Union Oyster House

Union Oyster House, open to diners since 1826, is amongst the oldest operating restaurants in the United States of America, and the oldest that has been continuously operating since being opened. The building was listed as a National Historic Landmark on May 27, 2003.

Union Oyster House
Union Oyster House
Location41–43 Union Street,
Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°21′41″N 71°3′25″W
Builtpre-1714
Architectural styleGeorgian
Part ofBlackstone Block Historic District (ID73000315)
NRHP reference No.03000645[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMay 27, 2003
Designated NHLMay 27, 2003
Designated CPMay 26, 1973

History

The building itself was built prior to 1714, most likely in 1704. Before it became a restaurant, Hopestill Capen's dress goods business occupied the property. In 1771 printer Isaiah Thomas published his newspaper, The Massachusetts Spy, from the second floor. The restaurant originally opened as the Atwood & Bacon Oyster House on August 3, 1826.[2]

The Union Oyster House has had a number of famous people in history as diners, including the Kennedy family and Daniel Webster. Webster was known for regularly consuming at least six plates of oysters.[3] Perhaps most surprisingly, in 1796 Louis Philippe, king of France from 1830 to 1848, lived in exile on the second floor. He earned his living by teaching French to young women. Labor economist and president of Haverford College John Royston Coleman worked here incognito as a "salad-and-sandwich man" for a time in the 1970s and documented the experience in his book The Blue Collar Journal.[4]

The food is traditional New England fare, including seafoods such as oysters, clams, and lobsters, as well as poultry, baked beans, steak and chops. The toothpick was said to have been popularized in America starting at the Oyster House.

  • Signage
  • Union Oyster House, 1945.
  • First floor plan and details.

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. Yee, Vivian, "At Union Oyster House, a Feast of History", Boston Globe, August 3, 2011
  3. Kerr, Jean; Smith, Spencer (2006). Mystic Seafood. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot. p. 14. ISBN 978-0762741373.
  4. https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0A16F93F58137B93C6A9178FD85F408785F9
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