Boston Record Breakers: Self-Guided Scavenger Hunt

Learn about Boston’s rich history and its standing in the U.S history of being “first in the nation” to build and enact many things. You’ll see the architecturally beautiful Public Library, historic State House, lush Boston Common, and many more iconic firsts. See the first and architecturally beautiful Boston Public Library and learn about the first state constitution in the United States, discover where Alexander Graham Bell first used the telephone. Try a new type of experience, the perfect mix between a tour, an outdoor escape game, and a treasure hunt. Each clue will lead you from one place to another by providing you with exact directions. As you answer the questions, solve the challenge, or guess the answer, the secret story of each place is unlocked. The city game will take you about 1 hour and 20 minutes to complete, but there’s no time limit which will allow you to go at your own pace. Just download the app, go to the starting point, and begin the adventure.

1. 1

   Boston Public Library

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   Established in 1848, the Boston Public Library is a pioneer of public library service in America. It was the first large free municipal library in the United States, the first public library to lend books, the first to have a branch library, and the first to have a children’s room. As a City of Boston historic cultural institution, Boston Public Library today features a central library and twenty-five neighborhood branches, serving nearly 4 million visitors per year and millions more online. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

2. 2

   Copley Square

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   Copley Square named for painter John Singleton Copley, is a public square in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood. Prior to 1883 it was known as Art Square due to its many cultural institutions, some of which remain today. It was proposed as a Boston Landmark. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

3. 3

   Arlington Street Church

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   The Arlington Street Church is a Unitarian Universalist church across from the Public Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Because of its geographic prominence and the notable ministers who have served the congregation, the church is considered to be among the most historically important in American Unitarianism and Unitarian Universalism. Completed in 1861, it was designed by Arthur Gilman and Gridley James Fox Bryant to resemble James Gibbs' St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

4. 4

   Ether Monument

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   The Ether Monument, also known as The Good Samaritan, is a statue and fountain near the northwest corner of Boston's Public Garden, near the intersection of Arlington Street and Marlborough Street. It commemorates the use of ether in anesthesia. Its design has been attributed to the Boston architect William Robert Ware and to the sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward. It is 40 feet (12 m) tall and is the oldest monument in the public garden. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

5. 5

   Massachusetts State House

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   The Massachusetts State House, also known as the Massachusetts Statehouse or the New State House, is the state capitol and seat of government for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, located in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston. The building houses the Massachusetts General Court (state legislature) and the offices of the Governor of Massachusetts. The building, designed by architect Charles Bulfinch, was completed in January 1798 at a cost of $133,333 (more than five times the budget), and has repeatedly been enlarged since. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

6. 6

   Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment Memorial

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   The Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts Fifty-Fourth Regiment is a bronze relief sculpture by Augustus Saint-Gaudens opposite 24 Beacon Street, Boston (at the edge of the Boston Common). It depicts Colonel Robert Gould Shaw leading members of the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry as it marched down Beacon Street on May 28, 1863 to depart the city to fight in the South. The sculpture was unveiled on May 31, 1897. This is the first civic monument to pay homage to the heroism of African American soldiers. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

7. 7

   Stop 7

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   Park Street was laid out in 1804, initially as Park Place, replacing the previous Sentry Street. In the 1880s, the feminist Woman's Journal was published on Park Street. Houghton Mifflin was also headquartered here beginning in the late 19th century.

8. 8

   Tremont Temple Baptist Church

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   The Tremont Temple on 88 Tremont Street is a Baptist church in Boston, affiliated with the American Baptist Churches, USA. The existing multi-storey structure was designed by architect Clarence Blackall of Boston, and opened in May 1896. It replaced a much smaller, 1827 structure that had repeatedly suffered damage by fires. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

9. 9

   Stop 9

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   Alexander Graham Bell, a BU professor from 1874 to 1879, invented the telephone in 1876 after having his research on a new device for transmitting speech funded by BU. He appears here at a 1916 BU reception marking the 40th anniversary of his invention. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

10. 10

    Bell In Hand Tavern

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    The Tavern has been around since 1795. A gathering place for printers and politicians, sailors and students, it quickly became the most famous alehouse in the city. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

11. 11

    Stop 11

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    The Union Oyster House, located on the Freedom Trail, near Faneuil Hall, enjoys the unique distinction of being America's oldest restaurant. This Boston fixture, housed in a building dating back to Pre-Revolutionary days, started serving food in 1826 and has continued ever since with the stalls and oyster bar, where Daniel Webster was a constant customer, in their original positions. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Service animals allowed
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.