Lewis Hayden was an escaped slave from Kentucky, who, in turn, helped escaped slaves once he settled as a clothing retailer and community leader in Boston.

His and his wife's townhouse was a stop on the Underground Railroad and also a meeting place for abolitionist activity.

The Haydens, too, opened it as a boarding house for African-Americans, including former slaves.

The legendary tourist trap was also the site of many anti-slavery rallies as well as fundraisers for various abolitionist efforts (a tad ironic, given its origin).

These fundraisers included bazaars that African-American women hosted.

Built in 1806, the African Meeting House is the oldest black church edifice still standing in the United States, according to the Museum of African American History, of which the house is a part.

It was a hub of abolitionist activity and, during the Civil War, a recruitment center for the 54th Massachusetts, one of the first African-American regiments in the U.S. Army.

A commemorative plaque is all that's left of the building that housed The Liberator, the nation's leading abolitionist newspaper before the Civil War.

Publisher William Lloyd Garrison ran the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society as well.

The Great Fire of 1872 destroyed the building, seven years after Garrison saw fit to stop publishing The Liberator.

Timothy Jackson, a Revolutionary War veteran, built the house in 1809.

His son, William Jackson, built a soap and candle factory on the land as well and later served in both the state Legislature and Congress.

William also led a double life, using his estate as a stop for the Underground Railroad.

The park includes a 10-foot bronze memorial to the Maryland-slave-turned-Underground Railroad conductor.

That statue by Fern Cunningham was the first on city-owned property in Boston to honor a woman. It was unveiled in 1999.

The Tappan family, which included noted abolitionists, built the stone house in 1822.

Seven years later, Samuel Philbrick, a local official and also an ardent opponent of slavery, moved in and made his new home a stop on the Underground Railroad.

He was said to have told his son shortly before his 1859 death, "you will live to see a war over this slavery business." The Philbricks lived at 182 Walnut until 1922.

It is a private residence and is not open to the public.

The publisher of The Liberator lived in this house—known as Rockledge—from 1864 until his death in 1879.

It is a private residence and not open to the public.