Press: Old Boston Tours in the news
Discover the Hidden Secrets of the North End
AAA Horizons Magazine, September 2004
By Megan Speenburgh
Travel back in time to the beginning of the North End section of Boston-to the people, events, and ideals that formed what we know the neighborhood to be today.
According to Guild Nichols, guide and founder of the Secret North End Tour, most historic tours of the city talk about the Revolutionary tales of the city.
"'The Secret North End Tour reveals many untold secrets that most tour guides have overlooked," Mr. Nichols said.
"For example, you might be surprised to know that the North End is the site of Boston's first windmill, the nation's first grammar school, and America's first children's playground."
The Secret Tour teaches the immigrant history of Boston. It begins at Old North Square (across from the Paul Revere House) and ends at Ye Olde Union Oyster House where the toothpick was first introduced and where Daniel Webster was a perennial patron at its world famous oyster bar.
Mr. Nichols, who has lived in the North End for almost 18 years, started doing the tours about three years ago because he wanted to teach about what happened to the North End after 1800.
But he discovered that stories about the immigrants whose struggles link the North End's Revolutionary War-era history with the tourists and restaurant goers of today had been left untold.
Before the Revolutionary War, there is the immigrant his tory. There were the successive waves of European immigrants-the Irish, the Jewish, and the Italians, came over in the years between 1840 and 1920 and made the North End their home. The traditions these newcomers brought with them and the churches, businesses, and apartment buildings they left behind still define the neighborhood today.
"My tour addresses the issues the immigrants dealt with, such as being poor and being an immigrant and being ostracized:' Mr. Nichols said.
The North End guards well its many secrets; hidden tunnels through which contraband was smuggled ashore; the missing $1.2 million in loot from the
Brinks job that might still be around; and the miraculous mystery of the "Blinking Madonna. "
The tour, which lasts about two-hours, attracts people who really love history and are looking for a different kind of tour. Mr. Nichols conducts tours on Fridays and Saturdays at 10 a.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m., and by appointment. Advanced reservations are required. The cost is $15 per person, and includes a free canoli from the best pastry shop in town.
For more information, call 617.755.2648 or visit www.NorthEndBoston.com.
Explore the North End's hidden courtyards and passage ways, stroll the oldest public square in America. Seethe narrowest residential house in Boston and discover the city's oldest sign dating from 1694. See where the wake for Sacco and Vanzetti was held and walk the street where boxing champ Tony DeMarco grew up. Re-live the Great Molasses Flood of 1919 and learn of the "Saturday Evening Girls" and Paul Revere Pottery.
Media Inquiries
For information about tours for media members and promotional groups, please contact our press department with any requests. Media "ride alongs" are encouraged as sharing our stories is important to our educational mission
