He said to his friend, “If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch Of the North-Church-tower, as a signal-light,– One if by land, and two if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country-folk to be up and to arm.” — The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
The Old North Church, built-in 1723, is the church referred to in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem about Paul Revere. It is the oldest standing church building in Boston and is indeed the one where Robert Sexton placed two lanterns meant to alert patriots across the Charles River of the whereabouts of the British Army (two meant they would come along the sea route).
The lanterns from this particularly iconic moment in history were only hung for less than a minute to avoid catching the attention of British soldiers who were on alert for rebel behaviour throughout Boston.
The church has more history than that which involved Paul Revere, the midnight ride, and the beginnings of the American Revolution. The crypt in the basement houses the tombs of 1,100 people thought to come from the early years of the church, from Boston’s merchant history, and from the years of the American Revolution.
The pews, boxed in and purchased by families, each have stories that people have spent years researching. The Revere pew is still in the church… and is still owned by the Revere family. High box pews are a rare sight in America. These were designed so people could put hot bricks on the floor during the winter to keep families warm throughout a sermon. The high walls kept the heat in longer.
Outside the church are various memorials to events in the church’s history. The Dog Tag Garden Memorial is for those soldiers who died in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars.
