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Boston Preservation Month
Every May, Boston Preservation Month encourages public awareness and appreciation of the City's historic resources.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation created National Preservation Month in 1973. The month highlights historic preservation's importance through events that:
- celebrate historic places
- promote heritage tourism, and
- show the social and economic benefits of historic preservation.
Every year we put together a list of exhibits, walking tours, lectures, and more, related to history. The events are free or low-cost, and some are led by BLC staff or our Commissioners. You can find more information about this year's below, or print out a list of events here.
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Have questions? Contact:
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Citizen Preservation Award
In 2017, we launched the annual Citizen Preservation Awards. Presented during our annual kickoff event, the awards recognize outstanding individuals who help preserve and protect Boston.
All Preservation Month events
All Preservation Month events- Neighborhood Coffee Hour - Hyde Park (May 1, 9:30 - 10:30 a.m.)
- Waterworks Book Club: Meet the author of 'New England Neon' (May 1, 10 - 11 a.m.)
- Freedom Trail Walk Into History Tours (May 1, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.)
- Preservation Month 2019 kickoff (May 1, 6 p.m.)
- Brookline, Massachusetts, and the Origins of Suburbia (May 1, 6 - 7:30 p.m.)
- Artist Talk with Peter Vanderwarker and Neal Rantoul (May 1, 6 - 8 p.m.)
- Neighborhood Coffee Hour - Bay Village / Chinatown (May 2, 9:30 - 10:30 a.m.)
- The City-State of Boston: The rise and fall of an Atlantic World, 1630-1865 (May 2, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.)
- Historic walking tour on Newbury Street (May 2, 6 - 7:30 p.m.)
- Ames-Webster House tour (May 4, 9:30 a.m. - 12:05 p.m.)
- Boston Philharmonic: Interpretations of Music - Lessons for Life (May 4, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.)
- Research your historic home workshop (May 4, 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.)
- Biking a historic landscape: Back Bay Fens to Arnold Arboretum (May 4, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.)
- Wake Up the Earth festival (May 4, 12 - 5 p.m.)
- Gilding Demonstration at Paul Revere House (May 4, 1 - 3 p.m.)
- Piers Park Sailing Opening Day (May 4, 1 - 4 p.m.)
- Chestnut Hill Reservoir landscape history (May 4, 2 - 4 p.m.)
- Bulfinch, Benjamin, Parris, and Bryant: A lineage of West End Architecture (May 5, 10 - 11:30 a.m.)
- Downtown Social Club Walking Tour of Arnold Arboretum (May 5, 10 - 11:30 a.m.)
- Jane's Walk at the West End Museum (May 5, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.)
- How the Arboretum became the Arboretum: The first 25 years (May 5, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.)
- Tower Restoration Project Open House (May 5, 12 - 3 p.m.)
- Polish Fest Boston 2019 (May 5, 12 - 6 p.m.)
- The final voyage of Dr. Susan Dimock in 1875 (May 5, 2 - 3:30 p.m.)
- Charlie Gibson's early 1900s Back Bay (May 5, 2:30 - 4 p.m.)
- Fort Hill Tower open to public (May 5, 3 - 5 p.m.)
- Walking tour: Boston Jewish women finding their voices (May 5, 4 - 5:30 p.m.)
- Fishweir installation on Boston Common (May 7)
- Neighborhood Coffee Hour - Dorchester (May 7, 9:30 - 10:30 a.m.)
- Neighborhood Coffee Hour - Charlestown (May 8, 9:30 - 10:30 a.m.)
- Architecture series: Breaking the stained glass ceiling (May 8, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.)
- Odor and power in the Americas: Olfactory racism and the Atlantic world (May 8, 12 - 1 p.m.)
- How to georeference in Map Warper (May 8, 3:30 - 5 p.m.)
- Lifesavers: Dr. James O’Connell and 'Helping the Homeless' (May 8, 7 - 8:30 p.m.)
- In the Yard: Charlestown Navy Yard's 1833 Dry Dock 1 (May 9, 12 - 1:30 p.m.)
- 'New England Neon' author talk (May 9, 2 - 3 p.m.)
- The extraordinary life of cyclist Major Taylor, America's first Black sports hero (May 9, 6 - 7:30 p.m.)
- Kurtis Rivers and Alain Pacowski Quartet (May 9, 7 - 9 p.m.)
- Architecture trivia at BSA Space (May 9, 7 - 9 p.m.)
- Chinatown History Tour (May 10, 5:30 - 7 p.m.)
- Walking tour of Monument Square, Jamaica Plain (May 11, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.)
- Tour of Shirley-Eustis House (May 11, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.)
- Charlestown Navy Yard: Then and now walking tour (May 11, 1 - 2 p.m.)
- John Adams: The Colossus of Independence (May 11, 1 - 3 p.m.)
- Annual Summer Kitchen opening (May 11, 4 - 6 p.m.)
- Yom Ha’Aztmaut / Happy Birthday Israel Party (May 11, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.)
- Duckling Day (May 12, 10 a.m.)
- Lilac Sunday (May 12, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.)
- 350th anniversary of Old South Church celebration (May 12, 12:30 - 2:30 p.m.)
- Bach Project II: Music for Bach's Favorite Instruments (May 12, 4 - 5:30 p.m.)
- Neighborhood Coffee Hour - Fenway (May 14, 9:30 - 10:30 a.m.)
- Boston Women Designers: Then and Now (May 14, 6 - 7 p.m.)
- Boston By Map (May 14, 6 - 7:30 p.m.)
- Community reading event with Mimi Jones (May 14, 6 - 8:30 p.m.)
- Ayer Mansion Tour (May 15, 12 noon)
- Black children's cultural and political resistance (May 15, 12 - 1 p.m.)
- Indian Americans of Massachusetts (May 15, 6 - 7:30 p.m.)
- Franklin Park Bird Walk (May 15, 7 - 8:30 a.m.)
- Hidden Gardens of Beacon Hill Tour (May 16, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.)
- In the Yard: Tour of USS Constitution’s preservation facility (May 16, 10:30 - 11:30 a.m.)
- Seniors Connect: Boston Public Market (May 16, 10:30 - 11:30 a.m.)
- Constructing King's Chapel: An Architecture and Material Culture Tour (May 16, 6 - 7 p.m.)
- Bike to Work Day Festival 2019 (May 17, 7 - 9 a.m.)
- Chinatown History Tour (May 17, 5:30 - 7 p.m.)
- Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park opening (May 18, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.)
- Ashmont Hill Yard Sale (May 18, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.)
- Jamaica Pond: Of ponds and plans (May 18, 10 a.m.)
- Katharine Gibbs School and Gibbs College walking tour (May 18, 10 - 11:30 a.m.)
- Boston: A history written in stone (May 18, 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.)
- Bike With Kids in Roxbury (May 18, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.)
- Walking tour of Sumner Hill, Jamaica Plain (May 18, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.)
- Historic gems of the Back Bay Fens (May 18, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.)
- Historic Brighton Center walking tour (May 18, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.)
- Franklin Park Kite and Bike Festival (May 18, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.)
- Charlestown Navy Yard: Then and Now Walking Tour (May 18, 1 - 2 p.m.)
- Meet Harriet, daughter of Paul Revere (May 18, 1 - 3 p.m.)
- America Transformed: Mapping the 19th Century (May 18, 1 - 4 p.m.)
- The life of Henry Grew (May 18, 1:30 p.m.)
- Memorial Hall construction kick-off party (May 18, 4:30 - 10:30 p.m.)
- 20th anniversary Garden Gala (May 18, 7 - 11 p.m.)
- Forest Hills horticulture and architecture walking tour (May 19, 2 - 3:30 p.m.)
- Neighborhood Coffee Hour - Mattapan (May 20, 9:30 - 10:30 a.m.)
- South End new construction walking tour (May 20, 6 - 7:30 p.m.)
- Boston By Map (May 21, 6 - 7:30 p.m.)
- Boston City Hall lecture (May 22, 6 - 7:30 p.m.)
- Neighborhood Coffee Hour - South Boston (May 22, 9:30 - 10:30 a.m.)
- Military Heroes Garden of Flags on the Boston Common (May 22, 10:30 a.m.)
- Neighborhood Coffee Hour - Back Bay / Beacon Hill (May 23, 9:15 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.)
- In the Yard: Charlestown Navy Yard's 1833 Dry Dock 1 (May 23, 4 - 5:30 p.m.)
- Old North Church photography exhibit opening reception (May 23, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.)
- A history of Brighton and Allston's Cambridge Street (May 23, 7 - 9 p.m.)
- Tour of Longfellow Bridge (May 25, 10 - 11:30 a.m.)
- Walking Tour of Stony Brook, Jamaica Plain (May 25, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.)
- Guided Tour along the restored Muddy River (May 25, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.)
- 2019 opening weekend of Fort Independence (May 25, 12 - 3 p.m.)
- Charlestown Navy Yard: Then and Now (May 25, 1 - 2 p.m.)
- A visit with Paul Revere (May 25, 1 - 3 p.m.)
- Institute of Contemporary Art Watershed Opening Day (May 26, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.)
- Neighborhood Coffee Hour - Roxbury (May 28, 9:30 - 10:30 a.m.)
- Adventures at Sea: Bostonians in the Age of Sail (May 26, 2 - 3:30 p.m.)
- Art Deco in the Financial District (May 27, 10 - 11:30 a.m.)
- Untold stories of the Public Garden (May 28, 4 - 5 p.m.)
- Hancock Mansion Project (May 28, 5:30 p.m.)
- Untold stories of the Public Garden (May 29, 10 - 11 a.m.)
- Contests of authority in occupied Boston (May 29, 12 - 1 p.m.)
- Untold stories of the Public Garden (May 29, 4 - 5 p.m.)
- Preservation Month Open House (May 29, 5 - 6 p.m.)
- Untold Stories of the Public Garden (May 30, 4 - 5 p.m.)
- 'Balancing Act: Urbanism and emerging technologies' opening reception (May 30, 6 - 8 p.m.)
- Plants go to war: A botanical history of World War II (May 30, 6:30 - 8 p.m.)
Month-long events
Art and Architecture Tour - Boston Public Library
Monday through Sunday; start times vary
The free public tours highlight the McKim Building, a designated National Historic Landmark.
Boston Architecture Tours (starts May 25)
Monday through Friday at 2:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
Views historic and contemporary architecture along Boston Harbor and the Charles River.
Custom House observation deck
Every day except Friday; 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.
The guide gives a bit of history on the ride up to the deck. Visitors will have 30-40 minutes to enjoy the view.
Guided tours of Arnold Arboretum
Saturdays; 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. (noon)
Enjoy a free guided tour of the Arnold Arboretum landscape with a knowledgeable docent.
Preservation month posters
Download:
Our posters are available for you to download for free.
