [Read more...] about Beacon Hill
Chinatown/South Cove
The Chinatown/South Cove Walk starts at the Visitor Center on Boston Common, winds through Chinatown, and ends at Park Square. It presents a wide range of women's activities and organizations working for social change and economic justice. The focus is on immigrant groups, most recently Chinese. The … [Read more...] about Chinatown/South Cove
Downtown
The Downtown Walk begins at the State House and goes past many of Boston's earliest historic sites, ending at Franklin and Washington streets, a block below Tremont Street and the Boston Common. The walk features women across the centuries, with a focus on the eighteenth century through the … [Read more...] about Downtown
East Boston
East Boston was created by connecting five islands using landfill. Noddle Island served as grazing land for cattle. Hog Island was renamed Breed’s Island. Governor’s Island, Bird Island and Apple Island became part of the expansion of Logan International Airport. East Boston has long provided a … [Read more...] about East Boston