Old South Meeting House

Last updated

Old South Meeting House
Old South Meetinghouse BW.jpg
The Old South Meeting House, 1968
Map of Boston and Cambridge.png
Red pog.svg
USA Massachusetts location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationCorner of Washington and Milk Streets
Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°21′25″N71°3′31″W / 42.35694°N 71.05861°W / 42.35694; -71.05861
Built1729
ArchitectTwelves, Robert
Architectural styleGeorgian
NRHP reference No. 66000778 [1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966
Designated NHLOctober 9, 1960

The Old South Meeting House is a historic Congregational church building located at the corner of Milk and Washington Streets in the Downtown Crossing area of Boston, Massachusetts, built in 1729. It gained fame as the organizing point for the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773. Five thousand or more colonists [2] gathered at the Meeting House, the largest building in Boston at the time.

Contents

History

Church (1729–1872)

The meeting house or church was completed in 1729, with its 56 m (183 ft) steeple. The congregation was gathered in 1669 when it broke off from First Church of Boston, a Congregational church founded by John Winthrop in 1630. The site was a gift of Mrs. Norton, widow of John Norton, pastor of the First Church in Boston. [3] The church's first pastor was Rev. Thomas Thacher, a native of Salisbury, England. Thacher was also a physician and is known for publishing the first medical tract in Massachusetts.

Interior of Old South, 2018 Interior - Old South Meeting House - Boston, MA - DSC05822.jpg
Interior of Old South, 2018

After the Boston Massacre in 1770, yearly anniversary meetings were held at the church until 1775, featuring speakers such as John Hancock and Dr. Joseph Warren. In 1773, 5,000 people met in the Meeting House to debate British taxation and, after the meeting, a group raided three tea ships anchored nearby in what became known as the Boston Tea Party.

Lt Col Samuel Birch leading the 17th Dragoons in the Old South Meeting House, Boston Old South Meeting House American Revolution interior in Boston MA.jpg
Lt Col Samuel Birch leading the 17th Dragoons in the Old South Meeting House, Boston

In October 1775, led by Lt Col Samuel Birch of the 17th Dragoons, the British occupied the Meeting House due to its association with the Revolutionary cause. They gutted the building, filled it with dirt, and then used the interior to practice horse riding. They destroyed much of the interior and stole various items, including William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation (1620), a unique Pilgrim manuscript hidden in Old South's tower. After the British evacuated Boston, the plan for rebuilding the interior of the church was drawn by Thomas Dawes. [4]

Old South Meeting House was almost destroyed in the Great Boston Fire of 1872. As the fire approached the historic structure, Boston firefighting crews, understanding the importance of the building to the history of Boston and the nation, staged a massive effort to protect it. Aided by the arrival of fire companies from across New England, the firefighters took heroic measures to extinguish the flames after a twelve-hour battle, saving Old South and stopping the fire before it reached other historic buildings and residential neighborhoods. As the city rebuilt, the congregation sought out a quieter neighborhood, away from the bustling commercial area near OSMH. The congregation built a new church building (the "New" Old South Church in the Back Bay, at Copley Square), which remains its home to this day. In 1877, a group of twenty women, including the philanthropist Mary Hemenway (who used $100,000 of her own funds) and Mary Tyler (allegedly the inspiration for the poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb"), [5] raised money and helped pass legislation to preserve and save the Meeting House. By 1910, preservation work was transferred to the Old South Association through aid from the Mary Hemenway Foundation. The Old South congregation returns to Old South Meeting House for services in its ancestral home once a year, on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

The steeple Meeting Hall (6272343282).jpg
The steeple

Ministers

Notable congregants

Museum (1877–present)

Old South Meeting House has been an important gathering place for nearly three centuries. Renowned for the protest meetings held here before the American Revolution when the building was termed a mouth-house, this National Historic Landmark has long served as a platform for the free expression of ideas. Today, the Old South Meeting House is open daily as a museum and continues to provide a place for people to meet, discuss and act on important issues of the day. The stories of the men and women who are part of Old South's vital heritage reveal why the Old South Meeting House occupies an enduring place in the history of the United States.

The museum and historic site is located at the intersection of Washington and Milk Streets and can be visited for a nominal sum. It is located near the State Street, Downtown Crossing and Park Street MBTA (subway) stations.

The Old South Meeting House is claimed to be the second oldest establishment existent in the United States. It is currently under consideration for local landmark status by the Boston Landmarks Commission. [23]

In 2020 the former caretaker of Old South Meeting House (the Old South Association in Boston) merged with the Bostonian Society, forming Revolutionary Spaces, which now manages both Old South Meeting House and the Old State House. [24]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King's Chapel</span> United States historic Unitarian chapel in Boston

King's Chapel is an American independent Christian unitarian congregation affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association that is "unitarian Christian in theology, Anglican in worship, and congregational in governance." It is housed in what was for a time after the Revolution called the "Stone Chapel", an 18th-century structure at the corner of Tremont Street and School Street in Boston, Massachusetts. The chapel building, completed in 1754, is one of the finest designs of the noted colonial architect Peter Harrison, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960 for its architectural significance. The congregation has worshipped according to a Unitarian version of the Book of Common Prayer since 1785, currently in its ninth edition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African Meeting House</span> Historic church in Massachusetts, United States

The African Meeting House, also known variously as First African Baptist Church, First Independent Baptist Church and the Belknap Street Church, was built in 1806 and is now the oldest black church edifice still standing in the United States. The church also established a school, at first holding classes in its basement. After serving most of the nineteenth century as a church, it then served as a synagogue until 1972 when it was purchased for the Museum of African American History. It is located in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent to the historically Black American Abiel Smith School, now also part of the museum. It is a National Historic Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old South Church</span> Historic church in Massachusetts, United States

Old South Church in Boston, Massachusetts, also known as New Old South Church or Third Church, is a historic United Church of Christ congregation first organized in 1669. Its present building was designed in the Gothic Revival style by Charles Amos Cummings and Willard T. Sears, completed in 1873, and amplified by the architects Allen & Collens between 1935–1937. The church, which was built on newly filled land in the Back Bay section of Boston, is located at 645 Boylston Street on Copley Square. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 for its architectural significance as one of the finest High Victorian Gothic churches in New England. It is home to one of the oldest religious communities in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Willard</span> American theologian (1640–1707)

Samuel Willard was a New England Puritan clergyman. He was born in Concord, Massachusetts, graduated from Harvard College in 1659, and was minister at Groton from 1663 to 1676, before being driven out by the Indians during King Philip's War. Willard was pastor of the Third Church, Boston, from 1678 until his death. He opposed the Salem witch trials and was acting president of Harvard University from 1701. He published many sermons; the folio volume, A Compleat Body of Divinity, was published posthumously in 1726.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Ship Church</span> Historic church in Massachusetts, United States

The Old Ship Church is a Puritan church built in 1681 in Hingham, Massachusetts. It is the only surviving 17th-century Puritan meetinghouse in the United States. Its congregation, gathered in 1635 and officially known as First Parish in Hingham, occupies the oldest church building in continuous ecclesiastical use in the country. On October 9, 1960, it was designated a National Historic Landmark, and on November 15, 1966, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unitarian Church in Charleston</span> Historic church in South Carolina, United States

The Unitarian Church in Charleston, home to a Unitarian Universalist congregation, is a historic church located at 4 Archdale Street in Charleston, South Carolina. It is the oldest Unitarian church in the South and the second oldest church building on the peninsula of Charleston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Pavement Chapel</span> Church in England

High Pavement Chapel is a redundant church building in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. It is now the Pitcher and Piano public house and is Grade II listed. It was built as, and for most of its existence operated as, a Unitarian place of worship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Congregational Church (Newport, Rhode Island)</span> Historic church in Rhode Island, United States

The United Congregational Church is a historic former church building in Newport, Rhode Island. The congregation was formerly affiliated with the United Church of Christ (UCC). Built in 1857, the church was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2012, in recognition for the unique interior decorations executed in 1880–81 by John La Farge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Baptist Church (Boston, Massachusetts)</span> Historic church in Massachusetts, United States

The First Baptist Church is a historic American Baptist Churches USA congregation, established in 1665. It is one of the oldest Baptist churches in the United States. It first met secretly in members homes, and the doors of the first church were nailed shut by a decree from the Puritans in March 1680. The church was forced to move to Noddle's Island. The church was forced to be disguised as a tavern and members traveled by water to worship. Rev. Dr. Stillman led the church in the North End for over 40 years, from 1764 to 1807. The church moved to Beacon Hill in 1854, where it was the tallest steeple in the city. After a slow demise under Rev. Dr. Rollin Heber Neale, the church briefly joined with the Shawmut Ave. Church, and the Warren Avenue Tabernacle, and merged and bought the current church in 1881, for $100,000.00. Since 1882 it has been located at the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Clarendon Street in the Back Bay. The interior is currently a pending Boston Landmark through the Boston Landmarks Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Trinity Church</span> Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Old Trinity Church, also known as Trinity Church, Oxford, is a historic Episcopal church established in 1696 located in Oxford Township, Pennsylvania, which is now part of Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brattle Street Church</span> Church building in Massachusetts, United States

The Brattle Street Church (1698–1876) was a Congregational and Unitarian church on Brattle Street in Boston, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Church, Boston (Summer Street)</span> Church building in Massachusetts, US

Trinity Church (1735–1872) was an Episcopal church in Boston, Massachusetts, located on Summer Street. It housed Boston's third Anglican congregation. The Great Fire of 1872 destroyed the church building, and by 1877 the congregation moved into a new building in Back Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New South Church (Boston, Massachusetts)</span>

New South Church (1714-1866) was a Congregational Unitarian church of the "New South Society" in Boston, Massachusetts, located on "Church Green" at the corner of Summer Street and Bedford Street. Pastors included Samuel Checkley and John Thornton Kirkland. In 1814 architect Charles Bulfinch designed a new building for the society; it was demolished in 1868. The congregation merged with the New South Free Church in 1866.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Summer Street (Boston)</span>

Summer Street in Boston, Massachusetts, extends from Downtown Crossing in the Financial District, over Fort Point Channel, and into the Seaport District to the southeast. In the mid-19th century it was also called Seven Star Lane. Seven Star Lane was named so for "Seven Stars," a tavern once located at the northwest corner of Summer and Hawley streets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thyatira Presbyterian Church, Cemetery, and Manse</span> Historic site in Rowan County, North Carolina, US

Thyatira Presbyterian Church, Cemetery, and Manse is a historic church at 220 White Road off NC 150 in Mill Bridge in Rowan County, North Carolina, ten miles west of the town of Salisbury. Presbyterians have been worshipping at this site since at least 1750.

The Gravel Pit Chapel was established in 1715–1716 in Hackney, then just outside London, for a Nonconformist congregation, which by the early 19th century began to identify itself as Unitarian. In 1809 the congregation moved to the New Gravel Pit Chapel nearby, while its old premises were taken over by Congregationalists. The New Gravel Pit Chapel was closed and demolished in1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Thacher (minister)</span> American physician

Thomas Thacher was an English-American clergyman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ebenezer Pemberton (minister)</span>

Ebenezer Pemberton was a colonial American Congregational clergyman, bibliophile, and minister of the Old South Church in Boston from 1700 to 1717. Under his ministry, the church broadened the scope of its worship and increased the privileges of its pupils, but also turned back to Puritan tradition. He wrote thirteen sermons and owned a valuable personal library.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Parish of Sudbury</span>

First Parish of Sudbury refers to both an historic meetinghouse and a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Sudbury, Massachusetts, United States. The meetinghouse was built in 1797 on the site of the first meetinghouse built on the west side on the Sudbury River. The meetinghouse was designed by Captain Thomson and built at a cost of $6,025.93. It was paid for by the Town of Sudbury to be the meetinghouse for both Town Meetings and parish worship.

References

Notes

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. John Galvin puts that number as high as 8,000 (Three Men of Boston, New York: Thomas Cromwell, 1976, p. 268).
  3. Bridgeman, Thomas (1856). The Pilgrims of Boston and their Descendants. New York: D. Appleton and Company. pp. 54–58. Retrieved April 29, 2009.
  4. Eckley, Joseph. "Obituary: Sketch of the Character of the Late Hon. Thomas Dawes, Esq.," 1809, Boston Athenaeum Library, Tracts B438, B1213.
  5. "Sterling Historical Society Shows Off Town Artifacts at Annual Meeting". July 19, 2021. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  6. WorldCat. Thacher, Thomas 1620-1678
  7. WorldCat. Willard, Samuel 1640-1707
  8. WorldCat. Pemberton, Ebenezer 1672-1717
  9. WorldCat. Sewall, Joseph 1688-1769
  10. WorldCat. Prince, Thomas 1687-1758
  11. WorldCat. Cumming, A. (Alexander) 1726-1763
  12. Cyclopaedia of Biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical literature. 1894
  13. Weis, Frederick Lewis. Colonial Clergy of the Middle Colonies, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania 1628-1776 (PDF). American Antiquarian Society.
  14. New England historical & genealogical register, v.26. 1872
  15. WorldCat. Eckley, Joseph 1750-1811
  16. WorldCat. Huntington, Joshua 1786-1819
  17. WorldCat. Wisner, Benjamin B. (Benjamin Blydenburg) 1794-1835
  18. WorldCat. Stearns, Samuel H. (Samuel Horatio) 1801-1837
  19. Bowen's picture of Boston, 3rd ed. 1888.
  20. WorldCat. Blagden, George W. (George Washington) 1802-1884
  21. "Boston Pulpit". Gleasons Pictorial. 5. Boston, Mass. 1853.
  22. WorldCat. Manning, Jacob M. (Jacob Merrill) 1824-1882
  23. "Status of petitions to the Boston landmarks commission for designation as landmarks and districts" (PDF). Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  24. "News & Press". Revolutionary Spaces. Retrieved April 29, 2020.

Further reading

Preceded by Locations along Boston's Freedom Trail
Old South Meeting House
Succeeded by