Boston

/h1>base of the hills and Boston Common. The
location and name of School Street originated in
Founded by Henry D. Parker in 1855, the OmniPuritan times, as well. From 1635-1636, the British
Parker House (then known as simply The Parkercolonists established a college in nearby Cambridge
House) has been a Boston resident for over 150(Harvard). By 1645 the prep school, America's
years, located at the junction of Tremont andfirst public school, was housed in a cabin on what
School Streets, and one of the oldest of Boston'swould be know as School Street. The school was
elegant inns. and the longest continuously operatinglater known as Boston Latin, and it educated a
hotel in the United States. It was here that thehost of Boston's elite, including Sam Adams, John
brightest lights of America's Golden Age ofHancock, Charles Bullfinch, and Ralph Waldo
Literature—writers like Emerson, Thoreau,Emerson. Ben Franklin was a dropout. Parker's Bar
Hawthorne, and Longfellow, regularly met fornow sits where the old cabin was located.
conversation in the legendary nineteenth centuryLieutenant Colonel George Washington was known
Saturday Club.to frequent the many taverns that sprung up on
Baseball greats like Babe Ruth and Ted WilliamsSchool Street; two colonial-era buildings still
wined, dined, and unwound at the Parker House.stand—King's Chapel, a rough-hewn granite
And it was here too, where generations of localchurch completed in 1754, and the Old Corner
and national politicians, including Ulysses S. Grant,Bookstore building, constructed in 1718 as an
James Michael Curley (Boston's Mayor of theapothecary.
poor), Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy,The concept of a "hotel" is a fairly recent one. In
and William Jefferson Clinton, assembled forcolonial Boston, travelers found rest and
private meetings, press conferences, and powerrefreshment not in hotels or motels, but at local
breakfasts.taverns and inns. Women were rarely on the
The Omni Parker House is close to Boston'sroad, so colonial males usually frequented the
Theater District, and it has played an importantroadside taverns. They often even shared beds
role for thespians. Many of the finest actors fromafter quaffing pints of colonial beer. I guess after
the nineteenth century made the hotel their hometoo many pints they began the foment for
away from home, including Charlotte Cushman,freedom and the rise of a radical
Sarah Bernhardt, Edwin Booth, brother of thecause—Independence.
matinee-idol, John Wilkes Booth, who was seenThe earlier hotels were known as "houses." As
pistol practicing nearby only eight days before themore travelers arrived in Boston by coach or ship,
assassination of Abraham Lincoln; wouldn't youlodging and dining houses bore patriotic names like
know it would be an actor jumping onto a stageAmerican House, The Shawmut, the Adams, and
in his last great performance at the Ford TheaterThe Revere House. The resident houses were
in Washington, D.C. During the twentieth century,genteel and sometimes luxurious, and some began
stage, screen, and television stars, from Joanto even accommodated ladies!
Crawford, Judy Garland, and William ("HopalongIn the midst of this period of expansion and
Cassidy") Boyd, to Adam "Batman" West, Kelseychange, a 20-year-old farm boy named Harvey D.
Grammer (Cheers was started in Boston as aParker arrived in Boston Harbor on a packet from
local pub.), David Shiner and the cast of "Seussical,Maine. The year was 1825, and with less than one
the Musical", made the hotel their home.dollar in his satchel, he was in immediate need of
The kitchens of the Parker House madeemployment. His first job was as a caretaker for
Americana culinary culture a mainstay, witha horse and cow, which gave him eight dollars a
talented bakers who invented the famed Parkermonth. Then as a coachman for a wealthy
House roll. Parker's has also been the trainingWatertown woman, he was set up on his career
ground for internationally known chefs.path.
The Omni Parker House is located on today'sWhenever Parker trotted the horse-drawn coach
Boston Freedom Trail, and it is a museum of itsinto Boston, his noon meal was at a dark, cellar
own in a way. Even though it has twenty-firstcafé on Court Square, owned by John E. Hunt.
century amenities, it still retains its nineteenthBy 1832, the ambitious Parker bough Hunt's
century charm and history. The lobby,café for $432, and renamed it Parker's
bar-lounges, and restaurant are still armored withRestaurant. A combination of excellent food and
the dark wood hues, the elevators are freshlyservice won over a regular clientele of
burnished bronze, while the walls are vintagebusinessmen, lawyers, and newspapermen. By
American oak. When walking to my room I had1854 he embarked on a grander enterprise.
to stop and view the numerous paintings on theHis plan was to build a new, first class hotel and
hallways, a living museum, indeed. Crystalrestaurant at the School Street base of Beacon
chandeliers glow in the lobby as a bus group wasHill, just down the road from the domed
checking out. The lobby is a vibrant livingMassachusetts State House. Parker purchased the
landmark, more like a private clubroom, withformer Mico Mansion and razed the decrepit
many more exquisite paintings surrounding theboarding house. In its place, Parker built an ornate,
museum goers—I mean guests.five story, Italianate-style stone and brick hotel,
The corner of Tremont and School is as old asfaced with gleaming white marble. The first and
Boston itself. In 1630, Englishman John Winthropsecond floors featured arched windows, while
and the Puritans of the Massachusetts Baymarble steps led from the sidewalk to the marble
Colony first settled in the area, naming thefoyer within. Once inside, thick carpets and
peninsula Trimount, after the three hills—Beacon,fashionable horsehair divans completed an air of
Premberton, and Mount Vernon—dominating theelegance. Above the front door, an engraved sign
landscape. The name was changed to Boston toread simply, "Parker's." Even visiting British author
honor the Lincolnshire town that many of theCharles Dickens marveled at the splendor of
pilgrims had departed,. After the three mountainsBoston's finest new hotel.
were leveled Tremont Street was laid out at the