Two Historic Churches From Revolutionary Boston

Though sometimes confused by tourists visiting Boston, the Old North Church and the Old South Meeting House, despite their cosmetic similarities, cannot be more different. Their histories, architecture, and the roles these two churches played during the period of the American Revolution offer interesting insights to the conflict that would break out into war in 1775.

Old North Church

In regards to popular history, the Old North is easily the most historic of Boston's churches. Made famous by Longfellow's chronicle of Paul Revere's "Midnight Ride," and by the specially memorable line "one if by land, two if by sea," the church is considered a "must see" for tourists on Boston's Freedom Trail. While much of the Longfellow account is purely fictional, two signal lanterns were in fact displayed from its tall steeple in 1775. What is sometimes forgotten, however, is the fact that Old North was a Loyalist church. Which is why, during the British Military occupation of Boston, it was allowed to stay open and was not completely or partially destroyed (the fate of churches that opposed the British). Consecrated in 1723, Christ Church (as it is formally known), was pretty much of a "cookie-cutter" affair, its design likely taken from popular building pattern books of the era. In one area, however, the church differed greatly, and this is, of course, the size of the steeple. At 175 feet, the steeple was likely considered excessive or even profligate when it was added in the 1740s. Its construction was funded by a consortium of parishioners, who unbeknownst to the church and community, wished to use the over-sized tower for purposes of navigating their ships in the Boston Harbor. (By pure chance, the church was constructed in a direct alignment with the single shipping lane that cargo ships would use to enter the port.) Inside, the thing of most note, is the row of lovely candled chandeliers that runs down the center aisle. To this day, candle light is the only source of light on the main floor. Wedding ceremonies are usually conducted at night, by candlelight.

Old South Meeting House

Consecrated in 1729, this "meeting house" originally served as the home of the 3rd Church of Boston, today known as the Old South Church. The largest public building in Colonial Boston, the Old South is most famous for the public meetings held here in 1773. Moderated by Samuel Adams (a church member), these meetings were meant to mediate an impasse that the general public had with Gov. Hutchinson in regards to the presence of three "tea ships." Faced with Royal confiscation of the tea the following day, Samuel Adams concluded that the tea must be destroyed. History knows this act of civil disobedience as the Boston Tea Party. Old South is called a "meeting house," not because it was a civic building. On the contrary, the puritans who gathered the congregation in 1660, referred to their ceremonies as "meetings" and their houses of worship as "meeting houses." They did this to distinguish themselves from what they perceived to be the corrupt nature of Anglican "churches." In 1875, the Old South congregation moved to a new Victorian building in the newly fashionable Back Bay, and the 1729 building was threatened with demolition. Fortunately, it was saved, in what was the first significant fight for architectural historic preservation in Boston. Today, the building is open to the public as a museum. Of special note, from the outside, puritan churches looked similar to their Anglican counterparts, but on the inside, please notice that the pulpit and pews are diagonally opposed to the steeple and the entrance. This is meant to eliminate the "processional" nature of the Anglican service and to highlight the communal nature of the puritan service.