On a cold December night in 1773, 5,000
angry colonists gathered in this Puritan meeting house to
protest a tax. After a fiery debate, Sam Adams gave the signal
that started the Boston Tea Party. Dressed as Indians, the Sons
of Liberty raced from the meeting house to Griffin’s Wharf,
dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston harbor … and a revolution
was born.
An essential stop on Boston’s well-travelled
Freedom Trail, Old South, built in 1729, is the second oldest
church still standing in Boston and site of many of the most
dynamic debates leading up to the American Revolution.
Ben Franklin was baptized here; Phillis
Wheatley, the first African-American author, worshipped here.
Now hemmed in by high rises, the Meeting House is a small but
still commanding presence on one of of Boston’s busiest
commercial streets. "Its octagonal spire, springing from
the airy, eight-arched loggia, is one of the finest of its kind,
not only in this country, but in the world," observed
Richard Grant in The Century, 1884.
Old South’s small admission charge
includes a 20-minute audio program If These Walls Could Speak.
Today visitors can sit in the starkly geometric box pews
(replicas of the original) in the Main Hall and go back in time
as they listen to professional actors reenact the turbulent and
far-reaching events that shook these bare white walls and echoed
round the world. The old seating arrangements provide a
revealing socio-political footnote: Ground-floor box pews were
rented by families, while the free seats in the upper galleries
were set aside for the town poor, teenage boys, and slaves.
A symbol of the ideals of the American
Revolution — democratic government, free speech, and assembly
— Old South has remained true to its heritage by maintaining a
strong anti-censorship policy. Today concerts, lectures, walking
tours, and special events are offered throughout the year.
Hours:
Open Daily, except Thanksgiving,
Christmas, and New Year’s Day
Summer (April 1-October 31) 9:30 am-5 pm
Daily
Winter (November 1-March 31) 10 am-4 pm
Daily
Admission:
There is a small admission fee with
discounts for seniors, students, and children.
