{"nrhp_refnum":"70000690","name":"Old South Church in Boston","other_names":["Third Church","United Church of Christ,Congregational"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"645 Boylston St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.35022326300006,"lon":-71.07804377041603,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1970-12-30","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1970-12-30","areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story polychrome masonry church with a cruciform plan, square dome and tall corner tower, at 645 Boylston Street at Dartmouth Street in Boston. It was designed by Cummings and Sears and built in 1874-75.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it one of the finest examples of High Victorian Gothic ecclesiastical architecture in New England. It is modeled on a north Italian Gothic church and is little altered apart from a 10-foot reduction in tower height after the tower was rebuilt in 1937.","narrative":"Built in 1874-75 at Boylston and Dartmouth Streets in Boston, this church was designed by the architectural firm of Cummings and Sears in the High Victorian Gothic manner. Its cruciform plan, square dome over the crossing and tall corner tower are clad in Roxbury stone, brown Connecticut sandstone and light Ohio freestone, producing a vivid polychrome effect. Gothic tracery windows light the transept ends, and the interior features cherry woodwork, Venetian mosaic by Salviati of London and stained glass by Clayton and Bell of London installed in 1875. The church sits on filled ground, and its original 245-foot campanile-style tower sank out of plumb, earning the nickname \"the leaning tower of Copley Square.\" The tower was dismantled in 1932, then rebuilt on a steel frame anchored in piles in 1937, 10 feet shorter. Otherwise the building is little altered, remains in excellent condition and is still used for worship.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (1874-75)","architect_builder":"Charles A. Cummings and Willard T. Sears (Cummings and Sears)","architectural_style":"High Victorian Gothic ecclesiastical architecture, modeled on a north Italian Gothic church","criteria":[],"status_note":"Excellent condition, still used for religious services, and open to visitors.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.792074-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/43/7938/63793843/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/70000690_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000690/66993b4761-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000690/66993b4761-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.5","author":"GearedBull Jim Hood","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OldSouthChurchBoston.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">GearedBull Jim Hood</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.5</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OldSouthChurchBoston.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"73001948","name":"Back Bay Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/back-bay-historic-district-73001948/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793843","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_South_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1059013"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/old-south-church-in-boston-70000690/"}