Boston, MA (Collage created 3 July 2021)

Title is derived from the blending of 18th century historical sites fitting for 245th anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence attributed to 4 July 1776 with 20th-21st century architectural modernism, which encompasses a significant part of Boston’s skyline and waterfront development, much of it constructed after 2000.

(top left) Old North Church (photographed 15 June 2021) used by Paul Revere (“One if by land, two if by sea”) during his midnight ride on 18 April 1775 to warn the patriots the British were coming by land (one lantern was hung in its steeple for a minute. Built in 1723. The oldest standing church in Boston. Also a little known fact, Wentworth Cheswell, the first African-American man elected to public office (Town Constable, Newmarket, NH in 1768) also warned of the British approach along with William Dawes, Samuel Prescott and some dozen others.

(top middle) George Washington Statue (photographed 15 June 2021), Boston Public Garden. Designed by Boston artist Thomas Ball. Unveiled 3 July 1869.

(top right) Faneuil Hall (photographed 13 June 2021), site of the Boston Massacre (5 March 1770, in which British troops killed five) and several speeches by Samuel Adams, one of several “Founding Fathers” opened in 1743 after being erected using funds from the slave trade. It reopened in 1762 after being nearly completely destroyed by a fire and is rich in African American history. The first person killed during the Boston Massacre was 47 year-old African American Crispus Attucks. In August 1890 it was the site of African-American legislator Julius Caesar Chappelle’s speech calling for granting Black Americans the right to vote.

(bottom) Eleanor, Boston Harbor (photographed 14 June 2021), site of the Boston Tea Party. The Eleanor, a replica of the original tall ship, was one of three ships boarded by a diverse predominantly young crowd on 16 December 1773 to protest the British tax on tea with the rallying cry, “No taxation without representation!” 340 chests consisting of 92,000 pounds of tea valued at approximately $1.7 million in today’s money were dumped into Boston Harbor during the protest, the key event that sparked the American Revolution (1775-1783) and subsequent American independence from Britain.

Additional View of Old North Church (left) and Faneuil Hall (right)