Clough House - Edes & Gill Print Shop

26 Charter St

The Clough House remains one of the oldest surviving brick residences in Boston, built around 1712-1715 by master bricklayer Ebenezer Clough. He built several similar houses on the street including one owned by Benjamin Franklin. Only the Clough house still stands.

The Clough family lived here for 2 generations. In 1806 a third floor was added, and the house became a tenement for immigrants settling in the North End. Records show over 180 families associated with this address over the next 150 years. From 1959 is became part of Old North Church and Historic Site's campus. The Clough House now serves as the home for the printing office of Edes & Gill and the Heritage Goods + Gifts Shop.

Visit the printing office of Edes & Gill, an 18th century colonial print shop, to learn from longtime print master Gary Gregory. Gary demonstrates the colonial printing process and draws connections between newspapers and printing with the American Revolution, active citizenship, liberty, and enslavement in the colonial era. (For examples of colonial printing and how it influenced colonists see Old Corner Bookstore – Paine and Keteltas, Trinity Church – Election Day Sermons, BU School of Theology Clerke and Love)

Heritage Goods + Gifts features local artisans and small businesses. Actors in period attire offer colonial-era chocolate making demonstrations. Most of the shop’s products are New England-made by woman-, BIPOC- and family-owned companies with unique stories. They were carefully selected to evoke the tradition of proud artisanry, craftsmanship, and care that this house represents.

-Source Links-

https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/clough-house.htm

https://www.oldnorth.com/clough-house/