A National Historic Landmark. Built in 1873 (Gothic Revival). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. 17 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1893.
One of 345 National Register listings published here for Suffolk County · listed in 1970 · category: Building · built in 1873, Gothic Revival, by Willard Thomas Sears, Charles Amos Cummings · a National Historic Landmark.
Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 31 fires within 5 miles of Old South Church in Boston between 2015 and 2020, burning about 27 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 7 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 23 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 23 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 22 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 2 September 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | BROOKLINE |
| 2 September 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | QUINCY |
| 7 August 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | QUINCY |
| 26 August 2017 | Smoking | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | BROOKLINE |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Old South Church in Boston: 8 plants, 2 past producers. 8 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Lead, Gypsum-Anhydrite, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Facility) Vulcan Smelter--Chelsea, Ma. | Copper, Lead | Plant | ||
| C. J. Mabardy | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Us Gypsum Co--Boston | Gypsum-Anhydrite | Past Producer | ||
| Whittemore Prdts Inc--Boston | Perlite | Plant | ||
| (Facility) Cambridge Smelter Co | Lead | Plant | ||
| General Metals & Smelting--Boston | Lead | Plant | ||
| Industrial Serv. Centers--Cambridge | Iron | Plant | ||
| Somerville Smelting Co. | Lead | Plant | ||
| Us Steel Supply Div--Boston | Iron | Plant | ||
| Wheelock-Lovejoy--Cambridge, Ma. | Iron | Plant |
8 papers published in this town, digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.
| Newspaper | Published |
|---|---|
| The Boston Courant | 1890 to 19?? |
| The Boston Advance | 1896 to 1907 |
| The New-England Chronicle | 1776 |
| The Massachusetts Spy | 1770 to 1772 |
| The Massachusetts Spy, Or, Thomas's Boston Journal | 1772 to 1775 |
| The Boston Gazette, Or, Country Journal | 1755 to 1793 |
| The Liberator | 1831 to 1865 |
| The Guardian | 1901 to 1960 |
United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the middle of the area the National Park Service maps for this listing, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Boston Public Library | under 500 feet | 1973 |
 | Trinity Church | 0.1 miles | 1970 |
 | YWCA Boston | 0.1 miles | 2004 |
 | First Baptist Church | 0.1 miles | 1972 |
 | Trinity Rectory | 0.2 miles | 1972 |
 | Crowninshield House | 0.2 miles | 1972 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 70000690 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Suffolk County | All 345 listed properties in this county. |
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