American school children grow up reciting the Pledge of Allegiance everyday. But do they — or you — know where it was written?
A viral tweet dated Feb. 4, 2023, said it was written in a Boston club. "THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE WAS WRITTEN AT CLUB CAFE," the tweet said. With over 1,500 likes and 150,000 views, people have asked Snopes whether it's true. It is. The club, established in 1983, has been described as "the heart of Boston's LGBT scene."
The tweet features a screenshot of a Facebook post from Only In Boston, a page that often posts about the city's history and culture. The post claimed the Pledge of Allegiance was written and published at 209 Columbus Ave. in Boston. It also said the building, built in 1892, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Even though there are other theories about who wrote the Pledge of Allegiance, Frank Bellamy is most often credited as the writer. He was officially acknowledged for writing the pledge by the U.S. Senate in 2020.
Bellamy published the pledge in Youth's Companion, a magazine he worked at. The building at 209 Columbus Ave. was part of the magazine's headquarters. Bellamy swore in affidavits and investigations into the pledge's origins that he wrote it in his office while facing a deadline for one of the magazine's upcoming issues.
The building is now on the National Register of Historic Places, cited as the place where the pledge was written. Listed as the Youth's Companion Building, the building was registered on May 2, 1974, according to the nomination form for the registry. The nomination form also says the building started to be built in 1890 and was completed in 1892.
The building has since hosted other businesses — including the club mentioned in the viral tweet. Besides Club Cafe, the building also houses a spine and sports injury center and a fitness center. We rate the claim that it is now a nightclub "True."