A fine pedestrian passage, this longitudinal public space links two Boston landmarks, St. Stephen's Church (NE9) on Hanover Street and Old North (or Christ) Church (NE12) on Salem Street. Rows of European linden trees soften the brick surfaces of the surrounding apartment buildings, whereas bronze plaques affixed to the nine-foot-tall brick walls provide a historical context. Spatial sequences are designed to provide appropriate focal points, notably the equestrian Paul Revere designed by Cyrus Dallin in 1885, but only cast in 1940, and to capitalize on views and approaches to enclosing monuments, the Ebenezer Clough House (
NE11
), Old North Church, and St. Stephen's Church. Mayor James Michael Curley initiated the idea for the park after a visit to Madrid. Fifteen tenements and one hotel were demolished to provide space for the plaza designed by Arthur A. Shurcliff, then at work on re-creating the landscape for Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.