The Hidden Location of Paul Revere’s Gold and Silversmith Shop

 
Newspaper ads placed by Paul Revere after the American Revolution tell us that he moved his gold and silversmith shop multiple times; operated a hardware store as early as 1783; and housed both businesses together in 1787 as the advertisement in one of the original colonial newspapers you are holding (the June 13, 1787 issue of the Massachusetts Centinel) mentions. The hidden plaque you are viewing marks the site where Paul Revere’s shop stood in 1787. By 1788, while still operating his gold and silversmith shop (run on a day-to-day basis by his son Paul Jr.) and hardware store, Revere opened a foundry and produced bolts, spikes, and nails for local shipyards. After 1792, he began to cast bells at his foundry in the North End of Boston, and was assisted by his sons Paul Revere Jr. and Joseph Warren Revere. Today some 147 bells made at the Revere Foundry still survive. Most are located in New England.

Images of the other advertisements you are holding appear below. These include an ad for Revere’s goldsmith shop in the March 10, 1790 issue of theMassachusetts Centinel; and ad for his bell and cannon foundry in the February 21, 1801 issue of the Columbian Centinel and an ad for the sale of church bells in the July 8, 1807 issue of the Massachusetts Spy.

Also embedded at the bottom is the video you saw of the largest bell ever made by Paul Revere (2,437 pounds, cast in 1816) ringing at King’s Chapel.