The Boston Stone was transported from England to Boston by painter Thomas Childs in 1700. Childs used the stone to ground his pigments at a paint mill until he passed away in 1706. When the mill was demolished in 1836, the stone was embedded in the wall of a new building with a marker reading “1737.” To this day, no one knows why that date was chosen.
According to legend, the stone was used to mark the center of Boston, but the story is likely fictitious. Another theory about the Boston Stone’s importance is that it has no significance and was merely created as a fake tourist trap.
Image: “Boston, Boston Stone, brought from England about 1700” (c. 1895-1905). From the Boston Public Library, Arts Department, Archive of Photographic Documentation of Early Massachusetts Architecture
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