Paul Revere House

Duration:

1 minute, 24 seconds

Home of the famous "Midnight Rider" and silversmith, Paul Revere. Early preservationists raised money to purchase and preserve the home as a historic site. Though the Revere family only lived in the house for about twenty years, they lived there during the Revolution - the most transformative and uncertain era of their generation.

 

 

About Paul Revere House

On the evening of April 18, 1775, Boston artisan and Patriot Paul Revere set out from his home in North Square to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock of their potential arrest by a detachment of British soldiers. While dozens of riders spread the general alarm that night, Paul Revere became an American legend following the publication of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride" in 1860. Because this was the home of the famous "Midnight Rider" and silversmith, early preservationists raised money to purchase and preserve the home as a historic site. Though the Revere family only lived in the house for about twenty years, they lived there during the Revolution - the most transformative and uncertain era of their generation.

The Paul Revere House is a Boston National Historical Park partner site operated by the Paul Revere Memorial Association. Learn more about the Reveres, the house, and the "Midnight Ride" by visiting The Paul Revere House.

Hours

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Admissions

Admission fee.

Accessibility

The house is accessible on the first floor via the courtyard ramps. The second floor is accessed by taking the elevator in the visitor center and then connecting to the house via the walkway.

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Contact Info

Website: https://www.paulreverehouse.org/

Phone Number: 617-523-2338

Address: 19 North Square, Boston, MA 02113

 

Things to Do

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  Boston's Premier Heritage Trail

  Freedom Trail Audio Tour

  Listen to stories of the Freedom Trail, whether in Downtown Boston or at home!

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  Paul Revere House

  Visit the oldest building in downtown Boston and the home of Paul Revere and his family during the time of the Revolution.

 

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Visitors can explore the home in which Paul Revere and his family lived.

Matt Teuten

A Colonial Home in a Bustling Seaport

Robert Howard, a wealthy Boston Merchant, purchased the house in 1681. Though it would change hands many times, it has always remained in the same place on North Square. Located in Boston's densest and oldest neighborhood - the North End - the house was situated in a hub of innovation of sorts for its day. The neighborhood served as a home and workplace for many skilled artisans, tradesman, and merchants. By the mid-1700s the house was a modest dwelling compared to the large mansions of Boston's elite. Nonetheless, it was a perfect home for an aspiring middling family.

The Most Famous Residents - The Revere Family

Revere himself was the son of a French immigrant father and a mother descended from the earliest settlers of New England. Revere apprenticed to his father where he learned the highly skilled trade of gold and silver smithing. When Revere purchased the house on North Square, he was already a war veteran, a master silversmith, a husband, and a father of five children. Revere's wife Sarah managed the household and cared for the children while Paul handled the family business. Revere only had to walk a short distance away to get to his workshop located on the North End waterfront.

Sarah Revere died in 1773 from complications of giving birth to her eighth child. Paul Revere remarried a few months later to a woman named Rachel Walker. Rachel played a critical in continuing to manage a growing household. She and Paul had another eight children together while she continued to raise and nurture her stepchildren. Sadly, because of such high mortality rates in the colonial period, only six of Sarah's children and five of Rachel's children survived into maturity. Of those eleven, only five children survived their father.

 

The Paul Revere House sometime around 1898.

Courtesy Boston Public Library

After the Reveres

The Reveres occupied the house for a short time in its history. By 1780 the family had moved and began renting out the North Square property. They returned to their North Square home in 1790, before Revere sold the house in 1800. In the 1800s the home became a sailor's boarding house for many years. By the beginning of the 1900s, the old house had become a tenement with shops on the lower level. When the building faced demolition, a great grandson of Paul Revere, John P. Reynolds Jr, stepped in to save the house and purchased it. By 1908 funds had been raised to restore the home and it opened to the public as a historic house museum in April, 1908.

The Paul Revere house serves as the oldest residential building, still standing, in downtown Boston.

 

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