Steaming Kettle

Boston


The steaming kettle on Sears Crescent has been a Boston landmark since 1873, when it was hung over the door of the Oriental Tea Co at 57 Court St. The teashop held a contest to determine how much tea the giant kettle might hold. The answer – awarded with a chest of premium tea – was 227 gallons, two quarts, one pint and three gills.

The tea kettle was relocated to its current location on the western tip of the Sears Crescent building in 1967, when ‘urban renewal’ swept this neighborhood. Tea drinkers are grateful that this icon of old Boston was saved, although many are miffed that it now marks the spot of a Starbucks.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Boston attractions

1. City Hall Plaza

0.08 MILES

City Hall Plaza is a cold, windy, 56-acre concrete plaza, surrounded by government office buildings. Occupying the site of the former Scollay Sq, the…

2. John Adams Courthouse

0.1 MILES

Peek inside the impressive courthouse on Pemberton Sq, which is home of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (the oldest appellate court in the…

3. Old City Hall

0.1 MILES

This monumental French Second Empire building occupies a historic spot. Out front, a plaque commemorates the site of the country's first public school,…

4. King's Chapel & Burying Ground

0.1 MILES

Puritan Bostonians were not pleased when the original Anglican church was erected on this site in 1688. The granite chapel standing today – built in 1754 …

5. Old State House

0.11 MILES

Dating from 1713, the Old State House is Boston’s oldest surviving public building, where the Massachusetts Assembly used to debate the issues of the day…

6. Boston Massacre Site

0.12 MILES

Directly in front of the Old State House, encircled by cobblestones, a bronze plaque marks the spot where the first blood was shed for the American…

7. Old Corner Bookstore

0.14 MILES

In the 19th century, this historic house was leased to a bookseller, Carter & Hendlee. This was the first of nine bookstores and publishing companies that…

8. New England Holocaust Memorial

0.17 MILES

Constructed in 1995, the six luminescent glass columns of the New England Holocaust Memorial are engraved with six million numbers, representing those…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "usa/boston/downtown-and-waterfront/attractions/steaming-kettle/a/poi-sig/1204325/1320287",
      "destination": "Boston",
      "continent": "North-America",
      "country": "USA",
      "region": "Massachusetts",
      "city": "Boston",
      "position": "superzone"
    }