Category: North End History
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The Messenger | The Mechanicks of Boston and the American Revolution
On New Years Day of 1762 or ’63, young apprentice shoemaker George Robert Twelves Hewes called upon the gentleman John Hancock at his residence. Hewes’s master had instructed him to exchange well wishes for the coming year. Hewes, the man who would be made famous when he was “rediscovered” in the 1830s as being perhaps…
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Keeping Order in the North End: On Patrol with the Night Watch
In July 1765, Constable Isaac Townsend sat quietly at the door of his watch house, listening to sounds of Boston’s North End. Just after twelve PM, Townsend recalled hearing “somthing noisey.” A group of rowdy young men passed, disrupting the stillness of the warm evening. Townsend, moving from his post as sentry, approached the group.…
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Presidential Visits To the Old North Church
Happy President’s Day! Did you know that in the 295 years that Old North has been around, we’ve been visited by multiple presidents of the United States? 1. James Monroe Our very first presidential visitor was James Monroe, the fifth president of the United States. In 1817, the first year of his presidency, Monroe completed a…
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Beneath Boston
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Set in Stone: The Making of a Memorial
On October 20, 1878, North Enders awoke to a neighborhood full of familiar, unchanging edifices in an ever-changing neighborhood. One such structure was the Old North Church, its tall brick tower and white steeple only altered by the Great Gale of 1804. Shem Drowne’s golden weathervane still swung in the harbor breeze, and the ranks…
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Excavating the Past
In preparation for the upcoming Washington Memorial Garden renovation project, city archaeologists are conducting a survey in areas that will be disturbed by new landscaping work. The North End of Boston is a heavily built-up area, and opportunities to explore the city’s past are rare, so this is an exciting opportunity to peer into the…
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The Wardens’ Wands
Just inside the entrance of the Old North Church stand two white poles with strange gold pine cones on top. The casual observer might pass them right by and not even notice them, but they played an important role in the history of the Church. These are the Wardens’ Wands, and they are placed right…
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RIP, Prince
Prince was a cat beloved by many– his caretaker, John, Prince Postale friends, North End neighbors, staff members at Old North Church, and thousands of Freedom Trail visitors. His passing was recognized all over the world, through tributes on social media, the NorthEndWaterfront.com, and even Buzzfeed. Those who loved Prince gathered together on Tuesday, March…
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Chief Petty Officers Visit Old North and Samuel Nicholson
Each year a specially selected group of newly commissioned Chief Petty Officers (CPOs) participate in Heritage Week at Charlestown Navy Yard. During this weeklong training cycle, the USS Constitution’s crew teaches the CPOs time-honored maritime traditions such as 19th-century boarding pike drills, War of 1812-era gun drills using a 24-pound naval long gun, and line…
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The People in the Pews: Capt. Daniel Malcolm
Capt. Daniel Malcolm was born in Boston in the 1720s. He lived on Fleet Street and attended the Old North Church. He served as a Junior Warden and owned two pews, #4 and #25, during his lifetime. He had a reputation for being a smuggler by British authorities. On Sept. 24, 1766, Deputy Collector of…