‘Tea party’ pilgrims are at sea, for now

History buffs visiting Massachusetts this Fourth of July weekend may note that something is missing in Boston.

Paul Revere’s house still stands. Boston Common and the Freedom Trail — a walking tour of historic sites — are there too. But the estimated 2.5 million people headed to the area this weekend will not see a museum commemorating the Boston Tea Party.

In December 1773, patriots dressed as Mohawk Indians first converged on a meetinghouse (also accessible today) and then headed to Griffin’s Wharf and three tea ships. The protesters quietly boarded the vessels and dumped 342 chests of East India Co. tea into the harbor to protest taxation without representation.

The event helped spark the American Revolution and led to the Declaration of Independence. Lately, the namesake has become political chatter for the nation, as the “tea party” movement has gained steam through protests and tax day demonstrations across the country.

So it’s somewhat ironic that in one of America’s most historic cities, there’s scant evidence of the event — just a commemorative plaque overlooking the Fort Point Channel.

“There isn’t anything there,” said Robert Allison, chairman of the history department at Boston’s Suffolk University. “The original site is somewhat ambiguous.”

Bostonians waited 200 years for a Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum, which opened in 1973. The city officially recognized the museum site as the place to commemorate the Boston Tea Party. Visitors could board a working replica of one of the three original ships (the Dartmouth, the Eleanor and the Beaver) to help “dump the tea,” all while wearing a feather, American Indian-style (if inclined).

But in 2001, lightning struck the red wooden building, and the resulting fire left it closed to the public. The museum was scheduled to be repaired, remodeled and reopened by 2006.

That plan was riddled with delays, and in 2007, the closed museum was ignited by a spark from nearby construction and burned down, said Shawn Ford, vice president of international and domestic sales for Historic Tours of America Inc., which owns the site.

The new museum is scheduled to open next summer. It will feature three ship replicas, double the floor space and a tea room that can be rented for parties and events.

“I think it’s been a long-noticeable vacancy on the Boston Harbor,” Ford said.

Ford, the head of the museum project, said he’s concerned with how other historical attractions in town will compete once the building is open. “You have a built-in brand-name recognition,” he said.

It’s a brand that’s certainly gained attention over the last year.

In April, when Sarah Palin visited Boston for a tea party rally, Ford received a call from her handlers inquiring about the original tea party — Palin was visiting for tax day, after all. Ford had to tell them that, no, there was nothing to see.

The event headlined by Palin was held at Boston Common.

“It’s been disappointing to turn so many people away,” Ford said. “A lot of people come to Boston not knowing it’s not there anymore.”

Both of the city’s visitors bureaus frequently receive inquiries about the tea party site, said Pat Moscaritolo, chief executive of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“Yes,” Moscaritolo said, “we do get lots of questions and lots of looks and people pointing at the map.”

For now, the bureau directs tourists to the Old South Meeting House, where the protesting colonials congregated before dumping the tea.

“That’s where they met beforehand,” Moscaritolo said. “That’s where they plotted and planned.”

nicole.santacruz@latimes.com