Omni Parker House
Encyclopedia
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
in Boston, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, currently owned by Omni Hotels. The name of the hotel derives from the original Parker House, which first opened in 1855. Founder Harvey D. Parker
Harvey D. Parker
Harvey D. Parker , also known as H.D. Parker, was an hotelier in Boston, Massachusetts. He built the Parker House, the first hotel in the United States "on the European Plan".-Biography:...
ran the hotel until his death in 1884, when the business passed on to his partners.
19th century
Opened in 1855 by Harvey D. Parker and located on School StreetSchool Street
School Street is a short but significant street in the center of Boston, Massachusetts. It is so named for being the site of the first public school in the United States...
near the corner of Tremont
Tremont Street
Tremont Street is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts.-Etymology:The name is a variation of one of the original appellations of the city, "Trimountaine," a reference to a hill that formerly had three peaks. Beacon Hill, with its single peak, is all that remains of the Trimountain...
, not far from the seat of the Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
state government, it has long been a rendezvous for politicians. The hotel was home to the Saturday Club
Saturday Club (Boston, Massachusetts)
The Saturday Club, established in 1855, was an informal monthly gathering in Boston, Massachusetts, of writers, scientists, philosophers, historians and others.-Overview:The club began meeting informally at the Albion House in Boston...
, also referred to as the Saturday Night Club, which consisted of literary dignitaries such as Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
, Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...
, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. was an American physician, professor, lecturer, and author. Regarded by his peers as one of the best writers of the 19th century, he is considered a member of the Fireside Poets. His most famous prose works are the "Breakfast-Table" series, which began with The Autocrat...
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
was also once a guest at the hotel. Charles Dickens resided in the Parker House for two years in his own apartments and first recited and performed "A Christmas Carol" at the Saturday Club at the Parker House. The Parker House currently holds possession of Charles Dickens lock and key to his apartment door and also his mirror.
The Parker House invented Massachusetts’ state dessert – Boston cream pie
Boston cream pie
A Boston cream pie is a round cake that is split and filled with a custard or cream filling and frosted with chocolate. Although it is called a Boston cream pie, it is in fact a cake, and not a pie....
– and the Parker House roll
Parker House roll
A Parker House roll is a bread roll made by flattening the center of a ball of dough with a rolling pin so that it becomes an oval shape and then folding the oval in half. They are made with milk and are generally quite buttery, soft, and slightly sweet with a crispy shell.They were invented at the...
; and coined the term "scrod
Scrod
Scrod is a young cod or, less frequently, when spelled with an 'h', haddock, split and boned. It is a staple in many coastal New England and Atlantic Canada seafood and fish markets....
".
20th century
The original Parker House building and later architectural additions were demolished in the 1920s and replaced with an entirely new building. "Four of the five buildings Harvey D. Parker built between 1854 and 1866 were demolished in 1926 by the Wittle Hotel Co., which purchased the property from Parker that year." One wing of the original hotel remained open until the new building was completed in 1927.Some well-known people have worked at the Parker House, including Hô Chí Minh
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
who was a baker in the bakeshop from 1911 to 1913, and Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
who was a busboy in the early 1940s. John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
announced his candidacy for Congress
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
in the hotel's Press Room, and held his bachelor party here. JFK proposed to Jackie Kennedy at Parker's Restaurant (at table 40).
The business was bought by Omni Hotels in the mid-1980s.
21st century
The hotel currently has 551 rooms and suites. In 2009, AAAAmerican Automobile Association
AAA , formerly known as the American Automobile Association, is a federation of 51 independently operated motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a not-for-profit member service organization with more than 51 million members. AAA provides services to its members such as travel, automotive,...
named the hotel one of the top 10 historic U.S. hotels. It is a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is an American member-supported organization that was founded in 1949 by congressional charter to support preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods through a range of programs and activities, including the publication of Preservation...
's Historic Hotels of America program.
In literature and film
Edith WhartonEdith Wharton
Edith Wharton , was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer.- Early life and marriage:...
includes a private meeting between characters Mr. Newland Archer and Countess Ellen Olenska at the Parker House in her iconic work of the early 20th century, The Age of Innocence
The Age of Innocence
The Age of Innocence is a novel by Edith Wharton published in 1920, which won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize. The story is set in upper-class New York City in the 1870s. In 1920, The Age of Innocence was serialized in four parts in the Pictorial Review magazine, and later released by D...
. Archer is told that the Countess Olenska is staying in Boston at the Parker House, and he flees New York to meet her there.
According to staff, Room 303, which is now a storage room, in the hotel was the inspiration for Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's short story 1408
1408 (short story)
"1408" is a novella by Stephen King. It is the second tale in the audiobook collection titled Blood and Smoke, released in 1999. In 2002, it was collected in written form as the twelfth story in King's collection Everything's Eventual...
and its movie adaptation
1408 (film)
1408 is a 2007 American psychological horror film based on the Stephen King short story of the same name directed by Swedish director Mikael Håfström, who earlier had directed the horror film Drowning Ghost. The cast includes John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, and Mary McCormack. The film was released...
.
External links
- Official Web site
- Secrets of Beantown, from Auddissey Guides