John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site
Massachusetts
Tonight
🌗 46% moon
6 h fully dark
Crowds
low
Open today
Open
Operating Hours: closed Oct 28 – May 28
Entrance
Free entry
JFK’s parents never expected that their second son would grow up to be president. Yet in his birthplace home he learned values that inspired a life in public service. His mother, Rose Kennedy, recreated her family’s first home to share her memories of those early years with visitors. We commemorate not only his early life, but the ideas and principles he left behind.
No entrance fee.
Hours & seasons
Hours for the visitor center and house at John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site vary by season. The grounds are open year-round, dawn to dusk. The site is currently closed for the off season. During the off season, late-October through late-May, the house and visitor center are closed to the public, with tours available Wednesdays and Fridays, by appointment, with at least two weeks advanced notice. In the open season, late-May through late-October, the site is open Thursdays through Sundays.
⚠ Operating Hours: closed Oct 28 – May 28
Generally open:
summerfallHours are reported by the park — verify before you go.
📞 617-566-7937
✉ jason_atsales@nps.govConditions
Quietest months (fewer crowds): Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Typical crowds: low
Weather now: ⛅ Partly cloudy, 89°F
☁️ 91°/71°
☁️ 94°/74°
🌦️ 93°/73°
Typical monthly recreation visits · NPS avg 2023–2025 — orange months are the quietest by crowds.
Quietest months
Relative crowds by month — lighter is quieter; ringed months are the calmest by crowds.
Jan
1%
Feb
1%
Mar
2%
Apr
5%
May
4%
Jun
26%
Jul
29%
Aug
31%
Sep
24%
Oct
100%
Nov
7%
Dec
2%
Log a sky reading
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Things to do
Watch "The Shaping of a President, The First Home of John F. Kennedy"
Visitor centers
Visitor Center
Accessibility
2 audio-described place(s)
Reported by the park — verify before you go.
Not an official safety source — always defer to NPS.gov and rangers for life-safety decisions.
By the numbers
A visual read on John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site — its character, trails, sky, and weather.
Park fingerprint
How this park scores across the dimensions travelers care about.
Trail difficulty
Difficulty mix across this park's trails.
3-day forecast
Daily high and low temperatures (°F).
People & stories
Figures tied to John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site — each spans a cross-park journey.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
— President, Jfk, AssassinationsRobert F. Kennedy
— Civil Rights, Leaders, AssassinationsPassport stamps
Mark the stamps you've collected — they show in your memory and along your routes.
🎫 Visitor Center
Places to see
Boudoir
Coolidge Corner
Devotion School (Ruffin Ridley School)
JFK Birthplace
JOFI Wayside: A Nice Place to Raise a Family
audio
JOFI Wayside: Memory and Memorial
audio
Kennedy Dining Room
Kennedy Guest Bedroom
Kennedy Living Room
Kitchen
Nursery
Parents' Bedroom
Audio & media
🎧
🎬
🖼
Learn more
Explore Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy's memories of raising her oldest children, among them future President John F. Kennedy, in Brookline, Massachusetts.
A history of the birthplace of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
In the Fall of 2012 the John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site was repainted grey. How does our understanding of history and memory change historic structures?
The Kennedy family name was not always synonymous with wealth, power, and politics. Uncover John F. Kennedy's life and paternal ancestry, to learn about the factors which made his presidency possible.
Sir Robert Lipton gave this teacup to the Fitzgeralds as a memento of their visit aboard his steam yacht "Erin."
On the stove in the Kennedy house kitchen sits an earthenware, two-tone beanpot.
Rose Kennedy selected this book, Billy Whiskers' Kids, to be prominently displayed in the recreated nursery of her Beals Street home.
A porcelain jewel box with a fake Sevres manufacturer's mark.
Ranger School
Park-grounded courses you can learn with the Ranger.
"The Measure of a Man's Success in Life is Not the Money He's Made. It's the Kind of Family He Has Raised.": Separating the Myth from Reality in the Life and Times of Joseph Patrick Kennedy Sr.
Open →
Birthplace of John F. Kennedy: Growing up Kennedy
Open →
Birthplace of John F. Kennedy: Home of the Boy Who Would Be President
Open →
Boyhood in Brookline: The Challenges and Character of Young Jack Kennedy
Open →
Commemoration, Memorialization, and Legacy: An Exploration of the Public and Private Memory of John F. Kennedy and His Presidency
Open →
Political Parenthood: Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Remembers
Open →
“Now is the Time!”: Three Men, Three Speeches, and the Promise of Equality
Open →
How John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site connects
This park's activities, topics, location, and on-the-ground places — one hop in the graph. Drag to explore; click an activity, topic, or related park to follow it.
Park
Activity
Topic
State
VisitorCenter
PassportStamp
Trail
ThingToDo
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