Welcome to the
Old North Church
Established in 1723 as Christ Church in the City of Boston, Old North Church is both a national historic landmark operated by Old North Illuminated and an active Episcopal Church congregation. Old North is the oldest church building and the longest-serving Episcopal congregation in the city.
Old North Church & Historic Site is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10am – 5pm and on Sunday from 12:30 – 5pm. Tickets are available online and at the ticket booth.
If you are interested in booking a field trip or private group visit, or have additional questions, please email jhobert@oldnorth.com.
Interpretative, educational, and preservation programs at the Old North Church are operated by Old North Illuminated.
Episcopal Church in-person worship services are held Sundays at 11am. Advanced reservations are welcome and invited to assist in weekly planning. Please click here to reserve.
A paint restoration project is currently underway at Old North to remove layers of white overpaint and reveal some of the church’s colonial-era artwork! Expert craftspeople are uncovering 16 angels in the balcony arches that were painted in the late 1720s and 1730s by congregation member John Gibbs. Visitors to Old North have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch the conservation team in action and see long-hidden history being revealed. Plan your visit >>>
History of the Old North Church
Old North’s fame began on the evening of April 18, 1775, when the church sexton, Robert Newman, and vestryman Capt. John Pulling, Jr. climbed the steeple and held high two lanterns as a signal from Paul Revere that the British were marching to Lexington and Concord by sea across the Charles River and not by land. This momentous event ignited the American Revolution. Built in 1723, Christ Church in the City of Boston, known to all as the Old North Church, is Boston’s oldest surviving church building and most visited historical site. In 1775, on the eve of the Revolution, a substantial number of congregants were loyal to the British King, and many held official positions in the royal government, including the Royal Governor of Massachusetts, making Robert Newman’s loyalty to the patriot cause even more extraordinary. Each year we welcome over 500,000 visitors to our site to experience this unique and stirring monument to liberty.
Bring Old North to Your Classroom
Old North Illuminated is pleased to offer digital curriculum units that are free for educators. These fully developed multimedia lessons engage students and inspire them to consider big questions. Learn about our classroom resources below!
Old North Teacher Guide (Grades K – 12): The activities in this guide explore the many aspects of Old North Church and cover a variety of subjects, including arts and STEM, and teach important skills such as interpreting primary sources, organizing data, and constructing an argument.
History Mystery (Grades 4 – 8): Who held the famous lantern signals in Old North Church’s steeple? Watch our three-part video series to solve this “history mystery” while learning to think like a historian.
Behind the Scenes Tour (Grades 5 – 12): Take a half-hour video tour of Old North Church’s most compelling spaces. Learn about the many people who helped build the church and its community over the past 300 years.
Chocolate as a Lens to the Past (Grade 5): In six different lessons, students are challenged to look at the history of chocolate in Boston from both a historical and scientific perspective while analyzing a variety of primary sources and designing their own scientific investigations.
Cacao and Colonial Chocolate (Grades 9 – 12): This curriculum for high school students traces the history of chocolate from the Maya through colonial Boston and the slave trade to the present day chocolate industry and its connection to child labor.
If you have questions or would like to learn more about any of these resources, please email Emily Spence at espence@oldnorth.com.
Explore Old North Church with Bloomberg Connects
Explore more of Old North Church & Historic Site with our new digital guide on Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app. Download the app to learn more about the rich history of the church, its fascinating congregants, our connection to colonial chocolate, and more. Use the app to plan your visit, to get an enhanced experience while on site, or to dive deeper after your trip to the church. The free app can be used anytime, anywhere and also features digital guides to over 200 museums from around the world. Other Boston sites on Bloomberg Connects include the USS Constitution Museum, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and the MIT List Visual Arts Center.
To download the free app, scan the QR code below or visit this link. Once downloaded, open the app, scroll to “Old North Church & Historic Site” in the list of participating museums, and tap our logo to start exploring our guide.
A House of Prayer for All People
The congregation and clergy of the Old North Church (more formally known as Christ Church in the City of Boston), a founding congregation of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, strive to keep faithful to the mission of openness and welcome proclaimed by our first Rector, the Rev. Dr. Timothy Cutler, in his inaugural sermon of 1723 on the text from Isaiah, “My House shall be called a House of Prayer for All People” (Isaiah 56:7).
Whether you are here to worship with us during a visit to Boston or are seeking a spiritual home, please know we are delighted to welcome you to Old North Church. We offer both in-person and virtual worship.
Sunday services are held at 11am and are open to all. With regular visitors from across the country and world, advanced reservations for Sunday worship assist in our weekly planning. Please click here to reserve, or contact the church office via email:congregation@oldnorth.com.
Please join us virtually every Sunday by clicking here.
A Site of Conscience
Old North Church & Historic Site has been designated as a Site of Conscience by the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (ICSC). With over 350 members in 65 countries, the ICSC is the only global network helping historic sites, museums, and memory initiatives connect past struggles to today’s movements for human rights and social justice. Each member abides by the ICSC’s four operating principles:
1. Interpret history through site.
2. Engage the public in programs that stimulate dialogue on pressing social issues.
3. Share opportunities for public involvement and positive action on the issues raised at the site.
4. Promote justice and universal cultures of human rights.
We are grateful for this meaningful recognition from the ICSC and we are eager to continue our work of illuminating the past as we build a brighter future.