The Old South Meeting House was the stage for one of the most pivotal moments in American history—the Boston Tea Party. On December 16, 1773, more than 5,000 angry colonists gathered here, crowding the largest building in colonial Boston to debate the controversial tea tax. With tensions at a breaking point, Samuel Adams gave the signal that sent the Sons of Liberty marching to the harbor—where they dumped 342 chests of British tea into the water, igniting the revolution.

But its radical history doesn’t stop there. John Hancock, Paul Revere, and Dr. Joseph Warren all spoke within these walls, and it was here that Bostonians demanded the removal of British troops after the Boston Massacre. When war broke out, the British retaliated by gutting the meeting house’s interior—turning it into a stables and riding arena for their soldiers.

Saved from demolition in 1877, the Old South Meeting House became the first historic site in America preserved not for a person, but for an event. Today, it’s a National Historic Landmark on the Freedom Trail, offering exhibits, events, and a chance to stand in the very room where a revolution was sparked.