The Tremont House was built in 1828, and opened October 1, 1829. It was owned by William H. Eliot, brother of the mayor of Boston 1837-1840. It was the prototype of the large caravanseries which dot the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Its first landlord was Dwight Boyden, who retired from its management in 1836 to assume that of the Astor House, which was opened May 1 in that year. It was the stopping-place of Webster on his way from Marshfield to Washington. It sheltered President Jackson upon his visit to Boston in 1833, a decade later President Tyler, and President Johnson in 1867. It was the temporary abode of Charles Dickens upon his first visit to America in 1842. Under its roof the Ashburton treaty, defining the north-eastern boundary between the United States and Great Britain, was negotiated by Lord Ashburton on behalf of the mother country, Abbott Lawrence on the part of Massachusetts, and Edward Kent on the part of Maine. Some of the most renowned men in the world have fed at its tables and slept under its roof. It still lives in its pristine vigor, and will not yield the palm to any hostelry in the world.
The Franklin House was built in 1830, and stood on the west side of Merchants row, between North Market and North streets, opposite the head of Clinton street. It was a favorite resort of Eastern people. Joshua Sears, an eminent merchant on Long wharf, made it his home for several years.
The Shawmut House was built in 1831, and stood on the north side of Hanover street, and its site is now absorbed in the American House. The Scots’ Charitable Society frequently held its meetings there.
Liberty Tree Tavern was built in 1833, and stood on the south-east corner of Washington and Essex streets, upon the identical spot where formerly stood the famous Liberty Tree, which was planted in 1646, and become famous in Stamp Act times, and was cut down by the British in 1775.
The Mount Washington House was built in 1834 by a company of which Hon. John K. Simpson was president, who occupied the “Old Feather Store” on the corner of Faneuil Hall square and North street, built in 1680. The company became bankrupt, and it was sold in 1839 to the Perkins Institute and New England Asylum for the Blind. Its location on Washington Heights admirably adapts it for the benevolent purpose for which it is now used.
The Maverick House was opened on Noddies or Williams Island on the 27th of May, 1835. At the date of its erection the island contained but a score of dwellings, two or three factories, and a half-dozen of mechanics’ shops. Major Jabez W. Barton was its first landlord. It was built of wood, 94 feet long and 85 feet wide, six stories high, and contained more than eighty rooms. In 1838 its width was increased to 160 feet. C.M. Taft became its landlord in 1841. The house, stables, and furniture were sold in 1842 to John W. Fenno for $62,500. The house was taken down in 1845 and