Boston Back Bay walking tour

This scavenger hunt has a difficulty level of NORMAL.

We recommend an ideal group size of between 2 and 6 people – but do not restrict you to this. Children are welcome and will enjoy most of the challenges.

After purchase, to begin your hunt, you will need to be outside the Boston Common garage at 0 Charles St, Boston, MA 02116, USA (near Back Bay). This is the start location.

Once there, connect to this site to begin your urban tourist adventure. You need a well-charged cell phone connected to the Internet (LTE or 4G, Wifi is not enough).

Alternatively, you can access “My Account” and follow the instructions there.

Never hesitate to contact us if you experience any difficulties.

Ancient History

The first Europeans named this region Trimoutaine for its 3 mountains. They’ve now mostly been leveled to hills. Trimoutaine became Boston in 1630, in honor of Boston in Lincolnshire, England, from where came many of the wealthiest early settlers.

This peninsula is thought to have been inhabited since 5000 BC.

Puritans strongly influenced the education and ethics of the early city. The first public school in America was founded in Boston in 1635.

Its citizens participated in 4 wars (for the English) against France and the natives (American Indians) until Britain ejected them permanently from North America.

Boston was the largest city in British America until Philadelphia overtook it in the mid-18th century. Its proximity to the ocean has kept its port and shipping very active from its earliest days.

Many of the milestones of the American Revolution happened around Boston. The protests spurred by British laws and the measures to apply these laws led to the Boston Tea Party, then to the American Revolution. Boston was besieged between 1775 and 1776.

History of Back Bay

Back Bay was literally a bay in the Charles River to the north before 1857. This is when the area started to be filled with gravel and other things. For a time, 25 trains of 35 cars, every 24 hours, dumped landfill here to create this neighborhood. Completion occurred in 1882.

Back Bay was designed according to the Haussmann model. Haussmann designed many of the major arteries in Paris. There is, therefore, the very wide Commonwealth Avenue in the center and quadrilateral streets on the left and right of it. Indeed, there are very few angled streets in Back Bay.