Fodor's Expert Review Park Street Church

If this Congregationalist church at the corner of Tremont and Park Streets could sing, you'd hear Samuel Smith's iconic hymn "America," which was first sung here in 1831. But that's only one fun fact about this historic site. It was designed by Peter Banner and erected in 1810. The Handel & Haydn Society was founded here in 1815. William Lloyd Garrison began his long public campaign for the abolition of slavery here in 1829. Just outside the church is Brimstone Corner, and whether the name refers to the fervent thunder of the church's preachers, the gunpowder that was once stored in the church's crypt, or the burning sulfur that preachers once scattered on the pavement to attract potential churchgoers, we'll never know—historians simply can't agree. This Freedom Trail site is not open for tours, only services. This is Freedom Trail stop 3.