Boston ? Henry Wadsworth Longfellow launched an obscure Boston patriot into stardom with his 1860 poem “Paul Revere’s Ride.”

Longfellow exercised some poetic license when he tinkered with the famous “one if by land, two if by sea” ride of April 18, 1775. But the folks at the Paul Revere House, Boston’s oldest home, are happy to set the record straight.

About 230,000 visitors come to 19 North Square in Boston’s North End every year to visit the house. About 90 percent of the original wooden structure remains, dating to 1680.

Several of the Revere family’s belongings remain, from the bar over the hearth to the upholstered chair in the master bedroom, which doubled as a parlor.

A full tour lasts less than an hour, but it doesn’t take long for a deeper picture of the midnight rider to emerge.

Revere asked the Old North Church sexton to hang one lantern if the British were coming by land, and two if by sea, but not to ensure his escape. Revere wanted everyone else to know which way the British were coming, says Andrew J. Alexander, assistant director of the museum.

“And he didn’t ride alone,” Alexander adds.

After Dr. Joseph Warren sent out Revere, an experienced courier and patriot spy, he also sent William Dawes to Lexington to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams that the British were coming to arrest them.

How was Revere remembered and Dawes forgotten?

“Revere wrote about it,” Alexander explains. “And Revere got there first. And it didn’t hurt that Revere was a very well-connected, well-liked man about town.”

Mettle and metal

Revere’s ride is the prototypical heroic tale, which led Longfellow to pluck him from local Boston lore and transform him into a national folk hero. Revere, originally a gold- and silversmith, wasn’t an aristocrat, but his political and business acumen earned the trust of leaders like Hancock and Adams.

Revere didn’t stop after alerting the two leaders in Lexington, his only orders. He voluntarily rode on to Concord, going door to door to call the common patriots to arms.

As dramatic and dangerous as the midnight ride was, Revere’s greatest contribution to the new country was his copper sheeting business, Alexander says. Instead of importing it from England, Revere enabled the United States to purchase American-made copper sheets to bolster the hulls of warships such as the USS Constitution.

“He was the original defense contractor,” Alexander says. “Before long, half the U.S. Navy’s ships used his copper.”

Revere constantly thought of new ways to profit from metal, and began his copper business at 65. He also made brass bells, one of which is on display in the courtyard.

The Revere House rotates his silverworks, known as the best of his time, in a parlor room exhibit. Revere’s copperplate engraved illustrations are also on display. These include The New England Psalm-Singer, one of the first American songbooks.

Preservation pioneer

A great-grandson rescued the creaky, three-story building in 1902 to thwart plans of destruction. A committee that became the Paul Revere Memorial Assn. eventually saved the house.

“In 1905 this was a very new idea,” Alexander said. “There were only a handful of preserved homes then. It was very early to be thinking like this.”

Now, the Revere house is believed to be the oldest home in any major American city, Alexander said.

Christelle Estrada of Salt Lake City said during a recent visit that she admires Revere because he risked his life not only to voice his opinion, but to do something about it. And Revere was prepared to deal with the consequences of his actions, she said.

“You have to decide what you’re going to stand up for, whether you’re a loyalist, a patriot, an anarchist, a Democrat or a Republican,” Estrada said. “The labels don’t really help. You need to be responsible for the decisions you make.”