For centuries, the sanctuary of King's Chapel (New England’s first Anglican church and later on the first Christian Unitarian congregation in America) has been a site of celebration as well as mourning. When visiting the chapel today, one can view memorials in the sanctuary and family-owned tombs in the crypt beneath, both relics of love that have transcended time. The people that mourned and memorialized the notable King’s Chapel member Charles Apthorp provide just a glimpse of the many stories and customs associated with love and death in colonial Boston.
Portrait of Charles Apthorp by Robert Feke (Cleveland Museum of Art)
Dive deeper into King's Chapel's 333 year history on the History Program blog.
Currently welcoming over 260,000 visitors to the historic sanctuary annually, The King's Chapel History Program is excited to share the site's history more in depth and to a wider audience through this outlet.
The blog name is derived from longtime King's Chapel member Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.'s 1884 poem "At the Saturday Club," where he describes King's Chapel as "that towered and pillared building."