Old North Church

Old North Church
National Register of Historic Places
National Historic Landmark
Old North Church steeple
location	Boston , Massachusetts
Coordinates	42 ° 21 '58.8 "  N , 71 ° 3' 16"  W Coordinates: 42 ° 21 '58.8 "  N , 71 ° 3' 16"  W.
Built	1723
architect	William Price
Architectural style	Georgian
NRHP number	66000776
Data
The NRHP added	October 15, 1966
Declared as an  NHL	January 20, 1961

Interior of the Old North Church

Drawing of the Old North Church (approx. 1882) with the church tower destroyed in 1954

The Old North Church (officially Christ Church in the City of Boston ) is a church building in Boston in the state of Massachusetts of the United States . It is located at 193 Salem Street in the North End of Boston . According to tradition, the famous “ One if by land, and two if by sea ” signal was sent from there. This quote is based on the midnight ride of Paul Revere on April 18, 1775, the during the American Revolution the battles of Lexington and Concord preceded it.

The church is a ward of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts and is the oldest church building still in use in Boston. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark and is part of the Freedom Trail route . Inside the church is a bust of George Washington , which the Marquis de Lafayette said was the best image of Washington he has ever seen.

The building was erected in 1723. The design was inspired by the work of Christopher Wren , who was responsible for rebuilding London after the Great Fire of London .

history

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The lanterns

On April 18, 1775, probably shortly after 10:00 p.m., the 191  ft (58.2  m ) high church tower served a military purpose. Paul Revere instructed three Boston patriots to hang two lanterns in the tower at this point . These people were the church sexton Robert Newman , who, according to David Hackett Fischer, each carried a lantern into the tower with Captain John Pulling , and Thomas Bernard , who was on the lookout for British troops outside the building.

The lanterns served as a warning to other patriots in Charlestown across the Charles River about the activities of the British Army . Revere and William Dawes later brought the same news personally to Lexington and Concord , but the lanterns allowed the riders in Charlestown to be informed of the movements of the British much faster. These riders stood ready to carry the warning to Lexington and Concord should Revere and Dawes become captive on their way.

The lanterns hung in the steeple for less than a minute so as not to attract the attention of the British troops who had occupied Boston. But there was enough time for the message to be received in Charlestown. The militias waiting on the other bank had been instructed to wait for this signal and were able to react immediately after sighting the lanterns. The meanings of the lantern signals have been memorized by countless American school children.

The expression One if by land, and two if by sea has its origin in the poem Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow . A single lantern informed Charlestown that the British Army was marching over the Boston Neck and Great Bridge , and two lanterns meant that troops would come by boat across the Charles River near Phips Farm . After receiving the signal, the Charlestown patriots dispatched a horseman to Lexington, but the rider never reached his destination. His identity was lost in history and it is believed that he may be the one who was intercepted by a British patrol. The warning, however, was carried for miles to dozens of cities, first by Revere and Dawes on horseback, later by other riders, ringing church bells, drums and warning shots.

The current status of the historical lanterns is not fully known. One is said to be in the hands of a private collector and one to have broken on a trip. Another is on display in the Concord Museum .

Special occasions

The then incumbent US President Gerald Ford visited the Old North Church on April 18, 1975 on the occasion of the bicentenary of the USA and gave a speech broadcast nationwide in which he said, among other things:

“Let us pray here in the Old North Church tonight that those who follow 100 years or 200 years from now may look back at us and say: We were a society which combined reason with liberty and hope with freedom. May it be said above all: We kept the faith, freedom flourished, liberty lived. These are the abiding principles of our past and the greatest promise of our future. "

“Here at Old North Church tonight, let us pray that those who will come 100 or 200 years after us will look back on us and say: We have been a society that has combined reason with independence and hope with freedom. Above all, it should be said: We have preserved the faith, let freedom blossom and lived freedom. These are the enduring principles of our past and the greatest promises of our future. "

- Gerald Ford : Original sound

Following President Ford's speech, two lanterns were lit by Robert Newman Ruggles and Robert Newman Sheet . Both are descendants of Robert Newman , who, as sexton of the Old North Church, lit the two lanterns in 1775, which indicated the movements of British troops. The President lit a third lantern that still hangs in a church window.

On July 11, 1976, Queen Elizabeth II visited the city of Boston and referred to the event in one of her speeches. She said:

“At the Old North Church last year, your President lit a third lantern dedicated to America's third century of freedom and to renewed faith in the American ideals. May its light never be dimmed. "

“Last year your president lit a third lantern in Old North Church dedicated to the third century of freedom and renewed belief in American ideals. May their light never go out. "

- Elisabeth II .: Original sound

The Queen and her husband Prince Philip attended a Sunday service at the Old North Church at which they sat on a pew in the right front. Pastor Robert W. Golledge led the service and afterwards gave the Queen as a gift a replica of a silver chalice that was originally made by Paul Revere. She was also shown the iconic statue of Paul Revere, created by Cyrus Edwin Dallin and placed near the church. Eventually the Queen traveled on in a motorcade to the Old State House .

Church tower bells

In the steeple eight are bells in change ringing operated. They were cast at Gloucester in 1744 and hung in 1745. One of the bells bears the inscription: “ We are the first ring of bells cast for the British Empire in North America, AR 1744. ”, German: “We form the first bell ring that was cast for the British Empire in North America in 1744”. The bells were restored in 1894 and 1975 . They are regularly serviced and sound tested by the Guild of Bellringers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology .

Damage to the church tower

The original steeple of the Old North Church was destroyed during Hurricane 1804 . The new building designed by Charles Bulfinch was brought down on August 31, 1954 by Hurricane Carol . The current steeple has design features from both the original draft and Bulfinch and is 175  ft (53.3  m ) high. The original weather vane sits enthroned on its top .

The other "Old North"

Before the Old North Church was built , there was another church in Boston called the Old North Meetinghouse . This congregational church was organized in North Square across from Paul Revere House .

crypt

In 2009 an archaeologist examined the approximately 1100 bones that are buried in 37 tombs in the foundation of the church. The crypt was used from 1732 to 1853. Each crypt is sealed with a wooden or slate door, with many of the doors being plastered over with plaster of paris in the 1850s, according to the city council . The founding Rector of the Church, Timothy Cutler , was buried directly under the altar. Other well-known figures buried under the Church are British naval officer John Pitcairn , who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill , and the captain of the USS Constitution , Samuel Nicholson.

Pastor

Surname	function	Term of office
Timothy Cutler	Rector	1723-1765
James Greaton	Rector	1759-1767
Mather Byles	Rector	1768-1775
Stephen Lewis	Rector	1778-1785
William Montague	Rector	1786-1792
William Walter	Rector	1792-1800
Samuel Haskell	Rector	1801-1803
Asa Eaton	Rector	1803-1829
William Croswell	Rector	1829-1839
John Woart	Rector	1840-1852
William T. Smithett	Rector	1853-1860
John T. Burrell	Rector	1861-1868
Henry Burroughs	Rector	1868-1882
William H. Munroe	Rector	1882-1892
Charles W. Duane	Rector	1893-1911
William Lawrence	Rector	circa 1912

See also

• Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) - a replica of the church is located there
• List of entries on the National Register of Historic Places in northern Boston
• List of National Historic Landmarks in Boston

literature

• Asa Eaton: Historical account of Christ church, Boston . a discourse in said church, on Sunday, December 28, 1823. Printed by JW Ingraham, Boston 1824, OCLC 6824255 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
• Henry Burroughs: A historical account of Christ Church, Boston . an address, delivered on the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the church, December 29th, 1873. A. Williams & Co., Boston 1874, OCLC 3734576 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
• Percival Merritt, Bruce Rogers: The parochial library of the eighteenth century in Christ Church, Boston . Ed .: Pforzheimer Bruce Rogers Collection, Library of Congress. Merrymount Press, Boston, OCLC 5319841 ( limited preview in Google Book Search - 1917-1923).

Web links

Commons : Old North Church  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Site of the Old North Church
• Official website of the Boston National Historical Park
• Database entry and photographs of the Historic American Buildings Survey
• The Old North Church (Christ Church) at Find A Grave

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Massachusetts. National Park Service , accessed August 12, 2019.
2. ↑ MIT Guild of Bellringers. Retrieved November 23, 2011 . 
3. ↑ Old North Church, Boston. In: SkyscraperPage.com. Retrieved November 23, 2011 . 
4. ↑ City Secrets: Church of the Dead. Boston's oldest church has more than a few skeletons in its closet. In: abcNEWS. April 23, 2009, accessed November 23, 2011 (English, video). 
5. ^ Charles Knowles Bolton: Christ Church, Salem Street, Boston, 1723 . Ed .: Christ Church, Boston, Mass. Christ Church, Boston 1912, OCLC 181989852 .