The Old State House, also known as the Old Provincial State House,Old provincial state house; maintenance and preservation - () is a historic building in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, built in 1713. It was the seat of the

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. Th ...

until 1798. It is located at the intersection of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

and

State State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Streets and is one of the oldest public buildings in the United States. It is one of the landmarks on Boston's

Freedom Trail The Freedom Trail is a path through Boston that passes by 16 locations significant to the history of the United States. It winds from Boston Common in downtown Boston, to the Old North Church in the North End and the Bunker Hill Monument i ...

and is the oldest surviving public building in Boston. It now serves as a history museum that was operated by

the Bostonian Society The Bostonian Society was a non-profit organization in Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1881 as a historic preservation group. The Bostonian Society became part of the Revolutionary Spaces organization in 2020. History The Bostonian Society was f ...

through 2019. On January 1, 2020, the Bostonian Society merged with the Old South Association in Boston to form Revolutionary Spaces. The Old State House was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1960 and a

Boston Landmark A Boston Landmark is a designation by the Boston Landmarks Commission for historic buildings and sites throughout the city of Boston based on the grounds that it has historical, social, cultural, architectural or aesthetic significance to New Engla ...

by the

Boston Landmarks Commission The Boston Landmarks Commission (BLC) is the historic preservation agency for the City of Boston. The commission was created by state legislation in 1975. History Urban renewal in the United States started with the Housing Act of 1949, part of Pres ...

in 1994.

History

The Massachusetts Town House: seat of colony government 1713–1776

The previous building was the wooden

Town House A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residen ...

of 1657 which burned in the fire of 1711.Walter Muir Whitehill. ''Boston: A Topographical History''. Today's brick Old State House was built in 1712–1713, and possibly designed by Robert Twelves. Some historians credit

Thomas Dawes Thomas Dawes (August 5, 1731 – January 2, 1809) was a patriot who served as a Massachusetts militia colonel during the American Revolution and afterward assumed prominent positions in Massachusetts's government. His positions included members ...

with being the architect, but he was of a later generation. His contributions probably came in about 1772, after a four-year period of the General Assembly having to meet in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

due to British use of the building as a military barracks, which resulted in considerable damage. A notable feature is the pair of seven-foot tall wooden figures depicting a lion and unicorn, symbols of the British monarchy. A Royal Coat of Arms was removed from Council Chambers during the Revolution by Loyalists fleeing Boston; it has been at Trinity Anglican Church in

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John () is a port#seaport, seaport city located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It is Canada's oldest Municipal corporation, incorporated city, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign ...

since 1791. The coat of arms is now in the nave having survived the fire at Trinity in 1877. The building housed a Merchant's Exchange on the first floor and warehouses in the basement. The east side of the second floor contained the Council Chamber of the Royal Governor, while the west end contained chambers for the Courts of Suffolk County and the

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the distinction of being the oldest continuously fu ...

. The central portion contained the chambers for the

. This chamber is notable for including public galleries, the first example of such being included in a chamber for elected officials. The interior was rebuilt in 1748, after a fire in 1747; the exterior brick walls survived the fire.

NIST The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical s ...

researchers have also researched the effects of the Cape Ann earthquake of 1755 on the building's foundation and walls, given the age of the structure. In 1755, Spencer Phips, Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, signed a Proclamation at the Old State House calling on all settlers to hunt and murder

Penobscot The Penobscot (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewi'') are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic p ...

men and women in exchange for pay and land. The Proclamation was one of more than 100 government-issued scalp bounties issued in the United States between 1675 and 1885. In 2021, Penobscot Nation leaders and their children visited the Old State House to read the proclamation out loud. In 1761, James Otis argued against the

Writs of Assistance In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrant (legal), Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, and ''certiorari'' are commo ...

in the Royal Council Chamber. He lost the case, but he influenced public opinion in a way that contributed to the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. John Adams later wrote of that speech, "Then and there ... the child independence was born." Boston Massacre high-res

On March 5, 1770, the

Boston Massacre The Boston Massacre, known in Great Britain as the Incident on King Street, was a confrontation, on March 5, 1770, during the American Revolution in Boston in what was then the colonial-era Province of Massachusetts Bay. In the confrontati ...

occurred near the front of the building on Devonshire Street. Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson stood on the building's balcony to speak to the people, ordering the crowd to return to their homes.

The Massachusetts State House: seat of state government 1776–1798

On July 18, 1776, Colonel Thomas Crafts read the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

from the east side balcony to jubilant crowds. At one o'clock, he rose in the Council Chamber and read it to the members.Sinclair and Catherine F. Hitchings. ''Theatre of Liberty: Boston's Old State House''. Sheriff William Greenleaf attempted to read it from the balcony, but he could only muster a whisper. Crafts then stood next to the sheriff and read it from the balcony in a stentorian tone. For most people, it was a festive occasion, as about two-thirds of Boston residents supported independence. The lion and the unicorn on top of the building were removed and burned in a bonfire on King Street. After the

, the building served as the seat of the Massachusetts state government until 1798, when it moved to the

Massachusetts State House The Massachusetts State House, also known as the Massachusetts Statehouse or the New State House, is the List of state capitols in the United States, state capitol and seat of government for the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, lo ...

Boston hall

From 1830 to 1841, the building was Boston's city hall. The city's offices had been in the County Court House. In 1830, Isaiah Rogers altered the building's interior in a Greek Revival style, most notably adding the spiral staircase that remains today. The building was damaged by fire in 1832. City Hall shared the building with the Boston Post Office and several private businesses. On October 21, 1835, Mayor Theodore Lyman, Jr. gave temporary refuge to

William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was an Abolitionism in the United States, American abolitionist, journalist, and reformism (historical), social reformer. He is best known for his widely read anti-slavery newspaper ''The ...

, the editor of the abolitionist paper ''The Liberator'', who was being chased by a violent mob. Garrison was kept safe in the Old State House until being driven to the Leverett Street Jail, where he was protected overnight but charged with inciting a riot. In 1841, City Hall moved to the former Suffolk County Courthouse on School Street. USA-The Old State House1

Period of commercial use 1841–1881

After Boston's city hall left, the whole building was rented out for commercial use. This had been the case once before, in the interim between the State House period and the City Hall period. Occupants included tailors, clothing merchants, insurance agents, railroad line offices, and more. As many as fifty businesses used the building at once.

The Bostonian Society and the museum 1881–2019

The Bostonian Society was formed in 1881 to preserve and steward the Old State House, in response to plans for the possible demolition of the building due to real estate potential. In 1881–1882, restorations were conducted by George A. Clough. In 1882, replicas of the lion and unicorn statues were placed atop the East side of the building, after the originals that had been burned in 1776. On the West side, the building sports a statue of an eagle in recognition of the Old State House's connection to American history. Since 1904, the State Street MBTA station has occupied part of the building's basement. The East Boston Tunnel opened in 1904, now called the Blue Line, and the Washington Street Tunnel opened in 1908, now part of the Orange Line. The Boston Marine Museum occupied rooms borrowed from the Bostonian Society from 1909 to 1947.

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

toured the Old State House with her husband on July 11, 1976 as part of her Boston visit to celebrate the bicentenary of the United States of America. She appeared on the historic balcony and delivered an address to a large audience. Old State House - DPLA - 7ce238130b73d7252b32eca60950d7f7

Old State House - DPLA - 7ce238130b73d7252b32eca60950d7f7

The museum today

Today, tall buildings of Boston's financial district surround the Old State House. However, they do not entirely block the view of the building, and it can be seen clearly from a good distance away on the harborfront. The Old State House sits atop the State Street station on the

MBTA The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

and

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

subway lines, and the station can be entered from the basement. The building is available for private events. The museum is open year-round, seven days a week except for some holidays. The next stop on

is the site of the

, located on a busy street in front of the museum and commemorated by a cobblestone ring on the plaza in front of the Old State House. The museum offers an array of programming and exhibitions, some tied to the Boston Massacre.

Recent preservation and restoration and future plans

The Old State House frequently has preservation and restoration projects as a part of the ongoing effort to keep the building in good condition. In 2006, the museum underwent a restoration to repair water-damaged masonry. The damage had long been a problem, but it was aggravated in fall 2005 by

Hurricane Wilma Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin and the second-most intense tropical cyclone in the Western Hemisphere, both based on barometric pressure, after Hurricane Patricia in 2015. Wilma's rapid intensifi ...

. The project was the subject of an episode of

The History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the General Entertainment Content division of The Wa ...

's '' Save Our History''.The Bostonian Society: Preservation projects
Retrieved September 7, 2013 In 2008, the museum's tower was given a major restoration. During the project, the building's 1713 weathervane was re-gilded, which may have been made by Shem Drowne. The windows were repaired and resealed, the balustrades were repaired, and the copper roofing and rotten wood siding were replaced. This was done to prevent structural damage and to protect the museum's collections and the 1831 clock by

Simon Willard Simon Willard (April 3, 1753 – August 30, 1848) was a celebrated American clockmaker. Simon Willard clocks were produced in Massachusetts in the towns of Grafton and Roxbury, near Boston. Among his many innovations and timekeeping improvem ...

below.

Replicas

* Brockton Fairgrounds, Brockton, MA *

Curry College Curry College is a private college in Milton, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded as the School of Elocution and Expression by Anna Baright in 1879. In 1885, it was taken over and renamed by Samuel Silas Curry. History Curry College ...

, Milton, MA; Traditional residence, North Side *

Eastern States Exposition The Big E, formally known as The Eastern States Exposition, is an annual fair in West Springfield, Massachusetts, which opens on the second Friday after Labor Day and runs for seventeen days. It is billed as "New England's Great State Fair," th ...

("The Big E"), West Springfield, MA; Avenue of States sectionMassachusetts State Exposition Building
Mass.Gov * Jamestown, Virginia Expo. of 1907, State buildings section *

Weymouth Civic District The Weymouth Civic District is a historic district encompassing the main civic area in Weymouth, Massachusetts. It is anchored by the 1928 Town Hall, which is a slightly reduced-scale replica of the Old State House in Boston, and the Legion ...

, Weymouth, MA town hall

Gallery

File:1751 CourtHouse Boston byNathanielHurd.png, The "Court House" in 1751 File:1793 StateHouse Boston MassMag.png, Engraving by

Samuel Hill Samuel Hill (13 May 1857 – 26 February 1931), was an American businessman, lawyer, railroad executive, and advocate of good roads. He substantially influenced the Pacific Northwest region's economic development in the early 20th ...

, published in the ''

Massachusetts Magazine The ''Massachusetts Magazine'' was published in Boston, Massachusetts, from 1789 through 1796. Also called the ''Monthly Museum of Knowledge and Rational Entertainment'', it specialized in "poetry, music, biography, history, physics, geography, m ...

'', 1793 File:Old State House and State Street, Boston 1801.jpg, State Street, 1801, by J. Marston File:Brown OldStateHouse BostonDirectory1849.png, Advertisement for Clothing Warehouse in the Old State House, 1849 File:Old State House2.jpg, Old State House, c. 1898 photo. File:2350780231 OldStateHs.jpg, Old State House, 19th century File:Old State House 1.jpg, The tower a year prior to restoration, 2007 File:USA Old State House 2 MA.jpg, The Old State House's spiral staircase File:Old State House subway entrance.JPG, Devonshire Street entrance to State subway station

References

External links

Boston Historical Society - Old State House

Freedom Trail Foundation
(Official website of the Freedom Trail) * City of Boston
Boston Landmarks Commission
https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/Old%20State%20House%20-%20Study%20Report%20Amended%20175.A_tcm3-45870.pdf Old State House Study Report] {{Authority control Government buildings completed in 1713 Government buildings in Boston Landmarks in Financial District, Boston Landmarks in Boston Museums in Boston National Historic Landmarks in Boston

Massachusetts General Court History museums in Massachusetts Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Boston National Historical Park 1713 establishments in the Province of Massachusetts Bay Government Houses of the British Empire and Commonwealth National Register of Historic Places in Boston