Boston’s Faneuil Hall: Memorials, Statues, and Sculptures

Boston has statues and plaques that honor colonial heroes,  local politicians, and important events on nearly every street corner in town. Here is a guide to the memorials and statues that you will find in and around the Faneuil Hall area-it has become quite the repository for public adornment over the years!

Just steps from the gaiety of Faneuil Hall Marketplace,  the New England Holocaust Memorial is a sobering reminder of the victims of the Holocaust. Walk along the path among the 6 simple glass towers- each 54 feet high- that represent  the major Nazi death camps. Each tower is inscribed with one million serial numbers- six million in total- that represent those who died in the Holocaust. At the end of the path, there is a granite slab inscribed with the poem “First They Came” by German Pastor Niemoeller -always worth contemplating.

Just across from the Holocaust Memorial, you will see a small park, James Michael Curley Park, which has two bronze statues (one sitting and one standing) of  larger-than life, four-time Boston Mayor James Michael Curley. Curley dominated Boston politics during the first half of the 20th century. He even served 5 months for mail fraud  during his last mayoral  term . Those were the days!

The nearby giant 10- foot bronze statue is that of  Boston longest-serving mayor, Kevin White, who served Boston from 1968-1983. His bronze is located in the shadow of Fanueil Hall Marketplace, which he helped to revitalize.

“Meet me at in front of Sam Adams”. Not just the name of the country’s premium beer brand, Samuel Adams was one of the America’s  Founding Fathers  and a former Governor of Massachusetts. The bronze Samuel Adams statue directly in front of Faneuil Hall may just be  the most popular meeting place in the city.

Running geeks will want to pay homage to Bill Rogers.”Boston Billy” won  the Boston Marathon four times. There is a bronze plague and his bronzed running shoes dedicated to him  in front of South Market Place.  The Bill Rogers Running Store is located on the other side of Quincy Market, at North Market.

Boston sports nuts  will recognize the life- size bronze of “Red Auerbach” holding his trademark cigar next to the Bill Rogers plaque.  Auerbach was the coach of the Boston Celtics from 1950-1966 and served in the front office of the Celtics until his death in 2006.

Image Credit: Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau , David Fox used with permission