Welcome to Boston's Old City Hall

Welcome to Boston's Old City Hall (HM1G9N)

Location: Boston, MA 02108 Suffolk County
Buy Massachusetts State flags at Flagstore.com!
Country: United States of America
Buy United States of America flags at Flagstore.com!

N 42° 21.471', W 71° 3.585'

  • 0 likes
  • 0 check ins
  • 0 favorites
  • 613 views
Inscription

This building served as Boston's City Hall from 1865 until 1969, when it was renovated for use as an office building.

Boston's Old City Hall is one of the first examples of adaptive reuse. In the 1960's the concept of recycling out-dated public buildings was untried. The successful conversion (1969-1971) of Boston's City Hall into a restaurant and first class office building heralded the beginning of this new concept. It was widely publicized by the American Institute of Architects and became a model of successful redevelopment for underutilized municipal property. Old City hall became a role model, stimulating the reuse of landmark buildings across the United States in the 1970'sand 1980's, and this pioneer rehabilitation continues to win recognition.

1862 Cornerstone December 22, 1862 Architects: Gridley J. F. Bryant and Arthur Gilman
1970 National Historic Landmark
1973 Award for Preservation, Boston Society of Architects
1976 Honor Award, American Institute of Architects
1990 National Preservation Honor Award, National Trust for Historic Preservation
1994 Boston Preservation Alliance Creative Exterior Lighting Design

Points of interest are:
? the granite exterior in the French Second Empire style characterized by ornamented columns, the mansard roof, and the projecting center bay
? The massive front doors, unusual in the use of different wood as well as the inlay of the marble circle in each door
? The murals at the building entrances on School Street and Court Square illustrating the history of both the building and the site
? The marble plaque in the first floor lobby commemorating the laying of the cornerstone in 1862 by Mayor J.M. wightman and the dedication of the building in 1865 by Mayor F.W. Lincoln, Jr.
? The courtyard statues of Benjamin Franklin and Josiah Quincy (Note that Franklin is dressed in attire appropriate to his day while Quincy is draped in classical Greek attire. Franklin was the first portrait statue in the United States depicting the subject as he would actually appear rather than draped in classical heroic attire)
? The hopscotch in the School Street sidewalk recognizing this as the site of the first public school (1635), Boston Latin School

The site itself is significant in the history of the nation. The Boston Latin School (1635), the nation's first public school and the oldest educational institution in the country, stood here. Some notable figures in history who attended this school include: Cotton Mather, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock and Samuel Adams.

In 1810, the Suffolk County Courthouse, designed by renowned architect Charles Bulfinch, was erected here. Remodeled by Gridley J.F. Bryant, it served as City Hall from 1841 until the government body outgrew the space in 1862. At that time it was demolished. The basement of the Bulfinch building was retained for use as the foundation of the existing structure and the granite blocks were reused in the new exterior walls of the rear (Court Square) and east side (City Hall Avenue).
By 1912, the city administration was again cramped for space. An annex was added at the rear of the building (now the Boston School Department building). Despite the additional space, an new city hall was needed and built in 1969. At that time, rather than demolish this structure, the City of Boston leased it to the Architectural Heritage Foundation, who rehabilitated it for use as an office building. Thus it remains today.

In its 104 years of use as the seat of city government, 27 mayoral administrations have guided the City of Boston from the chambers in this Old City Hall.

Details
HM NumberHM1G9N
Series This marker is part of the National Historic Landmarks series
Tags
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Saturday, October 4th, 2014 at 5:31pm PDT -07:00
Pictures
Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.
Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)19T E 330372 N 4691563
Decimal Degrees42.35785000, -71.05975000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 42° 21.471', W 71° 3.585'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds42° 21' 28.26" N, 71° 3' 35.1" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)617, 781, 508, 857
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 47-99 School Street, Boston MA 02108, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.

Check Ins  check in   |    all

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.

Comments 0 comments

Maintenance Issues
  1. What historical period does the marker represent?
  2. What historical place does the marker represent?
  3. What type of marker is it?
  4. What class is the marker?
  5. What style is the marker?
  6. Does the marker have a number?
  7. What year was the marker erected?
  8. Who or what organization placed the marker?
  9. This marker needs at least one picture.
  10. Can this marker be seen from the road?
  11. Is the marker in the median?