The Brick Church Where “One If by Land, Two If by Sea” Launched Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride

Old North Church, Massachusetts

Every American school kid knows “one if by land, two if by sea,” but few realize the actual church still stands in Boston’s North End. Old North Church has survived fires, wars, and centuries of change since 1723.

Its white steeple pierces the skyline just like it did when colonists plotted revolution. This is story behind the legend.

Old North Church

Founded in 1723 as Christ Church in the City of Boston, Old North Church stands as the oldest surviving church building in Boston. Construction workers broke ground in April, completing the structure in just nine months.

William Price designed it by copying Christopher Wren’s work. Wren was the famous English builder who rebuilt London after a big fire in 1666. This makes Old North Church the oldest church building still standing in Boston.

Built Like English Churches

William Price sold books in Boston and studied English church plans. He built Old North Church to look like a church in London called St. Andrews-by-the-Wardrobe.

The tall tower went up 191 feet, making it Boston’s tallest building for many years.

The First Minister Got Fired from Yale

Timothy Cutler became Old North’s first minister after he got in big trouble. He had been the head of Yale College from 1719 to 1722.

Cutler made everyone mad by saying he wanted to join the Church of England. People called this the “Yale Problem.” Yale fired him, so the new English church in Boston hired him instead. He went to England and came back with fancy degrees from two big schools there.

Rich Traders Paid for the Church

Boston businessmen made money trading with islands in the Caribbean. In 1727, some traders called the “Gentlemen of the Bay of Honduras” gave special wood from Mexico to Old North Church.

Their gift paid for the church’s first tower. Peter Faneuil and Gedney Clark each gave 100 pounds for the church bells – the biggest gifts anyone made.

Eight Old Bells from England

A man named Abel Rudhall made eight bells in England in 1744. Workers hung them up in 1745. The biggest bell weighs 1,545 pounds and makes a deep sound when it rings.

College students from MIT still ring them today, keeping alive something that’s been happening for 280 years.

The Organ and Four Wooden Angels

Thomas Johnston from Boston built the organ that’s there now in 1759. It replaced an older one from 1736. Four wooden angels with gold paint and big wings stand around it.

A ship captain named Thomas Gruchy took these angels from a French ship during a war in 1746. He sat in seat number 25 and gave them to the church. Workers painted over them in 1912, but people found them again in 2024 after they were hidden for over 100 years.

The Night That Started the War

Robert Newman was born March 20, 1752, and took care of the church starting in 1772. On April 18, 1775, he and another church member named John Pulling climbed up the tall tower while Thomas Bernard watched for soldiers outside.

They hung two lanterns for just a minute in the window. Paul Revere had told them to light “one if by land, two if by sea” to warn his friends across the river.

Two lanterns meant British soldiers were coming by boat across the water.

What the Signal Did

Newman and Pulling only showed the lanterns for less than a minute so British soldiers wouldn’t see them. Their signal was the start of many riders spreading the news everywhere.

British soldiers walked to Concord to take away the Americans’ gunpowder and weapons. Paul Revere and other men on horses warned people before the soldiers got there. The next morning, April 19, 1775, American fighters met British soldiers on a field called Lexington Green.

The Graves Under the Church

Thirty-seven stone rooms sit under the church floor, built between 1732 and 1860. Over 1,100 dead people rest down there, including the first minister Timothy Cutler and his wife under the altar where the minister stands.

The Famous Poem

A poet named Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote “Paul Revere’s Ride” in 1861, 86 years after it really happened.

His words “One if by land, and two if by sea” made the church famous all across America.

The poem got some things wrong but got people fired up during the Civil War. Longfellow used the old war story to bring Americans together during another hard time. His poem made both Paul Revere and Old North Church into symbols of American freedom.

Fixing Up the Church in 1912

A builder named R. Clipston Sturgis fixed up Old North Church in 1912. He rebuilt the box seats where colonial families sat in wooden boxes with doors instead of on open benches.

Workers put back a high platform for the minister and opened up a window, then they painted everything white, thinking that’s how it looked long ago.

The returned back many things from the 1800s, though people today think some of what Sturgis did was wrong.

Visiting Old North Church

Located at 193 Salem Street in Boston’s North End, Old North Church welcomes visitors daily.

The church remains an active Episcopal congregation with Sunday services at 11 am, continuing nearly three centuries of worship.

Several historic gardens surround the church, including the Washington Memorial Garden and the Third Lantern Garden, created to honor the “Third Lantern” lit by President Gerald Ford during America’s bicentennial celebrations.

Special tours allow visitors to explore the bell tower, gallery, and crypt.

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