Boston National Historical Park information desk at Faneuil Hall

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See the Visitor Centers web page for an interactive location map.

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GENERAL INFORMATION

Faneuil Hall began as a marketplace in 1742, and in keeping with that tradition, the main floor is still a retail shopping mall full of small shops and food vendors, sort of like a high-end flea market. One of the tenants is the National Park Service, which operates its main visitor orientation center for Boston National Historical Park from here. It is not a traditional visitor center housed in its own building, but there is a Ranger-staffed information desk.

Faneuil Hall, part of Boston National Historical Park

OPERATING HOURS

The Faneuil Hall Visitor Center is typically open Tuesdays through Sundays from Memorial Day until the end of September, and on Wednesdays through Sundays the rest of the year. It is closed for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Hours vary depending on the season. Get the current schedule on the National Park Service’s official Operating Hours and Seasons web page for Boston National Historical Park.

AMENITIES

• Ranger-staffed information desk where visitors can pick up a park brochure and ask questions
• Sign up for Ranger-guided tours of the Freedom Trail and other Ranger programs
• Exhibit area
• Park Film
• Gift shops and food vendors (not affiliated with the National Park)

Exhibit on the main floor of Faneuil Hall highlights the various National Park properties in Boston

PARK FILM

The 17-minute film Fighting For Freedom: Lewis Hayden and the Underground Railroad is shown on the lower floor of Faneuil Hall. The film tells the story of Lewis Hayden, a man who escaped with his family from slavery in Kentucky and fled to Canada. He later ended up in Boston where he ran a clothing store and helped other escapees. He is known for stocking gunpowder kegs in his home and threatening to blow the place up if any slave catchers tried to enter. Hayden’s former home is on Phillips Street and is part of Boston’s Black Heritage Trail.

Visitors to Faneuil Hall watch Fighting for Freedom: Lewis Hayden and the Underground Railroad in the lower floor exhibit area

EXHIBIT AREA

In keeping with the discussion of slavery as depicted in the Lewis Hayden film, there is a small exhibit on the lower floor of Faneuil Hall that focuses on Boston’s connection to slavery, which was legal in Massachusetts until 1783. It takes about ten minutes to read the information in its entirety.

Exhibit on Boston’s connection to slavery on the lower floor of Faneuil Hall, part of Boston National Historical Park

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