Memorial Hall Study Report

The Boston Landmarks Commission has posted a study report on the proposed designation of Memorial Hall in Charlestown as a Landmark under Chapter 772 of the Acts of 1975, as amended.

Memorial Hall bears historic significance as an eighteenth-century mansion and later as a meeting hall that has been in continuous use by the residents of Charlestown since the 1880s. Constructed in 1791, the building initially served as a residence for several prominent Boston families, including that of the politician Samuel Dexter who served as Secretary of War and of the Treasury under President John Adams. In 1888, the building underwent an extensive rehabilitation that transformed it into the home of the Abraham Lincoln Post 11 of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), an organization founded by Civil War veterans. Memorial Hall has remained in use as a veterans’ hall continuously for over 130 years.

Memorial Hall is architecturally significant both for its original eighteenth-century architecture and as an example of nineteenth-century adaptive reuse. The building began as a double pile, two-story residence built in 1791; then, in 1888, a thorough rehabilitation added a two-story extension on its southeast elevation, updated its floor plan and finishes, and raised the roof to create space for a second-floor meeting hall. Today, the building clearly conveys both its original Federal style architecture and Second Empire style modifications, creating an architectural hybrid that is unique in Charlestown.

If designated, the Standards and Criteria in the study report will serve as guidelines for the Commission’s review of proposed changes to the property, with the goal of protecting the historic integrity of the landmark and its setting.

Read the Memorial Hall study report

There are two ways to provide feedback on this potential Landmark designation:

Written feedback can be provided until April 13, 2026, by visiting this link: feedback form.
The study report will be discussed at a public hearing of the Boston Landmarks Commission on April 14, 2026. Members of the public are invited to attend this hearing and provide comments there as well. Please look for the hearing notice in the public notices section of our website. Hearing notices are posted no later than ten days in advance of the hearing.