Revere House was an upscale hotel in 19th-century Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, 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...

, located on Bowdoin Square

Bowdoin Square (Boston)

Bowdoin Square in Boston, Massachusetts was located in the West End. In the 18th-19th centuries it featured residential houses, leafy trees, a church, hotel, theatre and other buildings. Among the notables who have lived in the square: physician Thomas Bulfinch; merchant Kirk Boott; and mayor...

 in the West End. Fire destroyed the building in 1912.

Brief history

William Washburn

William Washburn (architect)

William Washburn was an architect and city councilor in Boston, Massachusetts, in the mid-19th century. He designed Boston's National Theatre , Revere House hotel , Tremont Temple , and Parker House hotel...

 designed the hotel building, built in 1847 on the former site of the house of Boston merchant Kirk Boott

Kirk Boott

Kirk Boott was an American Industrialist instrumental in the early history of Lowell, Massachusetts.-Biography:...

. The hotel was a project of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association

Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association

The Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association of Boston, Massachusetts, was "formed for the sole purposes of promoting the mechanic arts and extending the practice of benevolence." Founding members included Paul Revere, Benjamin Russell, and others...

. The association named their new hotel after Paul Revere

Paul Revere

Paul Revere was an American silversmith and a patriot in the American Revolution. He is most famous for alerting Colonial militia of approaching British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, Paul Revere's Ride...

, one of the founders of the group.

Notable guests

Some considered Revere House "Boston's most prestigious hotel. It hosted the likes of writer 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...

, singer Jenny Lind

Jenny Lind

Johanna Maria Lind , better known as Jenny Lind, was a Swedish opera singer, often known as the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she is known for her performances in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and for an extraordinarily...

 ("The Swedish Nightingale"). ... Famed orator Daniel Webster

Daniel Webster

Daniel Webster was a leading American statesman and senator from Massachusetts during the period leading up to the Civil War. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...

 often used the portico to address crowds at political rallies." Other notable guests: Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

; Millard Fillmore

Millard Fillmore

Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States and the last member of the Whig Party to hold the office of president...

; Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States and is the only President from New Hampshire. Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface" who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce took part in the Mexican-American War and became a brigadier general in the Army...

; Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...

; William Tecumseh Sherman

William Tecumseh Sherman

William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...

; Edward VII

Edward VII of the United Kingdom

Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...

; Emperor Pedro II of Brazil

Pedro II of Brazil

Dom Pedro II , nicknamed "the Magnanimous", was the second and last ruler of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. Born in Rio de Janeiro, he was the seventh child of Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil and Empress Dona Maria Leopoldina and thus a member of the Brazilian branch of...

; Philip Sheridan

Philip Sheridan

Philip Henry Sheridan was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close association with Lt. Gen. Ulysses S...

; and singers Christina Nilsson

Christina Nilsson

Christina Nilsson, Countess de Casa Miranda, was a Swedish operatic soprano. She possessed a brilliant bel canto technique and was considered a rival to the Victorian era's most famous diva, Adelina Patti...

 and Adelina Patti

Adelina Patti

Adelina Patti was a highly acclaimed 19th-century opera singer, earning huge fees at the height of her career in the music capitals of Europe and America. She first sang in public as a child in 1851 and gave her last performance before an audience in 1914...

.

Ownership and management

Through the years, owners included Otis Norcross

Otis Norcross

Otis C. Norcross served as the nineteenth Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, from January 7, 1867 to January 6, 1868 during the Reconstruction era of the United States...

, Frederick W. Lincoln

Frederic W. Lincoln, Jr. (politician)

Frederic Walker Lincoln, Jr. was an American manufacturer and politician, serving as the sixteenth and eighteenth mayor of Boston, Massachusetts from 1858–1860 and 1863–1867, respectively.-Notes:...

, Uriel Crocker

Uriel Crocker

Uriel Crocker was a public-spirited Boston citizen, head of the Crocker & Brewster publishing house during its 58-year existence , and actively involved in other enterprises including railroads....

, Nathaniel J. Bradlee

Nathaniel Jeremiah Bradlee

Nathaniel Jeremiah Bradlee was a prominent 19th century Boston architect.-Life:Bradlee was born in Boston to Elizabeth Davis and Samuel Bradlee. He married Julia Rebecca Weld on April 17, 1855...

. Paran Stevens served as manager for many years. Management companies overseeing hotel operations included Chapin, Gurney & Co.; C.B. Ferrin; and beginning in 1885, J.F. Morrow & Co.