Trailing Boston Landmarks

Sometimes, we might forget that we live in one of the most historic and interesting cities in the country. In this week’s show, we haven’t forgotten. Our reporters will take you on a tour of some of the most famous sites in Boston, where hopefully you’ll learn some new things about this city’s history, and how that history has impacted us today.

Boston is very historic. There’s no doubt about it. Sometimes we don’t realize it, working right across the street from the Boston Common every day as we do here at WERS News, but this rich history has molded the city into what we know it as today. Boston clearly is not one to forget its past, and as you’ll see, the city’s history continues to shape the present and future.

To download separate segments of this week’s You Are Here, right click the link, and choose ‘save as.’ The file should open directly in your set media player.

We’ll start with the oldest public city space in the country, and the park we can see right across the street from our studios. Jess Dyer will tell us how the Boston Common became public land after Boston’s first settler gave it up.

Boston Common

The T may be one of the most well known aspects of Boston…maybe for not all the right reasons. Andrea Olalia will let us in on the T’s rich history and how it’s been holding up since then.

The T

After exploring the Common and hopping on the T a few stops north, you’ll end up at Faneuil Hall, Boston’s famous marketplace and meeting hall. Andres Acosta will take you there to find out how the space has evolved since it opened in 1742 and what kind of marketplace is there today.

Faneuil Hall

Fenway Park: it’s not quite as old as the Common, T, and Faneuil Hall, but if you ask diehard red sox fans, who shouldn’t be hard to find in this town (well, they might be after what happened last September), Fenway is their shrine to the Sox and America’s pastime. Erin Farley will attempt to convey what this now 100-year old park in the Kenmore neighborhood means to a city that lives and dies on every pitch, and a sport that is uniquely American.

Fenway Park

Lastly we’ll take you across the Charles and to the Charlestown Navy Yard, where the USS Constitution sits today. Maggie Smolka tells us about this historic navy shipbuilding port and what Ol’ Ironsides, the oldest commissioned boat in the Navy, is up to today after fighting in the First Barbary War and the War of 1812, among others.

Charlestown Navy Yard

Finally, after our virtual tour of Boston’s historic sites, we’ll sit down with a man responsible for one of the most famous actual tours around Boston. Jim Healy is the History Officer with the Boston Duck Tours. He’ll tell us about his favorite sites in Boston, and how the famous land and water tours around Boston got started.

Jim Healy Interview

Reporters (in order of appearance): Jess Dyer, Andrea Olalia, Andres Acosta, Erin Farley, Maggie Smolka

Producers: Steve Burns, Maria Spiridigliozzi