Old West Church

The Old West Church at 131 Cambridge Street, is a historic church located in the West End of Boston, built in 1806 to designs by architect Asher Benjamin. It was here that the phrase "no taxation without representation" was first coined. The first church on this site was built in 1737 as a wood-frame building, and was occupied as a barracks by British troops during their occupation of the city prior to the American Revolution. The British razed this church in 1775 when they suspected that American Colonials were signaling to Cambridge from its steeple. Today's Old West Church is thus the second church on the site. As in the architect's earlier Charles Street Meeting House (1804), its 3 ⁄2-story brick entry tower is crowned with a...