By Kristi Palma

Copyright boston

A tour at Boston’s Old North Church has a new, spooky element this season.

It’s called the Cursed Brick — and for good reason.

In March, officials received an unmarked package containing a stolen brick from the famous church’s historic crypt, said Emily Spence, director of education at Old North Illuminated.

The mysterious package arrived with the following typed note:

My husband took this from the crypt. We have had a string of bad luck and we want to return the brick.

“We’re not sure what kind of bad luck they had but we decided the right thing to do is return the brick to the crypt and give it a lot of respect down there,” Spence said. “So it has its own pedestal and box that it sits in on display.”

Built in 1723, Old North Church on the Freedom Trail in the North End is Boston’s oldest surviving church and famous for the role it played in Paul Revere’s midnight ride on April 18, 1775 (it was the site of the “One if by land, and two if by sea” plan).

The package was postmarked from California and that’s all officials know about the person who stole the brick, Spence said. Officials don’t know when the brick was stolen or how. In fact, they didn’t even know the brick was missing at all, she said.

“We were sort of mystified,” Spence said. “We had all these questions about, ‘Is the crypt haunted?’ But what a great story about the crypt. We were like, ‘Is it true? Is it not true?’”

About 150,000 guests visit the church annually. Visitors can choose from several self-guided tours of the church, including exploring its dimly-lit and narrow underground crypt where about 1,100 people are buried, including famous figures from the Revolutionary War such as Captain Samuel Nicholson and Major John Pitcairn.

In June, officials added the “Cursed Brick” back to the crypt, which is now featured in the guided After-Hours Crypt Tour that takes place annually during September and October.

“It was too great a story not to share,” said Spence, noting that guests often ask if there are any supernatural stories from the crypt so this “whet that appetite.”

Adding to the intrigue, something strange happened when the brick was installed in June: the lights went out — twice, Spence said.

Officials called in an electrician to fix the problem, she said, but the timing of the power outage was uncanny.

“It was not something that I had had happen in my years here at Old North and it certainly kind of felt like a bit of a message from the Cursed Brick,” Spence said.

Officials have implored the sender of the brick to come forward, writing “All is forgiven. We just want to know the truth” about the brick, but to no avail.

“I believe that the people who took the brick really suffered some bad luck and I get a sense of a real fear too,” Spence said.

The crypt houses 37 brick tombs, some sealed with slate or wooden doors. During the 45-minute tour, guests learn why the church has a crypt, how crypt burials worked, who is buried in the crypt, and the restoration of the crypt that took place in 2023, Spence said.

Before the restoration, there was a lot more loose debris in the crypt, so Spence wonders if the brick was taken before the restoration.

“There weren’t any obvious holes in the tomb so its not clear where they took it and how they snuck it out,” she said.

However, visitors this season will do well to keep this in mind, Spence said: “Purchase your souvenirs and do not take them from the crypt because the crypt has feelings about it.”

Old North Church, 193 Salem St., Boston; After-Hours Crypt Tour runs Sept. 18 to Nov. 1; admission is $20; tours take place Thursday through Saturday at 5:30 and 6:15 p.m. and extend to nightly beginning Oct. 16. The tours are capped at 20 people and are not wheelchair or stroller accessible. Guests can reserve their spot here.