I posted my very first weather vane on 24 August 2011. It was the gilded centaur seen at Mack's Apples in Londonderry, New Hampshire. I never thought I'd still be posting weather vane photos two years later, but this is the 110th photo on my blog.
Weathervane Wednesday is an on-going series of photographs I post weekly, usually of weather vanes in the Nutfield, New Hampshire area, but sometimes they can be from anywhere. Occasionally they are elsewhere in New England, or very historical weather vanes from anywhere else. Sometimes my weather vanes are whimsical, but all are interesting. Often, my readers tip me off to some very unique and unusual weather vanes, too! Today's weather vane is from Boston, Massachusetts.
Do you know the location of weather vane #110? Scroll down to the bottom to see the answer!
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Today's weather vane is from the top of the steeple at the Old North Church in Boston. This is the church, and the famous steeple where the signal lights were hung for Paul Revere on the evening of 18 April 1775, when he set out on his famous ride to raise the alarm that "The Redcoats were coming!" This church is very difficult to photograph from the narrow streets. Below you can see church steeple photographed from the 33rd floor of 60 State Street, Boston (the old "Bay Tower Room" restaurant).
This weather vane is a six foot swallow tailed banner, made in 1740 by my relative Shem Drowne. Shem's father, Leonard Drown, married my 7th great grandmother, Mary Abbott, as her third husband. Only four surviving weather vanes can be attributed to tinsmith Shem Drowne. You can read more about Shem Drowne, our genealogy, and his most famous weather vane, the Faneuil Hall grasshopper, at this link:
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/06/weathervane-wednesday-genealogical.html
The Old North Church website http://oldnorth.com/site/
Click here to see the entire collection of Weathervane Wednesday posts!
UPDATE: 1:22pm 20 August 2013
An email from reader Bill Olsen of Plymouth, Massachusetts
"August 25, 1954 High winds destroyed the spire of the Old North Church in Boston, which was the location of where the lanterns were hung during Paul Revere's ride. It was a replacement spire, after a hurricane in 1804 destroyed the original."
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Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo
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