About Boston Massacre Site
The Boston Massacre Site is an outdoor Freedom Trail landmark beside the Old State House, near the intersection of State and Congress Streets. A circular arrangement of stone and metal marks the vicinity where escalating tensions between townspeople and occupying British troops erupted into gunfire on March 5, 1770, killing five civilians, including Crispus Attucks.
Although no original structure defines the site, the marker places visitors directly within the compact colonial streetscape where the confrontation occurred. Interpretive resources at the nearby Old State House and along the Freedom Trail explain the military occupation, the victims, the soldiers’ trial, John Adams’s defense of the accused, and the event’s use in Patriot propaganda. The site is a brief but essential stop for understanding how a local street conflict became a powerful symbol in the movement toward the American Revolution.
