North Square in the North End has always been surrounded by history. It was the site of the original Old North Meeting House and home of Increase Mather, the head of Harvard College and pastor of the church, until the great fire in 1676. The home of Paul Revere, built in 1680, sits on one side, and on the other previously stood the home of Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson which was destroyed by a mob in 1765, and once stood just up the street on Garden Court. The square has been a part of the Freedom Trail since the 1950s and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1961, officially marking its significance.

The Freedom Trail is a 2.5-mile-long path through Boston that passes by 16 locations significant to the history of the United States. Marked largely with brick, it winds from Boston Common in downtown Boston through the North End to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. Stops along the trail include simple explanatory ground markers, graveyards, notable churches and buildings, and a historic naval frigate. While most of the sites are free or suggest donations, the Old South Meeting House, the Old State House, and the Paul Revere House charge admission. The Freedom Trail is overseen by the City of Boston’s Freedom Trail Commission and is supported in part by grants from various nonprofits and foundations, private philanthropy, and Boston National Historical Park.