Walks & Tours   

The Boston Public Garden is one of Boston's most beloved gems. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989, this beautiful place has a fascinating history. Join us to hear about the string of events that took place and turned a muddy and polluted pond in the back of the Charles River into one of the world's most famous gardens. As we share stories from the past, you'll also enjoy learning about the park's current offerings. We'll meander along winding paths, jam-packed with blooming flowers, ancient trees, and a bounty of public art. The smallest suspension bridge in the world arches over a quiet lagoon, and swan boats pedal alongside the Garden's lovely swans, Romeo and Juliet. There are a multitude of famous statues, a bench for actor Robin Williams from Good Will Hunting, rose gardens, and trees that trace their ancestry to pre-historic times. Boston Public Garden's twenty-four acres truly can offer you a walk-through time. Meet outside the Boston Garden at the corner of Charles Street and Beacon Street, Boston.

This lively 90-minute tour visits three sites to tell the history and stories of slavery and freedom. We begin at Town Hall where participants look for evidence of slavery that is hidden but in plain sight. The walk continues to an Underground Railroad house to hear the story of a person sheltered here after a daring escape to freedom. Justice seekers, Black & white are highlighted. The walk ends with a story of restorative justice at the Old Burying Ground on Walnut St. While the walk isn’t strenuous, participants can easily drive the distances from Town Hall to the 2 sites on Walnut Street. Young people ages 12 and up are most welcome. Meet in front of the main door of Brookline Town Hall, 333 Washington Street.

Did you know that there is a river running through Brookline Village? Boston's Muddy River is a significant part of Frederick Law Olmsted's Emerald Necklace, a string of parks from Boston Common to Franklin Park. For years the river has been easy to ignore, hidden as it is by stone and earthen walls, scrubby plants, bridges, and wide busy streets. Recently, a $93 million restoration aimed at flood control has exposed the river's beauty. Join us to stroll from Brookline Village to the Charles River in Back Bay, following the river's path. We will visit the famous Dutch House, Longwood, the Landmark Center, and the Fens with its rose garden, war memorials, and victory gardens. We end at Charlesgate for a glimpse of the river as it wends its way beneath roadways and bridges to the Charles. Meet at the Brookline Village T-stop, 31 Station Street.

Shawmut Peninsula is the promontory of land on which Boston, Massachusetts was built. In other words, downtown Boston was originally a hilly little peninsula almost surrounded by water. Over the past 400 years, a series of landfills terraformed this tiny outpost into the bustling metropolis it is today. Come trace Boston's original shoreline and see how cutting down a series of hills and hauling in earth from the suburbs allowed the creation of Back Bay, Beacon Hill, West End, Mill Pond, and Haymarket and complicated the construction of the Big Dig. Meet on the steps of the Arlington Church just outside the Arlington MBTA Green Line Station which is downtown, across from the Public Garden.

Go back in time to the 1850s when Brookline's Beacon Street was still a narrow country road. By 1890, Frederick Law Olmsted had transformed it into a wide boulevard lined by apartment blocks and stores and included the nation's second electric trolley line. Join us for a stroll from Cleveland Circle to Audubon Circle as we talk about the development of Beacon Street over the years, including important historical moments as well as more contemporary changes and its reconstruction. You'll learn about the Beaconsfield Terraces, hidden paths, Stoneholm, Brandon Hall, "Taxpayer Buildings," and Coolidge-Bros. Market, S.S. Pierce, tiled MBTA Spanish-style shelters, Richmond Court, Amory Park, Longwood Mall, Cottage Farm, St. Mary's, and Audubon Circle. We'll discuss the zoning, layout, and architecture of the street, and how politics and the values of the day shaped changes. We'll cover about two miles and end at Audubon Circle. Meet at the CVS parking lot in Cleveland Circle.