{"nrhp_refnum":"66000778","name":"Old South Meeting House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Milk and Washington Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.356990346500055,"lon":-71.05839282017376,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1960-10-09","areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Old South Meeting House is a brick colonial church at the northeast corner of Washington and Milk Streets in downtown Boston, built in 1729-30 as the second home of Boston's Third Church. It was designed by Robert Twelves and built by Joshua Blanchard.","why_significant":"It is an excellent example of a colonial brick church that combines an Early Georgian exterior with the traditional side-entrance plan of the 17th-century New England meeting house. Its large capacity made it the site of major town meetings before the Revolution, including the December 16, 1773 session that led to the Boston Tea Party. It was saved from demolition in 1876 and has been operated as a museum since.","narrative":"Old South Meeting House, at the northeast corner of Washington and Milk Streets in Boston, was built in 1729-30 to replace the congregation's earlier wooden \"Cedar Meeting House.\" Robert Twelves designed the brick building and Joshua Blanchard constructed it. A gable-roofed rectangle with a square tower and a 180-foot octagonal spire, it blends Early Georgian details with the older side-entrance meeting house layout. Its size made it the gathering place for large public meetings in the years before the Revolution, including the protests of late 1773 that ended with the Boston Tea Party. British troops gutted the interior in 1775 and used it as a riding school; the congregation restored it in 1783. After the congregation left in 1872, the building was sold for demolition in 1876, but public protest and a fund drive saved it. The Old South Association in Boston, incorporated in 1877, has run it as a museum ever since.","period_of_significance":"1700-1799","architect_builder":"Robert Twelves (architect); Joshua Blanchard (master mason/builder)","architectural_style":"Early Georgian exterior with traditional 17th-century New England meeting house plan","criteria":[],"status_note":"Operated as a museum by the Old South Association in Boston since the late 19th century; marked occupied, with museum as present use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 01:59:13.782324-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/59/7938/63793859/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/66000778_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000778/891aa788a8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000778/891aa788a8-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Cortlandt V.D. Hubbard","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_South_Meetinghouse_BW.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Cortlandt V.D. Hubbard</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_South_Meetinghouse_BW.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"15000195","name":"Boston National Historical Park","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/boston-national-historical-park-15000195/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793859","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_South_Meeting_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q773752"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/old-south-meeting-house-66000778/"}