Old South Meeting House - The Tea Party Starts Here

A stop on Boston Freedom Trail, a free self-guided tour.

On December 16, 1773, thousands of people crowded into and around this brick meeting house, built in 1729 and the largest building in colonial Boston. They had gathered to decide what to do about three ships loaded with taxed tea sitting in the harbor.

When word came that the governor would not let the ships leave, the meeting broke up. That night, men disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded the ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into the water. The disguise borrowed a Native identity for a protest that had nothing to do with Native people.

Phillis Wheatley, an enslaved young woman who became the first African American to publish a book of poetry, was a member of this congregation.

During the British occupation, soldiers gutted the interior and used it as a riding ring for horses. Later, in 1876, Boston women helped raise the money to save it from demolition.

Getting here: Turn right onto Washington Street and walk about half a block; the tall white steeple of Old South Meeting House is on your right.

Did you know?: Saving Old South in the 1870s was one of the first successful historic preservation campaigns in the United States.

Photo op: Stand across Washington Street near the corner of Milk Street to fit the brick tower and white steeple in a vertical shot.

More on Wikipedia: Old South Meeting House · Boston Tea Party · Phillis Wheatley

Old South Meeting House - The Tea Party Starts Here

Stops on this tour