It’s one of the most famous events in American history: the December night in 1773 when Colonists protested a British tax by dumping three shiploads’ worth of tea into Boston Harbor. But for years, tourists who came to visit the spot that helped spark the Revolutionary War had little more to see than a plaque.
Nearly a decade after the Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum was struck by lightning, that distinctive bit of Boston history is back on track to have a new museum off the Congress Street Bridge that will include replicas of the three ships that carried tea: the Beaver, the Eleanor, and the Dartmouth. The museum is being made possible through a financing deal announced yesterday, in which the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority will invest $18 million toward the $25 million project. The city of Boston and the Boston Redevelopment Authority are supporting the project with a $3 million grant.
“To this day, I still get people calling my office saying, ‘I’m here at the Boston Tea Party ship — where is it?’’ said Shawn Ford, vice president of Historic Tours of America, which will operate the museum. “People come to Boston to see this thing and it’s not there. It’s been a major void. . . . So when we open this thing, it’s going to be a long time overdue.’’
Full Story: History will soon invite Tea Party guests again – The Boston Globe
Ground Zero rebuilding progressing