In 1700 a young Hannah Hull Sewall named a Boston Street in the North End. In honor of her deceased parents, she decided to name the street after her family. Hull Street became Boston’s first street with an official name.
During that time, the streets did not have names because the population wasn’t large enough to warrant a real necessity. But Boston’s selectmen at the time agreed to the name Hull Street and proceeded to provide every street with a proper name by 1708.
The majority of the original names from those 3 centuries ago have changed. However, Hull Street retained its original name all of these years later and is the site of another Boston landmark, the made-out-of-spite “Skinny House.”
Boston’s skinniest house
Rumor has it that this house was built solely to block sunlight of the home behind it due to a dispute between two brothers and their inheritance. The tiny house is just 10 feet wide and 30 feet deep, but tall enough to obscure windows of the inherited home behind it that one of the brothers argued was unfairly distributed.
The Skinny House or the Spite House as it is commonly referred to sits off of the Freedom Trail. Head to Hull Street and across from Copp’s Hill Burying Ground you’ll find the sequestered Skinny House.
Residents of the Skinny House share that it has everything you need in a home, but just much, much smaller. The closet doubles as “the guest room” and bathroom traffic require house party members to form a single file line. Other than that, it’s a cozy home in a prime location.