Innovation Trail is an urban walking trail in Massachusetts, stretching from Downtown Crossing in Boston to Kendall Square in Cambridge. The trail has 21 stops focusing on the history of innovation in the Greater Boston area.
| Innovation Trail | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Established | 2022[1] |
| Trailheads | Downtown Crossing (Boston) Kendall Square (Cambridge) |
| Website | https://www.theinnovationtrail.org/ |
History
editThe Innovation Trail was founded in 2022 by Scott Kirsner, a columnist for the Boston Globe, and Bob Krim, a professor at Framingham State University.[2] The two were inspired by the Freedom Trail.[3] Kirsner had originally proposed the idea for an innovation-focused trail in a 2013 column.[2] According to Kirsner, the trail aims to "change the narrative" about innovation, which is often associated strongly with Silicon Valley.[4]
In 2023, Boston magazine ranked it as the best walking tour in Boston.[5] The Innovation Trail was awarded a grant by the state of Massachusetts as part of the Massachusetts 250 Initiative, which aims to highlight "firsts" achieved by the state ahead of the 250th anniversary of the beginning of the American Revolutionary War.[6]
Trail
edit
The Innovation Trail is a walking trail with 21 stops across Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. The trail focuses on the history of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in the cities.[1][7] It focuses on Boston's role in the development of technologies like the telephone, biopharmaceuticals, and vaccines.[7] The trail's path is from Downtown Crossing in Boston to Kendall Square in Cambridge.[5][7] Locations along the trail are marked by plaques, visitor centers, or exhibits.[3] In Downtown Crossing, the trail starts with a patent office where Lewis Latimer worked on patents for Alexander Graham Bell, and it ends at the last functioning candy factory in Cambridge, where Junior Mints are produced.[3] Other locations in between include the lab where Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine was created, and Draper Laboratory, which created navigation hardware and software used by the Apollo program.[3]
The Innovation Trail can be walked individually, or as a guided tour run by Boston History Company.[2][8] Tours run year-round, but are most popular in summer.[1] A particular focus on the trail is Kendall Square, known as "the most innovative square mile on the planet" due to the large number of innovations that are credited to the area.[2] Four science museums are located on the trail,[7] including the Museum of Science and the MIT Museum.[9]
References
edit- 1 2 3 Ho, Heidi (February 29, 2024). "Innovation Trail takes visitors on tour of advancement in science, medicine, entrepreneurship, technology". The Huntington News. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 Farrar, Molly (June 13, 2023). "Innovation Trail highlights Kendall as tech hub, where the spirit is 'look at what we're capable of'". Cambridge Day. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 "Blazing Boston's Innovation Trail". Bostonia. January 30, 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
- ↑ Kwangwari, Munashe (July 3, 2023). "A history full of new ideas: Innovation Trail hopes to promote Boston's ingenuity". NBC Boston. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
- 1 2 "The Innovation Trail". Boston. June 27, 2023. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
- ↑ "Healey-Driscoll Administration Announces Massachusetts 250 Initiative to Celebrate the Anniversary of America's Independence". Massachusetts. September 17, 2024.
- 1 2 3 4 Loss, Hannah (June 5, 2023). "Boston's Innovation Trail showcases scientific breakthroughs, past and present". WGBH. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
- ↑ Dearing, Tiziana; Citorik, Chris (October 5, 2022). A walk through the city's new Innovation Trail. WBUR (Radio). Event occurs at 14:30. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
Kirsner: You can just go to the website and walk it yourself and look at lots of videos and see the maps and listen to some audio, or you can walk it as a guided tour.
- ↑ "The Innovation Trail: Boston & Cambridge STEM History Tour". The Innovation Trail. Retrieved January 27, 2025.