Old South Meeting House
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- This article is about the museum and historic site in Downtown Crossing. For the United Church of Christ church at Copley Square, see Old South Church.
| Old South Meetinghouse | |
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| (U.S. National Historic Landmark) | |
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| Location: | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Built/Founded: | 1729 |
| Architect: | Twelves,Robert |
| Architectural style(s): | Georgian |
| Added to NRHP: | October 15, 1966 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 66000778[1] |
| Governing body: | Private |
The Old South Meeting House, in Boston, Massachusetts, gained fame as the organizing point for the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773. 5,000 colonists gathered at the Meeting House, the largest building in Boston at the time. The church, with its 56 m (183 ft) steeple, was completed in 1729. The congregation was gathered in 1669 when it broke off from First Church of Boston, a Congregationalist church founded by John Winthrop in 1630. During the American Revolution, the British occupied the Meeting House, and stole William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation (1620), a rare Pilgrim manuscript, hidden in Old South's tower. Old South Meeting House was almost destroyed in the Great Boston Fire of 1872, and the congregation then built a new church (the "New" Old South Church at Copley Square) which remains its home to this day. Once each year, on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, the Old South congregation returns to Old South Meeting House for services in its ancestral home.
Famous congregation members have included Samuel Adams, William Dawes, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Sewall, and Phillis Wheatley.
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.
[edit] References
- ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
[edit] External links
- The Old South Meeting House
- Old South Church in Boston (the congregation formerly located at the Meeting House)
- Boston National Historical Park Official Website
| Preceded by Old Corner Bookstore |
Locations along Boston's Freedom Trail Old South Meeting House |
Succeeded by Old State House |
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