Old North Church
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Location
The Old North Church, officially called "Christ Church", is located at 193 Salem Street in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts.
General Information
The church is a mission of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. The Old North Church is the oldest active church building in Boston and is a National Historic Landmark. Inside the church is a bust of George Washington, which the Marquis de Lafayette reportedly remarked was the best likeness of him he had ever seen.
History
The Old North Church was built in 1723, and was inspired by the works of Christopher Wren, a British architect who was responsible for rebuilding London after the Great Fire.
The Lanterns
On April 18, 1775, probably a little after 10 P.M., the 191 ft steeple of the Church served a military purpose.
Paul Revere told three Boston Patriots to hang two lanterns in the steeple. These men were the church sexton Robert Newman, who probably displayed the lanterns, Captain John Pulling, who probably helped him carry them up the steeple, and Thomas Bernard, who stood watch for British troops outside the church. The lanterns were displayed to send a warning to Charlestown Patriots across the Charles River about the movements of the British Army. Revere and William Dawes would later deliver the same message to Lexington themselves, but this lantern method was faster, and it was a good back-up plan for communication in case they were captured.
The signal only lasted for a few brief moments to avoid catching the eyes of the British troops occupying Boston, but this was long enough for the message to be received in Charlestown. They had kept someone looking at the steeple all night.
The meaning of two lanterns has been memorized by countless American schoolchildren for generations.
"One if by land, and two if by sea."
is from Longfellow's poem, "Paul Revere's Ride." One lantern was to notify Charlestown that the British Army would march over Boston Neck and the Great Bridge, and two were to notify them that the troops were taking boats across the Charles to land near Phips farm. After receiving the signal, the Charlestown Patriots sent out a rider to Lexington, but this rider did not reach his destination and his identity has disappeared from history. He was the one who might have been captured by a British patrol.
But the warning was delivered miles away to dozens of towns, first by Revere and Dawes on horses, and then by other men on horses and men who rang church bells and town bells, beat drums, and shot off warning guns. Revere didn't really say "The British are coming!" because most of the people in Massachusetts still thought of themselves as British. But he did say "The Regulars are coming out!" (or something similar) to almost every house along the way to Lexington after he felt safe from that British patrol. See the Battle of Lexington and Concord and Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fischer ISBN 0195088476.
The Bells
Eight change ringing bells at Old North Church were cast in Gloucester in 1744 and hung in 1745. One bell has the inscription: We are the first ring of bells cast for the British Empire in North America, A.R. 1744. The bells were restored in 1894 and in 1975. They are maintained and rung regularly by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Guild of Bellringers.
Steeple Damage
The original steeple of the Old North Church was destroyed by a hurricane in 1804. A replacement steeple, designed by the architect of Faneuil Hall, Charles Bulfinch, was toppled by Hurricane Carol on August 31, 1954. The current steeple that was rebuilt after Hurricane Carol uses design elements from the original and the Bulfinch version. The church is now 175 feet tall. At its tip is the original weathervane.
External links
Categories: Freedom Trail | Episcopal churches in the United States | Buildings and structures in Massachusetts
