The John Coburn House was the home of

John P. Coburn John P. Coburn (1811–1873) was a 19th-century African-American abolitionist, civil rights activist, tailor and clothier from Boston, Massachusetts. For most of his life, he resided at 2 Phillips Street in Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood. Cobur ...

(1811–1873), an African-American abolitionist who aided people on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

. The home is currently a private residence. It is on the Black Heritage Trail and its history is included in walking tours by the

Boston African American National Historic Site The Boston African American National Historic Site, in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts's Beacon Hill neighborhood, interprets 15 pre-Civil War structures relating to the history of Boston's 19th-century African-American community, connected ...

. Between 1843 and 1844, Coburn commissioned architect

Asher Benjamin Asher Benjamin (June 15, 1773July 26, 1845) was an American architect and author whose work transitioned between Federal architecture and the later Greek Revival architecture. His seven handbooks on design deeply influenced the look of cities a ...

to design a house for him at the corner of Phillips and Irving Streets. Coburn lived there with his wife, Emmeline, and their adopted son Wendell.

Black Heritage Trail

The house is a Boston African-American historical site located on the Black Heritage Trail in Beacon Hill. The National Park Services wrote:

The historic buildings along today's Black Heritage Trail^® were the homes, businesses, schools and churches of a thriving black community that organized, from the nation's earliest years, to sustain those who faced local discrimination and national slavery, struggling toward the equality and freedom promised in America's documents of national liberty.

References

External links

Boston African American National Historic Site (NPS)
{{Boston African American community pre-Civil War, state=expanded African-American history in Boston History of Boston Houses in Boston Beacon Hill, Boston African-American abolitionists