Combo Pass Boston's Old State House & Old South Meeting House

Lovely museum and the highlight was talking with Monica and her presentation to a large group around 1130am. Incredibly knowledgeable and personable!

Did the combo pass- the museum at the Old State House is in desperate need of renovation with peeking paint, etc. The show, Ruckus!, at the Old South Meeting House is worth it and a great way to learn the history using an original space.

This tour was so fascinating and finding out how exactly the uk was involved with Boston. Superb buildings and love how they were saved too by the people. They stand out amongst the tall modern buildings but in an absolutely beautiful way. Anyone visiting here should definitely go into these places

This is one of the best spots in my opinion of the Freedom Trail. Inside there is 3 separate museum galleries each telling a different part of the story of how the US came to be. It is $15 per person but it is also a combined ticket with the Old South Meeting House which is just a few blocks away. My family spent about an hour inside and we went right when it opened so there were no crowds on a Friday morning. Bathrooms are located in the basement level.

We bought a senior's ticket for USD 13 valid for Old South Meeting House and Old State House. Old State House is like David surrounded by Goliath skyscrapers and like David won, it kept proud place in the city's and country's history. Originally the "Town House" was built in 1713 served as the seat of colonial and later state government. On the top of the facade towards Devonshire St are lion and unicorn — royal symbols of the King of Great Britain. 250 years ago the Declaration of Independence was read to Bostonians from the balcony which announced the birth of a new nation. The small square under the balcony witnessed Boston Massacre when British guard hit a local boy who was provoking him. The situation quickly escalated when mobs of laborers, sailors, and others of "the lower sort" joined into the confrontation. Unit of several soldiers emerged on the scene to rescue the guard, shots being fired and five men died. This event started significant journey towards the American colonies' fight for independence. The museum shows the historical journey, development and fight for the independence but not just that, the exhibits and information panels show that the fight for democracy and rights didn't stop in the past but is constant fight of the people in America. Nobody should take what was achieved by the Patriots as finished work, history is constant progress. We spent several hours reading everything on display on two floors and especially sad and moving is video about what happened to Native Americans. It was good to see there school pupils with their teachers. There is also a gift shop where we bought interesting small book "What to the slave is the 4th July". You have to visit this place when in Boston, don't miss it.

This sister museum to the Old South Meeting House is absolutely worth visiting. You enter through the gift shop, which has a wide selection of Boston and Freedom Trail merchandise. Prices are on the higher side, but the quality looks good. The building itself spans several levels and is filled with history, clearly and thoughtfully presented. Enthusiastic guides walk through the halls and are eager to answer questions, which really adds to the experience. Outside, the site of the Boston Massacre is marked with a large plaque in the ground. Standing there, knowing what happened on that exact spot, is genuinely chilling. Highly recommended when walking the Freedom Trail.

Fabulous. I especially appreciated the wonderful video of indigenous folks talking about what happened at this space; it was beautiful, and please don’t miss it as part of your experience. The building itself is also historic and lovely, as we know. It’s one of the buildings that was at the cornerstone (no pun unintended, on stones and buildings) of our budding democracy. The internal staircase is beautiful. And the exhibits are thoughtful. I also really love the interactive conversation about busing in schools. The exhibit asked visitors to join in a conversation concerning public education today. Similar to their sister exhibit, at the Old South Meeting house, guests were invited to pen post-it notes and reflections. (See photos). Some are funny, such as “more recess” and “pay kids to go to school” but many are quite meaningful and bring up larger thoughtful ideas, such as “pay teachers more” and “don’t ban books”. I love this interactive sort of exhibit. The only thing I found was a little odd were some of the ‘squeeze and smell’ exhibits. Squeeze to smell the House of Representatives? No thank you. :) It was just a little funny. I don’t think they meant it to be humorous. And I know they were talking about how it would’ve smelled back then, but it’s a little odd!

I had SUCH a blast talking to the staff about the Liberty Tree and other important American history that my education has neglected to inform me of until now. I could have talked to the staff member about it FOREVER, what inspiring stories of the many who were not being considered by the few powerful, rich decision makers. The video they played upstairs highlighting the indigenous families who returned to see where their ancestors where stripped of their humanity in a single decision was very powerful and changed the whole experience (in a very important and necessary way). I appreciate that they had that video, and the four exhibits in the central room (on women, Native Americans, working class, and black people at that time) more than I can express.

While these are not guided tours, there is so much history and the museums are easy to navigate and learn about their historical significance. We did have a guided tour before we came back to visit of the Boston history and that helped us put into context what we saw in these 2 buildings.

Loved this museum. We were lucky enough to have Monica lead our tour, about the Boston massacre. She was phenomenal, despite our group having only five people, she spent a full 90 minutes with us, giving us a fascinating overview of the events leading up to this historical moment and the intrigue and ambiguity surrounding it. She made sure our group was comfortable, found lots of places to sit as she was describing things and kept our interest piqued the whole time. I cannot recommend her tour highly enough. It was included in the cost of seeing the museum.

The information was great… and Megan brought history to life with her insights. We had the opportunity to dialogue with her and get into the finer details of the Writs of Assistance, the framing of the Constitution and the vantage points of the writers and the populace. An incredible experience! $15 covered both the Old State House and Old South Meeting House. We visited these for about 90 minutes.

Our trip to the State House ( we didn't make it to the Meeting House) was very interesting. It provided us with more information about the Revolution than we ever got in textbooks. The way everything was presented gave us a well chronicled history of the events leading up to the Revolution and beyond. The house itself was very impressive. To think, we were standing in the actual State House that stood tall while all that history surrounded it, was pretty amazing. We were glad to have had this opportunity to see it. It was well worth the trip!

This is a self guided tour through the old State House and the Meeting House. The State House has many artifacts from the events leading to the Revolutionary War. The Meeting House provides a look at a large church with parishioner boxes. It is so large, that it served as a meeting location for discussion leading to acts of defiance such as the Boston Tea Party. This is a good history tour.

My family and I did the freedom trail. We stopped at Boston’s old state house and old south meeting house. The staff was super friendly. It’s very well kept. Packed full of historical facts. Would definitely recommend stopping here.

The Old State House is a beautiful building and the site of the Boston Massacre. There are some good exhibits inside describing the massacre and events leading up to the Revolutionary War. I was surprised that a good portion of the museum was dedicated to current events and was highly politicized. That really took away from what should be the purpose of the museum, educating people about the historical events taking place during the lead up to the war. We got tickets to this and the Old South Meeting House. They were $15 each, making it the most expensive stop for us on the Freedom Trail.

We had a great tour with Madison who was really knowledgeable and charming bringing history into current context. Beautiful buildings with interesting exhibits

Very informative, with great visuals. Very close together. Easy walking but not accessible as far as we could see. Both sites had AC!

The docent talks helped bring the environment and exhibits to life. The docent at the Old State House was particularly well- informed!

Historical, painted a good picture of the journey to independence from english rule! On the whole a good day!

Good exhibits and very informative signs to learn about the history of Boston. Here you can learn about the other parts of the Revolution you dont usually hear about.

An important part of the Freedom Trail in downtown Boston, the Old State House and Old South Meeting House Museums are well worth visit. Both are well preserved and contain artifacts and interpretive displays. There is a large gift shop and restrooms. The Boston Massacre sight is just out side the State House.

Beautifully kept buildings that have great historical significance in the formation of our country. Great displays and nice gift shops to explore

As part of my trip to Boston, I visited the Old State House and the Old South Meeting House. Both locations are managed by Revolutionary Spaces – admission to both locations for two days is $15. Short gallery talks take place throughout the day at both locations. Free with your admission are two docent led tours that start from both locations – sign up early as only one to two tours take place each day and are capped at 20 people/tour. I did the 75 minute "Massacre and Memory Tour" that starts from the Old State House and covers ½ mile. A similar tour titled "Slavery and Resistance in Colonial America" starts from the Old South Meeting House. The Old State House houses many exhibits - do not miss the basement exhibit describing the restoration efforts behind the Old State House. You can walk in the room and see the balcony from where the Declaration of Independence was first read. A short gallery talk discussed petitions by which Bostonians made requests to government officials. I was part of a group of five people on a docent-led tour that started outside the Old State House where the Boston Massacre took place. She gave us geographical and political context for the Boston Massacre as walked around Boston. It ended at the Old Meeting House where we learned how the Puritan church evolved from a church to a political meeting house. VACATION TIP: This is a less costly alternative to the commercial Freedom Trail tours that are expensive, crowded and may not include admission to either building. You will also be supporting Revolutionary Spaces that hosts many educational programs.

A visit to the Old State House was totally worth it. They currently have a very informative display on the Tea Party, the Stamp Act, and the run up to the revolution. As a sidenote, they read the Declaration of Independence from the balcony every July 4th. The Jan 6 info was included as part of a discussion on protests and disparate views in America. The info was accurate, not at all biased, but I can see how some who believe the election was stolen may view it as such. Folks actually wrote about such feelings on the chalkboard at the end of the display. It is very inexpensive to tour, especially if you get a combo ticket with the Old South Meeting House n Washington and Milk Streets.

Overall an educational and engaging group of exhibits. We found it disturbing to see the way the January 6 events were portrayed. At a time when our country is obviously divided on political lines, found it disturbing that the only color displayed would be the red of a Maga hat. I find it inflammatory for that presentation to be displayed in that way.

My wife and I really liked our tour of the old State House. We toured the exhibits and sat in on a talk about how the council listened to petitions. The council room was particularly interesting.

I’m was impressed that this historic building has been preserved so well. Our leaders must have understood the significant history that happened at this place. While I was there, I decided to think about all disagreements and how they end up leading to bloodshed. Did the British soldier who fired the first shot in The Boston Massacre really have the authorization? Or, was he acting alone? Was the disagreement over colonial independence and British war debt repayment worthy of killing ourselves?

This building was the center of Boston’s civic life in the 18th century and the scene of some of the most dramatic chapters in the lead-up to the American Revolution. Within these walls, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and John Adams debated the future of the British colonies. The Declaration of Independence was read from the balcony in 1776. Right outside the back door is where the Boston Massacre took place. While going through the structure you can actually feel the presence of these icons of history.

If you’re in Boston for a history tour this is one you don’t want to miss and it’s cheap. Found it interesting that some of the things mirrored from tea party and other notable events around this building and currently being discussed today. This place certainly is a boost for the saying if you don’t learn from the past you’re bound to repeat it!