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The incident began with local boys taunting a British sentry on a cold March night. Mobs of laborers, sailors, and others of "the lower sort" joined into the confrontation. A detachment of seven soldiers under command of a Captain eventually emerged on the scene to rescue the beleaguered sentry. When they crossed the square to reach him, the crowd formed around them and the captain had the men draw into a small perimeter, muskets loaded. The Old State House is today a popular tourist destination and still operated as a museum by a group called Revolutionary Spaces.
Other Revolutionary War Sites
In July of 1776, the Declaration of Independence was reading to the city from the second story balcony. A lion and unicorn (symbols of Royal authority) that graced the edifice of the building were torn down and burned by the patriots. Operated by Revolutionary Spaces, Old State House served as the seat of colonial and state governments of Massachusetts. Visitors can learn more about early colonial and revolutionary history and enter rooms where history happened.
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The second floor housed the Royal Governor’s Council Chamber, Representatives’ Hall, and the Supreme Judicial Court. The assembly that met in Representatives’ Hall was one of the most democratic bodies in the colonial world, and featured the first public gallery in the Western world, where citizens could observe the government in action. Constructed in 1713, the Old State House (known as the “Town House” until the Revolution) was the center of royal government in Massachusetts Bay Colony and the focal point for many of the Revolution’s most dramatic events. The Boston Massacre unfolded in its shadow on March 5, 1770, and eyewitness accounts were collected inside in the subsequent days. The Declaration of Independence was read for the first time in Boston from the balcony of the Old State House on July 18, 1776.
History
In 1830, Isaiah Rogers alters the building's interior in a Greek Revival style, most notably adding the spiral staircase that remains today. The election of John Hancock as the first governor of the new state of Massachusetts is announced from the balcony. Today, standing amid the skyscrapers of downtown Boston, the Old State House tells the story of Boston’s role in the American Revolution and its connection to the American struggle to create and sustain a free society. Operated by Revolutionary Spaces and owned by the City of Boston, the Old State House is a designated a National Historic Landmark, a Boston Landmark, and a site within the Boston National Historical Park on the Freedom Trail. Discover a host of historical sites linked to the American Revolutionary War, from the Freedom Trail to Yorktown Battlefield and more. If travelling via public transport, the nearest stations to Old State House are State Street (Orange/Blue Line), Government Center (Green Line) and Downtown Crossing (Red Line).
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The Old State House was originally completed in 1713 and served the multiple functions of being a merchant’s hall and the seat of the colonial government. However, a fire in 1747 meant that it had to be rebuilt to a great extent in 1748 and further restoration and changes were made to the Old State House in 1830. In the cacophony of taunts, screams, and church bells ringing, one of the soldiers was struck. Most of the other soldiers opened fired in response, thinking an order had been given. The captain never gave an order, but as the balls flew through the street, men fell dead and wounded. The first bloodshed of the Revolution fell on to the ice and snow in front of the Old State House.
Cardomania - Boston National Historical Park (U.S - National Park Service
Cardomania - Boston National Historical Park (U.S.
Posted: Tue, 27 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Don't forget to sit in the Royal Governor's chair inside the newly restored King's Council Chamber and experience what it was like to be the most powerful person in Colonial America. Both Otis and Adams, as well as Adams' cousin Samuel and merchant John Hancock, served as representatives in the Massachusetts provincial legislature. Samuel Adams and James Otis proved to be among some of the most notorious members, arguing for measures which increasingly created friction with the royal governor and his supporters. Dive into the history of the events that took place within and outside this building's wall by visiting the Old State House, stewarded by Revolutionary Spaces. The next stop on Freedom Trail is the site of the Boston Massacre, 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.
Built in 1713, this historic landmark served as the seat of colonial and state governments as well as a merchants’ exchange. After 1798 and the completion of the current Massachusetts State House, the Old State House housed commercial space and offices, at one point housed City Hall, and today a museum to Boston's history. The second floor served as the seat of colonial and later state government throughout the 1700s. The royal governor, appointed by the King of Great Britain, held his office in the building until 1775, and from the balcony he gave voice to the King 3,000 miles removed from London. The governor's stature as surrogate for the crown was underscored by his elevated position upon the balcony which overlooked King Street.
Old State House history
The Old State House in Boston played an important role in the American Revolution and is now one of the sites included in the Freedom Trail, a tourist trail made up of sixteen sites relating to the American Revolution against the British. After the American Revolution, the building served as the seat of the Massachusetts state government until 1798, when it moved to the Massachusetts State House.
The Bostonian Society and the museum 1881–2019
The Boston Antiquarian Club reorganizes as the Bostonian Society and creates a museum of Boston’s history inside the Old State House. Recreations of the former lion and unicorn statues are reinstalled on the building. The Old State House was also part of the Boston Massacre of 1770, as attested to by a plaque beneath its balcony which indicates that this was the location where British soldiers fired into a group of Bostonians. This balcony was the scene of happier times on 18 July 1776, when Colonel Thomas Crafts read out the Declaration of Independence to the public for the first time. A cobblestone circle beneath the Old State House balcony marks the site of the 1770 Boston Massacre.
Upon the right and left of the balcony, a lion and unicorn—royal symbols of the King of Great Britain—graced the main façade facing the public square. From this balcony, Bostonians listened to royal proclamations, but here they also heard for the first time the Declaration of Independence, which announced the birth of a new nation. The state government continued to use Old State House until 1798 when they moved to the New State House on Beacon Hill (where the Massachusetts government still meets to this day).
As important as what occurred inside the State House was what happened just outside its doors. It was in front of the Old State House where the Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770. Today a small ring of stones sits close to the location where eight British soldiers opened fire into a mob of colonists, killing five and wounding six. The event was important in garnering public support against British soldiers stationed in Boston. Following the event, patriot Paul Revere made an engraving a famous engraving of the event and situated prominently in the background of the image was the Old State House.
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