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After closing during the COVID-19 pandemic, Old North Church and Historic Site is re-opening its doors to the 1715 Clough House, one of Boston's oldest surviving brick residences. The former home to the nonproft's colonial chocolate program and rotating gallery space will now house Heritage Goods + Gifts, a new retail shop dedicated to New England artisans and small businesses, as well as a return of the Printing Offce of Edes and Gill, a reproduction 18th century colonial print shop that will interpret the connections between newspapers, the printing business, the American Revolution, active citizenship, and the juxtaposition of liberty and enslavement in the colonial era led by longtime Print Master and Edes and Gill Founder Gary Gregory.
The Clough House is the building on the Unity Street side of Old North Church's campus. It was built on pastureland around 1715 by Ebenezer Clough, who was the master brick mason of the church, to house his family before beginning work on the project. While it was originally constructed as an elegant home, this building has served many purposes over time: a single-family home, a tenement for many families, and a historic site. It has witnessed all the changes in the surrounding North End neighborhood over the past 300 years while it too continues to change to meet the needs of the community. The new retail space will feature New England-made products from BIPOC- and women-owned businesses and highlight the stories behind the makers and their products.
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