The Freedom Trail and one of its most famous stops, the Old North Church, will offer special evening tours this fall that lead visitors through the city’s more haunting history.
The “Lantern Tours,” will highlight Boston’s darker past, including pirate graves, duel sites, and the nation’s oldest wooden jail, which is said to be haunted, according to the Freedom Trail Foundation.
The tours depart from Boston Common at 6 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from Sept. 11 through Oct. 30, with an extra tour scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 29.
“These nighttime Lantern Tours give visitors and residents the opportunity to experience Boston’s lesser-known, dark, and spooky history,” said Suzanne Taylor, executive director of the foundation.
In addition to the Lantern Tours, visitors can explore even more eerie corners of Boston with evening tours of the crypt beneath Old North Church in the weeks leading up to Halloween.
These tours run at 5:30 and 6:15 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays beginning Sept. 13, and nightly from October 18 through Nov. 2, according to the National Park Service.
During the 45-minute Crypt Tour, visitors will learn about the more than 1,100 bodies buried beneath the sanctuary, intriguing colonial death practices, and recent archaeological discoveries.
Tickets for the Lantern Tours are available at the Boston Common Visitor Information Center, open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., or online at TheFreedomTrail.org.
Crypt Tour is not accessible for wheelchairs or strollers. For more information, visit Old North Church Admission.
Rita Chandler can be reached at rita.chandler@globe.com.
About the Author
