King’s Chapel

King’s Chapel is one of the oldest congregations in America and a landmark of downtown Boston’s Revolutionary-era history. It was organized as an Anglican congregation on June 15, 1686, at a meeting in the Town House, then Boston’s city hall, and became the first Anglican church in New England. Its current stone building, made of Quincy granite and designed by Peter Harrison of Newport, opened in 1754 on the corner of Tremont and School Streets.

The congregation first worshiped in a small wooden meeting house dedicated on the same site in 1689, and construction of the larger stone church began in 1749. The chapel briefly closed in 1776 after Loyalists left Boston, then reopened for the funeral of Patriot General Joseph Warren, killed at Bunker Hill. Its bell, originally cast in England and hung in 1772, cracked in 1814 and was recast by Paul Revere.

What to Know

• The recast bell was rehung in 1816, and Revere is quoted as calling it the sweetest bell he ever made.
• The bell still rings every Sunday morning to call parishioners to services.
• During the Revolution, members of the Old South Meeting House congregation worshiped at the chapel.
• King’s Chapel is an active place of worship as well as a historic site.