The enduring fame of the Old North began on the evening of April 18, 1775, when the church sexton, Robert Newman, climbed the steeple and held high two lanterns as a signal from Paul Revere that the British were marching to Lexington and Concord by sea and not by land. This fateful event ignited the American Revolution. 

On April 18, 1775, probably a little after 10 P.M., the 191 ft steeple of the Old North Church served a military purpose.

Paul Revere told three Boston Patriots to hang two lanterns in the steeple. These men were the church sexton Robert Newman, Captain John Pulling, and Thomas Bernard, who stood watch for British troops outside the church. The lanterns were displayed to send a warning to Charlestown Patriots across the Charles River about the movements of the British Army. Paul Revere and William Dawes would later deliver the same message to Lexington themselves, but this lantern method was faster, and it was a good back-up plan for communication in case they were captured.

The signal only lasted for a few brief moments to avoid catching the eyes of the British troops occupying Boston, but this was long enough for the message to be received in Charlestown. They had kept someone looking at the steeple all night.

The famous phrase "One if by land, and two if by sea" is from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "Paul Revere's Ride." One lantern was to notify Charlestown that the British Army would march over Boston Neck and the Great Bridge, and two were to notify them that the troops were taking boats across the Charles to land near Phips farm. After receiving the signal, the Charlestown Patriots sent out a rider to Lexington, but this rider did not reach his destination and his identity has disappeared from history. He was the one who might have been captured by a British patrol.

But the warning was delivered miles away to dozens of towns, first by Revere and Dawes on horses, and then by other men on horses and men who rang church bells and town bells, beat drums, and shot off warning guns. Revere didn't really say "The British are coming!" because most of the people in Massachusetts still thought of themselves as British. But he did say "The Regulars are coming out!" (or something similar) to almost every house along the way to Lexington after he felt safe from that British patrol.

"Listen my children and you shall hear 
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere" 
Paul Revere's Ride

With those words, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow immortalized Paul Revere and the Old North ensuring their place in American folklore, tradition, and history.

The Old North Church is officially known as Christ Church in the City of Boston. It was built in 1723, and is the oldest standing church building in Boston. In 1775, on the eve of Revolution, the majority of the congregation were loyal to the British King and many held official positions in the royal government, including the Royal Governor of Massachusetts, making Robert Newman's loyalty to the Patriot cause even more extraordinary. The King gave the Old North its silver that was used at services and a bible.

The Old North Church is one of the stops of the Boston Freedom Trail. For more information on Boston history, click here.

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June–October, 9am–6pm 
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