Edes & Gill: The Little Print Shop That Helped Ignite a Revolution (1769-1775)

Between 1769 and 1775, Boston was a city simmering toward a boil, and no place captured that volatility more vividly than the modest print shop of Benjamin Edes and John Gill. Tucked into the warren of streets near today’s Faneuil Hall, their printing office was small, unadorned, and easy to overlook, yet it became one of the most influential engines of resistance in the American colonies.

Edes & Gill Print Shop (1769) Artist's Rendition

A Shop at the Center of Turmoil

In 1769, Edes & Gill were already well known for publishing The Boston Gazette, a newspaper that gave voice to a rising chorus of Patriot sentiment. Their shop was not a genteel workspace; it was a hive of ink-stained apprentices, clattering presses, damp sheets of type-set broadsides, and lively political debate. The Gazette was fed directly by the pens of radical contributors such as Samuel Adams, Joseph Warren, and the mysterious “Vindex” and “Populus.” Here, the grievances of ordinary Bostonians became pointed columns, satirical poems, sharply illustrated mastheads, and devastating political essays. Every Monday morning, fresh from their handpresses, the Gazette hit the streets criticizing British policy, celebrating acts of resistance, and shaping the tone of colonial outrage.

1770: Reporting the Massacre

When the Boston Massacre erupted on March 5, 1770, Edes & Gill were among the first to frame the public narrative. Their pages carried eyewitness accounts, editorials, and inflammatory descriptions of “bloody butchery,” giving shape to the collective memory of the event. While Paul Revere’s engraving famously visualized the massacre, the Gazette gave it voice articulating colonial fury and demanding accountability.

Edes & Gill Print Shop on Court Street (1770) Artist's Rendition

Tea, Taxes, and Escalation

Through the early 1770s, Edes & Gill continued to publish essays attacking taxation, standing armies, and ministerial overreach. Their print shop became an unofficial headquarters for Patriot communication. Notices for meetings at Old South, exposés on customs officers, and fiery calls to resist the Tea Act all passed through their press. When the Boston Tea Party unfolded in 1773, Edes was said to have knowledge, if not direct involvement, in the planning. The Gazette’s reporting afterward reflected both patriotic pride and careful protection of the participants’ identities.

Edes & Gill Print Shop (1775) Artist's Rendition

1774–1775: Toward Open Conflict

By 1774, the Coercive Acts tightened the noose around Boston, but Edes & Gill didn’t relent. Their press issued broadsides condemning the closing of the port, circulated resolves from the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, and printed instructions to towns preparing for potential conflict. As tensions peaked in early 1775, the Edes & Gill shop printed the alarm signals, committees’ circulars, and political essays that helped mobilize the countryside. The very week of Lexington and Concord, their work continued—quiet, relentless, essential.

Legacy

Between 1769 and 1775, Edes & Gill’s print shop served as more than a business. It was a crucible of revolutionary thought, a communications hub, and a lifeline for the Patriot movement. The Revolution was fought with muskets and militias, but also with ink, type, and the steady rhythm of a handpress.