Omni Parker House

The Omni Parker House features a tan brick facade that stretches along School Street, marked by the steady rhythm of white-framed windows. Harvey Parker opened his hotel here in eighteen fifty-six, and it became the birthplace of the Boston cream pie. The hotel’s chefs perfected the recipe in their basement kitchen, combining yellow butter cake, custard, and chocolate frosting. Charles Dickens stayed here for months during his eighteen sixty-seven American reading tour, often testing the staff by requesting private performances of his stories.