Here Abigail Adams and seven-year-old John Quincy Adams watched the burning of Charlestown during the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. At the time, Abigail wrote; “the decisive Day is come on which the fate of America depends”. Though the battle took place 13 miles away, Abigail stated that “the constant roar of the cannon is so distressing we cannot Eat, Drink or Sleep.” At age 78, John Quincy retained a vivid memory: “I saw with my own eyes those fires, and heard Britannia’s thunders in the Battle of Bunker’s Hill, and witnessed the tears of my mother and mingled with them my own, at the fall of Warren a dear friend of my father, and a beloved Physician to me.”Abigail Adams provided advice to her husband that spanned decades. He most famous letter, written to Adams as the First Continental Congress met in 1776, included the now famous admonition "remember the ladies.” The future first lady made the meaning of her message clear while framing it into rhetoric that reflected the colonist's opposition to kings and unchecked power. "Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands, " Adams wrote, "Remember all men would be tyrants if they could.”A plaque on the cairn reads: "From this spot, with her son, John Quincy Adams, then a boy of seven by her side, Abigail Adams watched the smoke of burning Charlestown, while listening to the guns of Bunker Hill. Saturday, 17 June, 1775." In 2008, a 112 years old time capsule was found inside the Quincy's Abigail Adams Cairn.

Abigail Adams biography from the National Women's History Museum

More Info

Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation

Book

Time capsule opening, Abigail Adams Cairn, 112 years old. 

Video

Located on a stone outcropping on Penn’s Hill nearby the Adams birthplaces, the Cairn commemorates the evening of June 17, 1775 when Abigail Adams and her young son John Quincy climbed the hill to watch the bombardment and burning of Charlestown during the Battle of Bunker Hill. The marker was dedicated by the Society of the Daughters of the Revolution on June 17, 1896.

Abigail Adams Cairn

Director

The Presidents Trail brings together a unique and diverse collection of 10 historic and cultural sites in the historic City of Quincy Massachusetts.  Ranging from colonial burying grounds and historic house museums, to Presidential homes, burial sites and local historical monuments, each site along the trail offers unique entry points and connections to the Colonial, Revolutionary and Presidential history of Massachusetts and the United States. The Presidents Trail is a collaborative historic heritage experience created and maintained by the Quincy Chamber of Commerce, the City of Quincy, the Quincy Historical Society, Adams National Historical Park, United First Parish Church, Quincy, and the National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Connections to Quincy’s natural and historic heritageThe 2,500 sq.ft. “tidal fountain” in front of City Hall hearkens to the City’s 27 miles of coastline and has 200 jets that spray 11,000 gallons of recirculating water up to 12 ft. in the air. The monumental statues of John Adams and John Hancock were sculpted by artist Sergey Eylanbekov, who was selected by the City through an international competition. The statue of John Adams stands atop a granite terrace at the north entrance to the park, while the statue of John Hancock stands atop a terrace adjacent to the southern entrance to the Hancock Cemetery, which was named for his father, Reverend John Hancock. Located on the ‘Old Coast Road’A product of 10 years of planning and community input, the Hancock Adams Common is the flagship of the City of Quincy’s multi-phased planning efforts to bring its historic heritage resources to the forefront of community and civic life. As with many New England communities, most of Quincy’s main roadways follow transportation routes that have been in use for hundreds of years. Prior to the construction of the Common, this area was a part of Hancock Street, a busy multi-lane road that, in John Adams’ day, was known as the ‘Old Coast Road,’ the main route from Boston to Plymouth. It is believed that this route followed paths developed and used by Native Americans for hundreds if not thousands of years prior to the time of European settlement.A center of community and civic lifeThe Hancock Adams Common is surrounded by historically and architecturally significant buildings and landscapes that continue to play vital roles in the community and civic life of Quincy today. Dating back to 1640 (and perhaps even earlier), the Hancock Cemetery is both the community’s first burial ground and an important public park/urban green space. Constructed of Quincy granite, the United First Parish Church (1828) is the fourth building to house the community’s First Parish congregation, which has been in continuous operation since its founding in 1639. Also constructed of Quincy granite, the recently refurbished Old Town Hall (1844) is the second oldest continuously operating seat of municipal government in the country.

Completed in 2018 and situated in the heart of Quincy’s downtown, this three-acre park and plaza boasts two ornamental fountains and monumental bronze statues honoring two of the City’s most famous inhabitants, John Adams and John Hancock. This beautiful pedestrian mall boasts plenty of seating and open green space and is connected to three of Quincy Center's most significant historic resources: Old City Hall (1844), United First Parish Church (1828) and Hancock Cemetery (1640).

Hancock Adams Common 

Constructed of Quincy granite, the United First Parish Church is the fourth meeting house of a congregation that was initially gathered as a branch of the Church of Boston in 1636. This house of worship, completed in 1828, is also known as the Church of the Presidents because it once counted U.S. presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams among its parishioners. These father and son chief executives, along with first ladies Abigail Adams and Louisa Catherine Adams, are entombed in the building’s lower level crypt.The congregation that occupies the Church of the Presidents was first gathered in 1636 as a branch of the Church of Boston. These Puritan bodies separated in 1639, and the now independent parish became the fifteenth church in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The establishment of this congregation allowed for the surrounding area to become its own town, and Braintree was incorporated in 1640. In 1792, by which time Braintree had become very populous, the town fragmented into different communities, with its northern precinct becoming the town of Quincy.Eight generations of the Adams family worshiped as members of the congregation, from English immigrant Henry Adams in its earliest days to Brooks Adams, who died in 1927. The second president, John Adams, was baptized as an infant in 1735 in the Hancock Meeting House, named after its first minister, Reverend John Hancock (the father of the governor and statesman). John Adams and his wife, Abigail, were raised as Congregationalists but remained aligned with the church doctrine as it evolved into a Unitarian body.Circa 1822, John Adams – by then out of office and in advanced aged – approached local leaders about the prospect of replacing the wooden Hancock Meeting House with a stone temple that could better accommodate the congregation. His idea was well-received, and Adams assisted in the planning. He also donated land from which the granite for the building was to be quarried. Adams died in July 1826, prior to construction, and joined First Lady Abigail Adams in Hancock Cemetery, beside the meeting house. That September, John Quincy Adams – their son, as well as the sitting president – wrote asking permission for his parents’ remains to be removed to the stone temple, which was to be erected next door to the Hancock Meeting House. Their coffins were lowered into their new crypt in April 1828 amid the new building’s construction.The stone temple was designed by Alexander Parris, who had recently completed Quincy Market in downtown Boston. It is Greek Revival in its style and incorporates elements of both Quincy Market and the Pantheon in Rome. A dedication service was held on November 12, 1828. President John Quincy Adams wrote a hymn for the occasion. He subsequently purchased pew #54 and sat there for services when he was in Quincy. Louisa Catherine Adams, his wife and first lady, attended a local Episcopal church.John Quincy and Louisa Catherine Adams died in 1848 and 1852, respectively, and were laid to rest in the family tomb at Hancock Cemetery. Their son, Charles Francis Adams, soon arranged for the crypt in the First Parish Church to be expanded, and the sixth president and his first lady were transferred there in December 1852. The crypt beneath the church was private Adams property until 1903, when it was conveyed over to the congregation. It was then open only via appointment until 1976, when the History and Visitors Program began leading daily tours. The church, officially referred to as the United First Parish Church since a merger with the Wollaston Unitarian Society in 1958, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971.Independent from the active congregation, the church’s History and Visitors Program conducts daily tours of the sanctuary and crypt from mid-April until mid-November

Built in 1828, United First Parish Church is the fourth building to house the community’s earliest congregation (1639) and is the final resting place of the Adams Presidents and First Ladies. Once known as the Old Stone Temple, this National Historic Landmark is considered the finest existing Greek Revival church in New England.

Church of the Presidents

SUNDAY. MAY 4TH. 1766, “I saw for the first Time, a likely young Button Wood Tree, lately planted, on the Triangle made by the Three Roads, by the House of Mr. James Brackett. The Tree is well set and well guarded and has on it, an Inscription ‘The Tree of Liberty,’ and ‘cursed is he, who cutts this Tree.’”  --John Adams, Diary.Liberty Trees such as the one on this site became important rallying points for patriots here in Massachusetts and around the colonies, their size offering a natural landmark around which to gather, and their sturdy nature symbolic of the deeply rooted nature of the rebellion. The concept of liberty trees later spread to France during the French Revolution.Taverns were also important gathering points for the patriots and Brackett's Tavern, a notable Quincy landmark in its day, stood on this site before and during the American Revolution. Today, Quincy newcomer Liberty Tavern across the street honors the spirit of liberty that lifted this community in the 1770s and beyond.

Site of Quincy’s Liberty Tree, rallying place for patriots prior to the American Revolution, Liberty Tree Park is located in an elongated traffic island that has remained in the middle of this three-way intersection since the early 1700’s. In 1959, Quincy’s Granite Manufacturers Association placed a granite monument commemorating the locations of community’s Liberty Tree and Brackett’s Tavern, an important community gathering place.

Brackett's Tavern Liberty Tree

The salt-box style home located at 133 Franklin Street in Quincy, Massachusetts was originally built in 1681. It was purchased by Deacon John Adams, the president’s father, in 1720 along with six acres of surrounding farmland. The frame and clapboard structure have a ground-floor room and upper chamber on either side of a central chimney. Deacon John married Susannah Boylston in 1734. On October 30, 1735, the first son, John Adams was born. During his childhood, his father instilled in him a passion for civic affairs and farming. The young Adams was also influenced by his mother, Susanna Boylston, who came from one of Boston’s more prominent area families. She taught her sons to appreciate the lifestyle and customs of the upper-class society in the city. These values molded the young boy into a man who would add his signature to the Declaration of Independence and lead the country as its second President. Deacon Adams purchased the adjacent property to increase his land in 1744. When Deacon Adams died in 1761, John's younger brother Peter inherited the home of their birth, and John inherited the adjacent home on the land his father later purchased, which stood only seventy-five feet away. The future President purchased his birthplace from his brother in 1774. John Adams and his wife, Abigail, lived in the home next door (the one which he had inherited) and rented out his birthplace during the American Revolution. Abigail Adams became a loving confidant and prolific correspondent to her often absent husband. She assumed the role of "patriot on the home front" and a "farmeress". Both homes were eventually sold to John Adams’s son, John Quincy Adams, in 1803. Over the years, many improvements were made to the property. The leanto was an addition to the rear of the home, and the roof was extended over the leanto in a straight, uninterrupted line. The frontispiece that surrounds the main entrance was another later addition. It features two pilasters on either side of the doorway and a triangular ornament over the top. President John Adams’ third son, Thomas Boylston Adams, moved into the home in 1810. This was the last Adams to live in the houses.Today there is less than an acre of land around the birthplaces. It is a hard to imagine the 140 acres of an 18th Century farm existed. "The Adamses used and appreciated every aspect of their working farm. Whether harvesting apples, planting trees, building stone walls, or tending cows, the working landscape was an important part of family life for multiple generations of the Adams family, in addition to their dedication to careers in government, civic virtue, and patriotism." - Adams NHPThe property remained in the Adams family until 1940, when it was deeded to the City of Quincy. The City and the Quincy Historical Society maintained and gave tours in the John Quincy Adams and the Daughters of the American Revolution maintained and gave tours of the John Adams home.The City ultimately gave them back to the family and they deeded them to the National Park Service (1979) to commemorate the second and sixth presidents of the United States. Now, visitors can go the Adams National Historical Park in Quincy, Massachusetts to take a guided tour of the property. Tours are available from May to October. The historic homes are closed from November through April.

John Adams was born in 1735 in the house on the right. John Quincy Adams was born in 1767 in the house at today's street corner. Here, Abigail Adams managed house and farm for several years during the Revolution. Here, John Adams drafted the Massachusetts State Constitution, which served as a model for the U.S. Constitution. On managing house and farm, Abigail wrote: "If what I enjoy I can share with my partner and with Liberty, I can sing o be joyfull and sit down content." While embroiled in the politics of creating a nation John Adams wrote: "I should have thought myself, the happiest Man in the World, if I could have retired to my little hut and forty Acres, and lived on Potatoes and Seaweed." The birthplaces of the Adams Presidents are now a part of the Adams National Historical Park in Quincy, Massachusetts. These two structures are the earliest surviving presidential birthplaces in the country.

Presidents John and John Quincy Adams Birthplaces

Quincy’s Hancock Cemetery dates from the earliest years of European settlement (1630s) and was the community’s main burial ground until 1854. Early Puritans took a pragmatic attitude toward death and burial: grave markers were often impermanent or non-existent and cattle roamed freely here. Consequently, many more people are buried here than there are existing markers. Only in 1809 did a group of citizens, including John Adams, purchase the lot and officially donate it to the town, “Provided that ... the town shall never hereafter allow the said burial ground to be used as a pasture or any horse or cattle ... to run at large therein.” The handsome iron fencing is from 1844.The cemetery’s graves, including generations of the Adams and Quincy families and Rev. John Hancock, father of the great patriot leader and for whom the cemetery is named, provide a perspective on American history. The memorials also offer a chronicle of gravestone art, from excellent examples of colonial winged skulls and cherubim, to Federalist classical motifs and representatives of Quincy’s 19th century role as the national center of granite quarrying and carving. Veterans of the Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War are buried here. Their graves are often identifiable by the flags decorating them. About “Quincy” and “Braintree”: Some stones in the cemetery refer to the town of “Braintree”. What is now the City of Quincy was originally the North Precinct of the large colonial town of Braintree. As the home to the First Parish Church and other important community institutions, the North Precinct was always the center of activity in Braintree. By 1792 the original town had grown so large and spread out that it began separating into individual towns, with the old original town center becoming “Quincy.”The cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In order to ensure preservation of the inscriptions, rubbings or tracings of the gravestones are not permitted. Please do not leave memorials at gravesites or leave objects within the grounds. Do not sit or lean on graves.The Hancock Cemetery is undergoing comprehensive restoration and conservation projects. In 2014, over 250 grave markers were cleaned and repaired. In 2016, the historic cast iron fence, gates and arches along Hancock Street were restored. In 2018, 54 tombs were restored, and in 2020 a new rear fence was installed, tree and landscaping work completed and the remaining 29 tombs will be restored. Future preservation work includes survey and replacement of the pathways and landscaping and turf improvements. The cemetery work is made possible by grants from the Massachusetts Historic Commission and Massachusetts Cultural Council as well as funding allocations from the Quincy Community Preservation Committee. The project is being managed by the Quincy Planning and Community Development Department with assistance from the City Parks Department, the Cemetery Board of Managers and Quincy Historical Commission.

Hancock Cemetery dates from the earliest years of European settlement (1630s) and was the community’s main burial ground until 1854. The cemetery’s graves include generations of the Adams and Quincy families, Rev. John Hancock, father of the great patriot leader, and veterans of the American Revolution, War of 1812 and the Civil War. In his later years John Adams placed inscriptions on the graves of his ancestors. "This stone and several other have been placed in this yard by a great-great grandson...in hopes of recommend an imitation of their virtues to their Posterity."

Hancock Cemetery

A Tribute to Quincy’s Granite IndustryIn 1844, the building committee assigned with the task of constructing the new town hall released a notice of its intentions to accept proposals from contractors for the construction of a “Stone House, fifty by eighty feet, and thirty-five feet, four inches in height , the front end and two sides to be of dressed blue Granite of uniform color , the back end to be of rough Ashlar…” The residents of Quincy intended their new Town Hall to be a testament to the quality of their granite industry. Solomon Willard’s Greek Revival building was designed after the Merchants Exchange building in Boston and featured a temple front with two-story Ionic pilasters and a triangular pediment. Local artisans quarried, cut, transported the stone and constructed the building in a period – from conception to dedication – of five and one-half months. A Building to Grow IntoThe original building layout included the Police lock-up in the basement, 3,200 sq.ft. ‘Great Hall’ on the second floor, and the Selectmen’s offices, the Lyceum (meeting/function) Hall and empty office spaces that would rented out until they were needed meet the needs of the growing town's government operations. Businesses renting space in the early days of the Town Hall included a clothing store, a tailor, an apothecary, a saloon and a bank.The local legacy of Solomon WillardSolomon Willard both designed and managed the construction of the new Town House. This project was one of the last in his remarkable career as an artisan, architect and inventor. A resident of West Quincy for the second half of his life, Willard had originally come to Quincy in search of high-quality granite for the construction of Bunker Hill monument. His decision to use Quincy granite would launch the larger granite quarrying industry in the community. A life-long bachelor, Willard was an active community benefactor, particularly in his neighborhood of West Quincy. He is buried in Hall Cemetery.

This historic town hall was built in 1844, when Quincy granite was at the height of its popularity as a monumental architectural material. This Greek Revival building was designed and supervised by Solomon Willard, the father of Quincy’s granite industry and architect of the Bunker Hill Monument. Old Town Hall is believed to be the nation’s second oldest continuous seat of municipal government. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and underwent extensive restoration in 2014-15.

Quincy Town Hall (Old Town Hall)

In 1822 President John Adams established a fund to build a new town church and to found a college preparatory school for boys. Adams specified the site on which the school was to be built, in order to honor his colleagues in the Revolution—Hancock and Josiah Quincy, Jr., whose family had later lived at this location. (The house burned down in 1758.) The Adams Academy opened in the fall of 1872. The Academy building featured a distinctive use of native Quincy granite and combined its Gothic style with modern architectural principles. Despite a distinguished faculty and a reputation for excellence, the school closed in 1907.At the Adams Academy, the Historical Society maintains a museum on the history of Quincy from Native Americans to the early 21st century and a library of materials on local and regional history and holds a variety of school and public programs.

The Adams Academy, located on the site of the birthplace of John Hancock, was a preparatory school endowed by John Adams and is today the home of the Quincy Historical Society Museum and Library. The Academy building, designed by the Boston firm of Ware and Van Brunt in 1870, is considered an influential work in the Gothic Revival style in America and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1994.

John Hancock Birth Site and Adams Academy

The house was built in 1731 by a wealthy plantation owner, Leonard Vassall. Following the abandonment of the property by its Loyalist owner, John and Abigail Adams acquired the property in 1787. It became a home to several leaders of the nation, including two Presidents (John Adams and John Quincy Adams), two First Ladies(Abigail Adams and Louisa Catherine Adams), a U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain (Charles Francis Adams), and two writers and historians (Henry Adams and Brooks Adams).A summer President's Home- John came back to Peacefield in the summer months of his presidency. During the last year of his presidency, Abigail nearly doubled the house by adding two large rooms. The third generation Charles Francis Adams and his wife, Abigail Brooks Adams also expanded the home and added the Carriage House, and Library onto the property. In 1946, the family donated the property to the federal government which operates this home and several other nearby sites as part of the Adams National Historical Park.Adams National Historical Park is made up of three sites. During the open season( May-October) tours of each of the homes of Adams National Historical Park are available with a $15.00 fee. The 19th Century garden is free to walk from dawn to dusk and during the open season, trolleybuses offer transportation between Peacefield and the President's Birthplaces and the Visitor Center.

John and Abigail Adams acquired this house upon their return from England in 1788. It became the home to four generations of the Adams family, including two Presidents and their wives. It remained in the family for two more generations, used a summer home until 1926. It was maintained as a museum by the family until it was donated to the National Park Service in 1946. In a letter to a friend John Adams wrote: "I think to christen my Place by the Name Peace field, in commemoration of the Peace which I assisted in making in 1783, of the thirteen Years Peace and Neutrality which I have contributed to preserve, and of the constant Peace and Tranquility which I have enjoyed in this Residence."

Peace Field

Designated a National Historic Landmark in 2005, and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the Dorothy Quincy Homestead is known for its role in early American history, for its architecture and its association with the Edmund Quincy family, one of the early families of Massachusetts whose members played a substantial role in the political and social life of the Commonwealth and who placed their imprint on the property for five generations (c.1635-1763).Edmund Quincy I, the Puritan colonist, settled in Old Braintree (now Quincy) in the 1630s and established the Quincy Homestead. The current mansion’s construction began (c.1680) under Edmund Quincy II who built his new house near the Furnace Brook. The Homestead represents the evolution of over 300 years of American architecture combining Colonial, Georgian and Victorian design.Saved from urban development in 1904, The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in The Commonwealth of Massachusetts restored the house as a museum and transferred ownership to the Commonwealth which leased the house back to be cared for by the Dames.

A captivating chapter of American history began c.1635 on the site of the stately Dorothy Quincy Homestead. The original estate covered several hundred acres extending from its current location to Quincy Bay. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Homestead was acclaimed the grandest estate in Quincy. Famous Quincy family members include Dorothy Quincy Hancock, the first First Lady of Massachusetts; and President John Quincy Adams, whose maternal great-grandfather was Colonel John Quincy, for whom the town of Quincy was named.

Presidents Trail Quincy

Abigail Adams Cairn

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Additional Information