← Back to Explore
The Hood Milk Bottle is a 40-foot-tall milk-bottle-shaped building outside Boston Children's Museum on Fort Point Channel. Built in Taunton in the 1930s as an ice cream stand, it was moved to Boston by barge on April 20, 1977.
Private to your Passport.
PLAN YOUR VISIT
No recommended arrival yet
We have not checked a recommended place to arrive or stop here yet.
This takes you to the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.
© Stadia Maps © OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap contributors
HP Hood Milk Bottle
This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.
42.35166° N, 71.05020° W
FIELD GUIDE
The story
Boston has a 40-foot milk bottle on its waterfront, and it began as a roadside ice cream stand. It stands outside Boston Children's Museum at 308 Congress Street, beside Fort Point Channel.
According to the museum, Arthur Gagner of Taunton, Massachusetts, built it in 1934 to dispense the homemade ice cream he produced. The date is not settled: The Takeout gives 1933, and Yankee says the early 1930s. The museum puts its weight at 15,000 pounds and says that if it were real it would hold 58,620 gallons of milk. Yankee reports that Gagner sold the stand in 1943 to the Sankey family, who ran it for 24 years. The museum says it stood on Route 44 in Taunton until it was abandoned in 1967.
Add a photo
PRACTICAL
Plan your stop
WHAT TO EXPECT
According to The Takeout (January 2026), it still sells ice cream and seasonal food. The museum's 2022 season release gave daily 11:00am to 5:30pm hours through September, cash only; check current hours and payment before going.
ACCESS
Stands outdoors beside Boston Children's Museum, 308 Congress Street (Children's Wharf), on Fort Point Channel.
COMMUNITY
Visitor Log
WHAT'S NEXT
Find another Big Thing nearby
TRANSPARENCY
Sources & research
Something not right?
If this Big Thing has changed, moved or gone, telling us keeps the guide honest for the next traveller.