Faneuil Hall

Built in 1742 and given to the town of Boston by French Huguenot merchant Peter Faneuil, the Hall of the same name was a central marketplace offering an open food market on the first floor and a space for open meetings on the second. A fire in 1761 destroyed the original Faneuil Hall, but the building was reconstructed in time to host Samuel Adams and his compatriots as they planned Boston’s revolutionary activity; the political maneuverings here earned Faneuil Hall its long-standing nickname, “Cradle of Liberty.” Indeed, Faneuil Hall’s historical significance has earned it a place as one of the 16 sites that make up Boston’s famed Freedom Trail