City begins work on Liberty Tree Plaza

Funded by Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s Capital Plan, the Boston Public Works Department, and the Boston Planning & Development Agency, the project involves improvements to the plaza located at 2 Boylston Street including a monument and interpretative gathering space, paving, lighting, and landscaping.  The Parks Department will also be planting a disease-resistant elm tree in tribute to the original Liberty Tree. 

Site furnishings will include moveable tables and chairs.  Existing food trucks and programming will return after the project’s completion which is estimated to take six months.  Access will be maintained to at least one entrance of the China Trade Building during working hours throughout the duration of the construction period. 

The site marks the location of the original elm known between 1765 and 1775 as the Liberty Tree that served as the rallying point for the “Sons of Liberty,” colonists who protested the Stamp Act in 1765.  The tree became an important symbol of their cause as they began the struggle that led to the Revolutionary War and independence from the British.

The plaza was last renovated around 1976.   It was originally created when Boylston Street was realigned so utilities including steam, electric, water, sewer, gas, and even the Chinatown MBTA station currently lie beneath.