For anyone who has read David McCullough's biography "John Adams", a visit to the Adams National Historic Park in Quincy, Massachusetts is a must. But even if you haven't read this historic masterpiece, you will enjoy this place. Preserved among the densely developed neighborhoods of newer Quincy homes, you will find three original Adams houses.
To start your tour, you must first go to the National Park Visitors Center on Hancock Street where you will purchase your tickets. In the visitors center you will find an interesting mini-museum of information about the Adams Family and their contributions to America. A free, continuous trolley service will then take you to the sites.
The first site includes a visit to two New England saltbox styled houses dating from the 1600's. Here, at 133 Franklin Street is where John Adams, the second president of the US, was born in 1735. He lived here until he was 15 years old at which time he left to attend Harvard College. Eventually, after marrying Abigail Smith, he returned to live in the house next door at 141 Franklin Street. It was here that John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the US, was born in 1767. Very knowledgeable Park Rangers will take you through each of the houses and give you an idea of what their life was like growing up in a farming community in the 1700's.
You will then board the trolley to visit Peacefield, also known as the Old House. Peacefield is the home where the John Adams eventually retired. The Park Ranger will take you through the house and explain that everything is original and belonged to generations of Adams Families until is was given to the United States in 1946. A wonderful Gothic Revival Style brick library houses 14,000 volumes of Adams Family books. According to the Park Ranger, the lilacs that grow on this property date from the late 1700's.
When you return to the visitors center by trolley, you can walk a short distance to the Hancock Cemetery and First Parish Church. John and Abigail Adams and John Quincy and Louise Catherine Adams are entombed in the church crypt. The Adams ancestors are buried in the Hancock Cemetery a short distance away. You will find that the ancestors arrived in America in the 1600's.
Yes, a visit to the Adams National Historic Park is American history revisited. You will get a good idea of the Adams Family life in New England. Peacefield and the library give you a glimpse of the Adams Family continued dedication to America's development.
You don't have to travel too many miles in New England to find interesting history. This is what makes day tripping so much fun. Quincy is only ten miles from Boston and
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