Musuem of Fine Arts Boston to Union Oyster House

It's tardily afternoon, just before the large storm is about to first. Union Oyster House, like most restaurants before a big Nor'easter is about to make its presence known, is virtually empty. In that location are a lot of employees withal hanging out, waiting to be sent home. They are talking loudly about storms from the past, comparing them to what the conditions forecasters are predicting this time around.

When one opens the doors to Union Oyster Firm, which dates back to 1826, the history of Boston is everywhere, taking the form of murals, paintings, paper clippings, photographs, and and then much more. Just by the entryway, there's a gift shop to the correct, and straight alee is the giant lobster tank. Directly in front of the massive, bubbling tank, there's a circular oyster bar with wooden stools surrounding information technology. A pocket-sized white plaque on the wall commemorates the 1826 installation of said bar. Crammed into every nook and cranny in this brightly-lit, nautically-themed dining room, there is a history lesson or a fact most the eating place or the metropolis.

The edifice itself was built long before the eating house was opened, and some other white plaque on a wall informs that it is the oldest standing brick edifice in the city. Earlier it was the Union Oyster House, or the Atwood and Salary Oyster Business firm, as it was start chosen, Hopestill Capen's clothes goods business was the occupant. It dates back further than the records, but the general assumption is that it was built around 1704.

A narrow flight of stairs goes up to the second floor dining room, where the room is significantly darker and has a much more authentic historic feel to it. The ceiling has nighttime wooden beams running the length of it. Tall booths are tightly packed into the space, and the flooring creaks with every step. It'due south hard to imagine how many people have walked through that dining room. John F. Kennedy, i of the near notable regulars, used to come on Sundays when he was a senator.

He was known to cozy upwardly with a bowl of lobster stew and some newspapers in his favorite booth, situated simply to the back of the room and tucked away. The restaurant has honored his tradition by dedicating the booth to him with a golden plaque. Over the years and particularly after his death, relatives of his have been known to stop in and sit in that location. On November 22 of each year, the twenty-four hours the president was assassinated, the booth remains empty, with just a single white rose to honor his legacy.

Prior to the opening of Union Oyster House, the second floor of this edifice was where Isaiah Thomas, who was first to publicly read the Announcement of Independence, published The Massachusetts Spy, a political newspaper. Afterward, in 1796, Louis Philippe, who was king of France from 1830 to 1848, lived in exile on that second flooring.

To the back of the second floor dining room, there is a small and narrow staircase that leads to a 3rd dining room. This room is brighter, with windows that span all across i wall. The other walls accept gold framed paintings of famous historic events or regulars. One section of a wall pays homage to Daniel Webster, a senator and leading constitutional scholar. He was said to visit the eatery frequently, ordering at minimum six plates of oysters.

On the way back downwards the stairs to the first level dining room, one passes past a booth that commemorates that the Union Oyster Business firm popularized the toothpick in dining establishments. Walking down the steps, ane passes a picture of Rose Carey, the canton's get-go waitress. Back in the first floor dining room, past the oyster bar and up a pocket-sized set of steps, a large bar snakes around the room leading back to the kitchen. The focus of this room is more about recent history, with 2 Red Sox chairs from Fenway Park and a caricature of some local icons. Televisions give the room a more modern-twenty-four hours feel. Only by the bar, a small private room has murals depicting historic scenes from the urban center'southward by — literally popping out of the walls.

By the bar, at that place is yet some other room, white-walled and blending a mix of history new and old. Several painted white plaques bespeak out more than historical facts, and a museum-like glass structure houses artifacts from some of Boston'southward most famous moments in sports.

Wedlock Oyster house became a historical landmark in 2003.

Via the Library of Congress, here'south a photo of the restaurant from some time in the 1930s, shot past Arthur C. Haskell for the Historic American Buildings Survey:

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41 Union Street, , MA 02108 (617) 227-2750 Visit Website

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Source: https://boston.eater.com/2015/1/30/7938175/a-trip-to-americas-oldest-restaurant-union-oyster-house

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