Old South Church in Boston
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Location | Boston, Massachusetts |
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Coordinates | 42°21′0.7″N 71°4′40.8″W / 42.350194°N 71.078000°WCoordinates: 42°21′0.7″N 71°4′40.8″W / 42.350194°N 71.078000°W |
Built | 1873 |
Architect |
Charles Amos Cummings and Willard T. Sears |
Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
NRHP Reference # | 70000690 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | December 30, 1970 |
Designated NHL | December 30, 1970 |
Old South Church in Boston, Massachusetts, (also known as New Old South Church or Third Church) is a historic United Church of Christ congregation first organized in 1669. Its present building was designed in the Gothic Revival style by Charles Amos Cummings and Willard T. Sears, completed in 1873, and amplified by the architects Allen & Collens between 1935–1937. The church, which was built on newly filled land in the Back Bay section of Boston, is located at 645 Boylston Street on Copley Square. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 for its architectural significance as one of the finest High Victorian Gothic churches in New England. It is home to one of the older religious communities in the United States.
Established in 1669, Old South Church is one of the older religious communities in the United States. It was organized by Congregationalist dissenters from Boston's First Church and was known as the Third Church (to distinguish it from the First and Second Congregational Churches in the city). The Third Church's congregation met first in their Cedar Meeting House (1670), then at the Old South Meeting House (1729) at the corner of Washington and Milk Streets in Boston.
Members of the congregation have included Samuel Adams, William Dawes, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Sewall, and Phillis Wheatley. In 1773, Samuel Adams gave the signals from the Old South Meeting House for the "war whoops" that started the Boston Tea Party.