:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/56049273/Union_Oyster-10.0.0.jpg)
Union Oyster House (41 Union St., Downtown Boston) — the United States’ oldest continuously operating restaurant — is closed at least on Friday, August 4, following a small fire Thursday night.
Firefighters quickly extinguished it but reportedly had to rip off some of the restaurant’s wood paneling to allow smoke to clear, opting not to break windows due to the building’s historical significance. The damages may amount to only $2,000.
The restaurant announced via Twitter that Friday would be spent doing “clean up and restoration.”
Along with Union Oyster House, several neighboring restaurants were evacuated as a precaution on Thursday night, but no injuries or damage to other restaurants have been reported.
It was a one-alarm fire with around 35 firefighters responding.
Union Oyster House opened in 1826, but the building — the oldest standing brick building in the city — dates back much further. Around 1704, it opened as Hopestill Capen’s, a dress goods business.
