{"nrhp_refnum":"70000730","name":"St. Paul's Church","other_names":["Cathedral Church of St. Paul"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"136 Tremont St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.35572922000006,"lon":-71.0622354688615,"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, gable-roofed sandstone church at 136 Tremont Street, opposite the Common in Boston, Massachusetts. It was built in 1819-20 and is now the Cathedral Church of St. Paul (Episcopal).","why_significant":"The nomination argues that it was the first Greek Revival church erected in New England, contrasting with Boston's Georgian, Federal and Gothic Revival churches. Its exterior and plain interior remain little altered. It was designed and built by Alexander Parris and Solomon Willard.","narrative":"Facing Boston Common on Tremont Street, St. Paul's is a two-story sandstone church with a gabled roof and a bold pedimented portico carried on six giant Ionic columns. Alexander Parris and Solomon Willard were commissioned in 1819 by the vestry of the new St. Paul's parish to build a Grecian temple that would stand apart from the city's Georgian, Federal and Gothic Revival churches. They used Aquia Creek sandstone from Virginia, and Willard carved the Ionic capitals. The church was dedicated on June 30, 1820, though construction costs ran to double the estimate and left the parish in debt for years. It is regarded as the first Greek Revival church in New England. The interior is severely plain, with high box pews, clear-glass windows and a rear gallery. A chancel and dome modeled on St. Paul's in London were added in 1926-27. In 1912 the church became the Episcopal cathedral. It remains in excellent condition and open to visitors.","period_of_significance":"1819-20","architect_builder":"Alexander Parris and Solomon Willard","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"In 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 02:11:54.569425-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/41/7938/63793841/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/70000730_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000730/08c790a16a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000730/08c790a16a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Adam Lenhardt (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cathedral_Church_of_St_Paul_05Feb2008.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Adam Lenhardt (talk)</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cathedral_Church_of_St_Paul_05Feb2008.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793841","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_Church_of_St._Paul_(Boston)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5052214"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/st-pauls-church-70000730/"}