Explore the real-world places that appear in Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Old North Church, Lapham Silversmith Shop (Revere's Neighbor Trade), Paul Revere House, Boston Common, Old State House (Town House) and 8 more.
193 Salem Street — Signal lanterns of April 18, 1775
On the eve of Lexington and Concord, Johnny is swept into the Sons of Liberty's final preparations as Paul Revere arranges for lanterns to be hung in the steeple to warn of the British march. Johnny's friends Rab, Dr. Joseph Warren and Revere are all part of the network that sends riders into the countryside. The signal marks the turning point when Boston's quiet resistance becomes open war.
Christ Church in the City of Boston, built in 1723, is the oldest standing church building in Boston. On April 18, 1775, sexton Robert Newman and vestryman John Pulling are traditionally said to have hung two lanterns in the steeple. The church served an Anglican congregation that included both Loyalists and patriots.
The church remains an active Episcopal parish and a major stop on the Freedom Trail. Visitors can tour the sanctuary, see the box pews, and visit the adjacent gift shop and Clough House gardens.
Visit: Old North Church & Historic Site (historic site)
North Square — The Lapham household where Johnny's life begins and breaks
Johnny begins the novel as the proud, arrogant apprentice of old Mr. Lapham, a silversmith whose shop is the center of his world. Cilla, Dorcas, Madge and the sullen Dove and Dusty share the household. When Johnny is rushed to finish a sugar basin for John Hancock, a cracked crucible spills molten silver over his right hand and permanently cripples it, ending his craft and changing his future.
North Square was the heart of Boston's artisan North End in the 18th century, home to many craftsmen, including silversmith Paul Revere, who lived there from 1770. Boston silversmiths worked with apprentices bound for seven years under guild-like custom. The area was densely packed with workshops, wharves and homes.
North Square is a small cobblestone plaza in the North End, anchored by the Paul Revere House and Pierce-Hichborn House. The Lapham shop itself is fictional, but the square gives a strong sense of the working neighborhood Forbes described.
Visit: North Square (landmark)
19 North Square — Home of the silversmith and Sons of Liberty rider
After his injury, Johnny turns to Paul Revere, the silversmith and engraver, for help and is drawn into the world of the Sons of Liberty. Revere is portrayed as a brave, practical craftsman who treats Johnny as a capable young man despite his hand. Revere's network of artisans and messengers sends Johnny on errands that help him find purpose.
Built around 1680, the Paul Revere House is the oldest surviving building in downtown Boston. Revere bought it in 1770 and lived there with his large family during the lead-up to the Revolution. It was saved from demolition and opened as a museum in 1908.
The house is a museum with period rooms and exhibits on Revere's life and craft. A courtyard displays a bell and a casting from his foundry.
Visit: Paul Revere House (museum)
Tremont Street — British troops, the Sons of Liberty and Lexington's march
British regulars camp and drill on the Common, and Johnny sees redcoats everywhere in the days before fighting begins. Johnny meets Lieutenant Stranger and Major Pitcairn's world here, and deals with the officers whose horses he tends. On April 18, the troops leave from the Common's edge by boat across the Charles, beginning the march to Lexington and Concord.
Established in 1634, Boston Common is the oldest city park in the United States. British troops camped there from 1768 and used it as an encampment before departing for Lexington and Concord in April 1775. It was previously used for cattle grazing and public hangings.
The Common is a public park with the Frog Pond, Parkman Bandstand and Boston Common Visitor Information Center. It is the starting point of the Freedom Trail.
Visit: Boston Common (park)
206 Washington Street — Seat of royal government
The Town House stands at the center of Boston's political tension, where the royal Governor's Council meets and where the Boston Massacre took place just below. Johnny, hurrying about town on errands and carrying messages for the Observer, sees the clash of Tories and patriots and hears crowds shout against British rule. Its balcony and surrounding streets represent the royal authority the Sons of Liberty challenged.
Built in 1713, the Old State House was the seat of colonial government. The Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770 happened in the street just outside. The Declaration of Independence was read from its balcony on July 18, 1776.
The Old State House is a museum run by Revolutionary Spaces, with exhibits on Boston's colonial and revolutionary history. A ring of cobblestones marks the Massacre site.
Visit: Old State House (museum)
Dock Square — Political meetings and the 'Cradle of Liberty'
Faneuil Hall appears in the story as a gathering place for Boston's growing resistance and as a market at the edge of Dock Square. Johnny, now moving among the Whig leaders, sees how the town meets to debate what to do about British taxes and troops. Rab, James Otis and others embody the passionate speech that fills such halls.
Built in 1742 by merchant Peter Faneuil, the hall housed a market on the ground floor and a meeting space above. Samuel Adams and others spoke here against British policies, earning it the nickname 'Cradle of Liberty.' The building was enlarged in 1806.
Faneuil Hall is now part of Faneuil Hall Marketplace, with shops, food vendors and restaurants. The upper hall is still used for public events, and National Park Service rangers give talks.
Visit: Faneuil Hall (historic site)
Waterfront at Atlantic Avenue — Night of December 16, 1773
Johnny joins the Sons of Liberty in the Boston Tea Party, boarding the tea ships with Rab and other young men in disguise. Johnny and his friends dump chests of tea into the harbor in a tense, organized act of protest. The night is a major step in Johnny's growing commitment to the cause.
On December 16, 1773, colonists boarded the ships Dartmouth, Eleanor and Beaver at Griffin's Wharf and dumped 342 chests of British East India Company tea into the harbor. The act protested the Tea Act and led Parliament to pass the Coercive Acts. The original wharf was filled in as the shoreline expanded.
The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum sits on the Fort Point Channel near the Congress Street Bridge. It features replica ships and interactive exhibits and costumed reenactors.
Visit: Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum (museum)
310 Washington Street — Where the Tea Party meeting was held
The huge crowd of Bostonians packs the Meeting House to debate the fate of the tea ships, and Johnny is there as Samuel Adams and the Whig leaders pressure Governor Hutchinson. The speeches and the cry that follows lead directly toward the harbor. The scene helps Johnny understand that ordinary people can force history to move.
Built in 1729 as a Puritan church, Old South Meeting House was Boston's largest building and a major gathering space. On December 16, 1773, about 5,000 colonists met here before the Tea Party. The building survived being used as a riding school by British troops during the siege.
It now operates as a museum and public forum with exhibits on the protests held there. Visitors can see the sanctuary and a recreation of the tea party debate.
Visit: Old South Meeting House (museum)
Beacon Street — John Hancock's home and the Hancock circle
Johnny knows Hancock as the wealthy merchant and Sons of Liberty patron who commissioned the silver sugar basin that brought about his injury. Hancock's wealth and social standing contrast with Johnny's fall from comfort. Hancock and Samuel Adams later become critical figures as the British seek to arrest them.
John Hancock's stone mansion was built in 1737 on Beacon Street facing the Common. It was among the finest houses in colonial Boston, and Hancock was one of the richest men in the colonies. The mansion was demolished in 1863 despite public protest.
The site is now occupied by residences near the Massachusetts State House. A plaque marks where the mansion once stood.
Tremont Street — Resting place of Revolutionary figures
The burying ground is part of Johnny's Boston, where the dead of the old town lie close to the heart of the city. Johnny's world of Revolutionary leaders overlaps with those who would later be buried here, including figures like Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Paul Revere. The place recalls the cost of the conflict that Johnny enters.
Established in 1660, the Granary Burying Ground holds the graves of Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere and the victims of the Boston Massacre. It is named for a grain storehouse that once stood nearby. It is among the most visited sites on the Freedom Trail.
The cemetery is open to the public daily and is a stop on the Freedom Trail. Visitors can see the slate gravestones and carved death's-head markers.
Visit: Granary Burying Ground (historic site)
Waterfront at State Street — Gateway for ships and British forces
Long Wharf stretches into the harbor, where ships dock and Johnny watches British naval and merchant vessels. Johnny and Rab observe the harbor activity, and it is here that British troops arrive and depart. The harbor and wharves frame the sense of Boston as a trapped, watched town.
Built in 1710, Long Wharf extended about a third of a mile into Boston Harbor and was lined with warehouses and shops. British troops landed here in 1768 to occupy the city. Over the centuries the wharf was shortened as the waterfront was filled in.
Long Wharf is a public pier with harbor views, ferry docks and nearby waterfront restaurants. It is a good place to see how the old waterfront connected to the town.
Visit: Long Wharf (landmark)
Monument Square, Charlestown — Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775
The war that Johnny and his friends have been bracing for finally breaks into open fighting near Boston. Rab, wounded in the fighting, is carried to Johnny and dies in his arms, marking the end of Johnny's youth and the cost of liberty. This moment pushes Johnny to accept responsibility and a new place in the cause.
The Battle of Bunker Hill took place June 17, 1775, mostly on Breed's Hill in Charlestown. British forces won the ground but suffered heavy casualties. The 221-foot granite monument was completed in 1843.
The Bunker Hill Monument is a National Park Service site, and visitors can climb 294 steps to the top for city views. A museum across the street offers exhibits on the battle.
Visit: Bunker Hill Monument (monument)
Lexington, MA — First shots of the Revolution, April 19, 1775
Johnny's story reaches Lexington and Concord as the riders carry word and the British march out to seize colonial arms. The conflict at Lexington Green is the first bloodshed, marking the war's real beginning, which Johnny has helped prepare for by carrying messages. Johnny's role in the network of messengers and friends links his personal maturity to the national struggle.
On April 19, 1775, about 77 militiamen under Captain John Parker faced British regulars on the green, and the first shots of the American Revolutionary War were fired. Eight colonists were killed. The Lexington Minuteman statue was erected in 1900.
Lexington Battle Green is a public park with the Minuteman statue and memorials. Nearby, Buckman Tavern and the Lexington Visitors Center offer tours and exhibits.
Visit: Lexington Battle Green (historic site)
More by Esther Forbes: All Esther Forbes books
More novels set in Boston: Browse all Boston books on Map A Story
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