Parker House (first) opens.

Architect: William Washburn. An outgrowth of Parker’s Restaurant, it is designed in the Italianate style, operated by Harvey Parker, and is located at 60 School Street.  The oldest hotel the U.S. in continued operation, it becomes home to the Saturday Club, and pioneers the European Plan/a la carte menu in Boston, in which diners only paid for the dishes they ordered. Its dining room is considered one of the city’ leading restaurants, and becomes known for Boston Cream Pie and Parker House Rolls. Guests include Sarah Bernhardt, Edwin and John Wilkes Booth, Charles Dickens, and every president from Grant to Obama. Employees include pastry chef Ho Chi Minh and busboy Malcolm X. The hotel is expanded in 1860 and 1866, in 1886 by Gridley Bryant, and in 1897.* Most of the complex is replaced by the current building (second) in 1927.* The hotel is purchased by the J.R. Whipple Corp. in 1925, by the Dunfey family in 1968, and by TRT Holdings in 1996. It closes temporarily due to the coronavirus outbreak on March 26, 2020, and then reopens.