Old North Church, built in 1723, is the oldest church building in Boston and the site of one of the most famous signals in American history. Christ Church, known universally as Old North, was built in 1723 in the Anglican tradition, its 191-foot steeple the tallest in Boston and visible for miles out to sea. On the night of April 18, 1775, the sexton Robert Newman climbed to the top of that steeple and held up two lanterns — the signal agreed upon with Paul Revere to warn the patriots in Charlestown that the British troops were crossing the Charles River by water rather than marching out by the land route across the Neck.
One if by land, two if by sea, as Longfellow's poem put it. The signal was seen across the river, the warning riders were dispatched, and the militia was ready when the British arrived at Lexington and Concord the next morning. The church interior is largely unchanged from the eighteenth century, with its high box pews, the brass chandelier, and the clock that was given to the church in 1726.
George Washington visited in 1789 and said the steeple was the finest he had ever seen. The steeple has been rebuilt twice after hurricanes; the current one dates to 1955.