The Colonial Society of Massachusetts on 87 Mount Vernon Street, Boston, is opening its historic headquarters to the public on the first Sunday of the month from now through May of 2025.
Located at 87 Mount Vernon Street, on historic Beacon Hill, the house was designed by noted Boston architect Charles Bulfinch and built in 1806. The first residents were Stephen Higginson, Jr., and his wife, Louisa Storrow Higginson. Subsequently, five generations of the Sawyer-Lee-Paine family, including Charles Jackson Paine and Julia Bryant Paine, occupied the house from 1816 to 1954. The house became the headquarters of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts in 1955.
The house is furnished with donations from notable Boston families, including the descendants of William Ellery Channing, Francis Parkman, Jr., and William Crowninshield Endicott. The collection includes fine examples of classical Boston furniture, made in the workshops of Isaac Vose and John Doggett, among others. Visit to learn more about the early nineteenth-century history of Boston and view elegant furniture and artworks of the period.
Visitors are invited to explore the house on a self-guided tour. Dates are: March 2, April 6, and May 4, from 1-3pm. Admission is free and open to all.
For more information, visit: colonialsociety.org
About the Colonial Society of Massachusetts
Founded in 1892, the Colonial Society of Massachusetts is a non-profit educational foundation that promotes the study of Massachusetts history from its earliest settlement to c.1830. We publish documents and other resources related to the early history of Massachusetts, broadly defined, taking in local, regional, transatlantic, and other perspectives.