3744 x 5616 px | 31,7 x 47,5 cm | 12,5 x 18,7 inches | 300dpi
Date de la prise de vue:
2 juillet 2013
Lieu:
Intersection of Washington and State Streets, Boston, Mass.
Informations supplémentaires:
The Old State House is a historic building in Boston, at the intersection of Washington and State Streets. Built in 1713, it was the seat of the Massachusetts legislature until 1798. One of the landmarks on Boston's Freedom Trail, it is the oldest surviving public building in Boston, and acts as a history museum operated by the Bostonian Society. The Massachusetts Town House: seat of colony government 1713–1776. Today's brick Old State House was built in 1712–13, possibly designed by Robert Twelves; the previous building, the wooden Town House of 1657, had burned in the fire of 1711. A notable feature was the pair of seven-foot tall wooden figures depicting a lion and unicorn, symbols of the British monarchy. The building housed a Merchant's Exchange on the first floor and warehouses in the basement. On the second floor, the east side contained the Council Chamber of the Royal Governor while the west end of the second floor contained chambers for the Courts of Suffolk County and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. The central portion contained the chambers for the elected Massachusetts Assembly. This chamber is notable for including public galleries, the first known example of such a feature being included in a chamber for elected officials in the English-speaking world. The interior was rebuilt in 1748, after a fire in 1747 (the brick walls of the 1712–13 building survived the fire). In 1761, James Otis argued against the Writs of Assistance in the Royal Council Chamber. Though he lost the case, Otis influenced public opinion in a way that contributed to the American Revolution; John Adams later wrote of that speech, "Then and there... the child independence was born." This engraving by Paul Revere, portraying the Boston Massacre with a patriot's bias, shows the Old State House sitting prominently behind the action. On March 5, 1770, On March 5, 1770, The Boston Massacre occurred in front of the building on Devonshire Street.
