What Is the Paul Revere House?
One of Boston’s last 17th Century buildings, this was the home of Paul Revere and his family from 1770 until 1800!
What Makes It Historical?
This house was already nearing its 100th year when the Reveres moved in: Paul, Sarah, and their eight kids. If you can imagine, after Sarah died and Paul remarried Rachel Walker, they added eight more Revere kids to this tiny medieval house! Son of a French Huguenot immigrant (last name Rivoire), Mr. Revere learned his dad’s trade and grew up to be a goldsmith, which was his career for 40 years! He wasn’t short of side hustles, though. After all, he had a lot of mouths to feed, and so he engraved copper plates, worked as an illustrator, and even practiced dentistry the first five years living in this house! He also moonlighted as a rebel!
As a member of the Masonic Lodge of St. Andrew, Mr. Revere met many activists among its ranks. He was regularly charged with spreading information, like news of the Boston Massacre, which he famously engraved, or spreading word about the Boston Tea Party across New York and Philadelphia. But Mr. Revere is most famous for his actions on the night of April 18, 1775, when he left this house with instructions from fellow Mason, Dr. Joseph Warren, to carry a warning to Lexington and Concord that the British were marching on them!
After the war, Mr. Revere continued his metallurgy, expanding from just smithing to owning a hardware shop, then a foundry for shipbuilding supplies, then, in 1801, North America’s first successful copper rolling mill! This sheet copper made its way to the hull of the U.S.S. Constitution, the dome of the Massachusetts State House, and the bottoms of pots and pans that came to be known as Revere Ware!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Pay the entrance fee to help maintain trails, signs, structures, and other visitor services!
- Become a member of the Friends of Paul Revere!
- Donate to the Freedom Trail!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
19 North Square
Boston MA 02113
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
From April 15 through October 31, the house is open daily from 10:00 AM until 5:15 PM! The rest of the year, it’s closed on Mondays and open from 10:00 AM until 4:15 PM the rest of the week!