Old North Church
Old North Church
|Added to NRHP:||October 15, 1966|
|Designated NHL:||January 20, 1961|
Old North Church (officially, Christ Church in the City of Boston) is a church in Boston, Massachusetts at 193 Salem Street. It was built in 1723. Its design was inspired by the works of Christopher Wren. The church is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. It is the oldest standing church building in Boston. Inside the church is a bust of George Washington that the Marquis de Lafayette thought the best likeness of Washington he had ever seen.
The church is known to most Americans because it was here that a lantern signal was sent by sexton Robert Newman from the church steeple on the evening of April 18, 1775 to warn American patriots that British soldiers were approaching Lexington and Concord by sea and not by land. "Paul Revere's Ride", a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, remembers this event.
The church steeple was damaged by storms in 1804 and 1954. It was rebuilt. It is now 175 feet (53 m) tall. The original weathervane is on top. There are 1100 bodies buried in the basement. Many of these are patriots who were killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Old North Church is a National Historic Landmark. Queen Elizabeth II visited the church in 1976 and was given a silver chalice (a cup) modelled on one made by Paul Revere.
Gallery[change | change source]
Statue of Paul Revere outside the Old North Church
References[change | change source]
- "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
- ONC History
Other websites[change | change source]
- Old North Church
- Mayo family history
- Boston National Historical Park Official Website
- Listing and photographs at the Historic American Buildings Survey
- Old North Church (Christ Church) at Find a Grave
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