1814 Exchange Coffee House on Congress Street Boston detail of map by Hales BPL 12926

The Exchange Coffee House (1809-1818) was a hotel,

coffeehouse A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

, and place of business in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, in the early 19th century. Designed by architect Asher Benjamin, it was located at Congress Square on Congress Street, and in its day it was the largest building in Boston and one of the tallest buildings in the northeastern United States. Andrew Dexter Jr. financed the project. Dexter resorted to financial fraud to see the construction to completion, and fled to

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

to escape prosecution and his creditors. The completed building passed to a succession of owners, who attempted to run it profitably, including Gilbert & Dean. The Exchange Coffee House burned down in November 1818. Its owners and financial backers lost most of their investment, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars.(18 November 1818)
From the Boston Daily Advertiser
'' Adams Centinel''

Events

* 1809 - Fencing demonstration by Tromelle & Girard. * 1810 ** June 26: Two notable Boston musicians of the time, François Mallet and Gottlieb Graupner, presented a concert at the Exchange Coffee House featuring “all the Musicians of the town.” ** December: Mr. Rannie, ventriloquist. * 1815 - Exhibit of the "panorama of the Battle of Leipsic." * 1817 - Sculpture exhibit assembled by "Petre Alessandri, sculptor, lately arrived from Italy." * 1818 ** February 27: A group of the Boston Associates (including

Patrick Tracy Jackson Patrick Tracy Jackson (August 14, 1780 – September 12, 1847) was an American manufacturer, one of the founders of the Boston Manufacturing Company of Waltham, Massachusetts, and later a founder of the Merrimack Manufacturing Company, whose d ...

and Daniel Pinckney Parker) met at the Exchange Coffee House to discuss organizing the Suffolk Bank, a clearinghouse bank which had been granted its

corporate charter In corporate governance, a company's articles of association (AoA, called articles of incorporation in some jurisdictions) is a document that, along with the memorandum of association (where applicable), forms the company's constitution. The ...

by the 38th Massachusetts General Court on February 10. The bank's directors continued meeting periodically at the Coffee House until March 19, when they began renting offices on State Street.

Events

References

Further reading