Next time you're in Boston, take a stroll through Boston Common and check out the Massachusetts State House, at the edge of the park, near Beacon Hill. You will probably end up here anyway if you take the #BlackHeritageTrail in Beacon Hill, or take the more popular #FreedomTrail covering all of Boston, and crossing the river to Bunker Hill in Charlestown. You can also see both the Old & New Massachusetts State Houses on the Duck Boat Tour.
The Massachusetts State House was built in the 1790's to serve as the new head of Government, replacing the Old State House on Washington St, built in 1713. Charles Bulfinch was the architect, and modeled it after some of the famous Federal-Style Government buildings in London like the Pantheon & the Somerset House. When Maine separated from Massachusetts in 1820, Bulfinch would imitate the Massachusetts State House when building the Maine State House.
Work began on July 4th, 1795 after Paul Revere, the Grand Master Mason of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, conducted the cornerstone ceremony. We know this because in 2014, a time capsule was found in the cornerstone placed there by Paul Revere & Governor Samuel Adams. The capsule contained newspapers from 1795, a silver plate enrgaved by Paul Revere, a copper metal depicting first president George Washington, and rare coins including a Pine Tree shilling from 1652, the year of Boston's first Mint.
The State House was completed in 1798, at 5 times the original budget, costing $133,333 ($2.8M Today). It is made of mostly red brick, and houses the Governor's Office (West Wing), the Senate Chamber (Under the Dome) and the House of Representatives (An addition off the West Wing). When the State House opened, Massachusetts' own founding father John Adams, was the current US President. Many famous Massachusetts politicians have served here such as Gov. John Hancock, Gov. Samuel Adams, Gov. John Albion Andrew, Gov. Calvin Coolidge, Gov. Michael Dukakis, Sen. John Quincy Adams, Sen. Daniel Webster, Sen. Charles Sumner, and all of the Kennedy's from JFK to RFK to Sen. Ted Kennedy, including Rep. Joe Kennedy II. In recent times, Rep. Joe Kennedy III, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. John Kerry, Gov. Mitt Romney and Gov. Charlie Baker have served the people of Massachusetts from right here.
View of the city of Boston from Dorchester Heights, 1841; State House at top of hill
Stereograph image of the Massachusetts State House c. 1862, before the addition of wings. The copper dome was first painted gray to appear as stone, and then was gilded in 1872.
The dome was originally built from wood, and would leak when it rained. Paul Revere was the first American to roll copper into sheets, and the Revere Copper Company upgraded the dome in 1802. It was painted gray, then yellow, then it was gilded with gold leaf in 1874.
During WW2, the dome was painted gray again to cover the building from bomb threats during blackouts. In 1997, it was re-gilded in 23k Gold at a cost over $300,000!
At the top of the dome is a gilded, wooden pinecone symbolizing the lumber industry in colonial Massachusetts, and it was an early symbol for Maine, which was part of MA when built.
Since 1784, the 'Sacred Cod' has hung over the Massachusetts House of Representatives Chamber. It was a gift from a Boston merchant, to symbolize the importance of fishing to the early Massachusetts Bay colony. It is 4'11" long and carved from wood. It is supposed to be the THIRD Sacred Cod, the first existed prior to 1729 and lost in a fire in 1747, and the second one disappeared during the American Revolution. This Third Sacred Cod was placed in the House Chamber when it would always be safe, and has been since 1798.
The Sacred Cod is a thing in Boston, and it was even on their first license plates in the 1920's. In 1743, in nearby Salem, some wealthy businessman built a Mansion with carved, gilded Codfish on the railing of every staircase, and on display in every hallway.
Not to be outdone, the Massachusetts Senate Chamber has its own Brass symbol of the fishing industry, Holy Mackerel. You can't make this stuff up folks!
The property once belonged to John Hancock, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Massachusetts first Elected Governor & President of Congress in 1776 during the Revolution.
A View across Boston Common, 1768, Hancock Manor: top, next to the Beacon on the Hill
The State House covers 7 acres, and sits at the highest point on Beacon St, which runs West through Beacon Hill to the Back Bay. It was once known as Hancock Manor where John Hancock lived from age 7 until his death, as one of the most wealthiest men in Boston.
Hancock had governed Massachusetts from his Mansion here for 30 years, and Massachusetts honored the tradition by building the new State House on his property in 1795, and the Governor, Senate & House of Representatives remain here 225 years later.
Learn more about John Hancock & the Hancock Manor HERE at I Am A Real American JRKD
The Massachusetts Fallen Firefighters Memorial was dedicated 09/11/2007.
Massachusetts currently has 17,000 active firefighters and honors thousands of deceased and retired firefighters here at the Capital every September 11th.
The Boston Fire Department was created in 1631, to protect the British investments in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in New England. BFD put out ordinances for home construction which banned thatched roofs & wooden chimneys. They debuted the first horse-drawn hand engine to adapt water pressure from the city supply in 1653. It wasn't until 1799 that the first leather firehose was invented. In 1851, BFD became the first fire department to use telegraph to alert volunteers. Some famous fires in Boston include the Great Fire of 1760 which destroyed 349 buildings in the city center, and the Great Fire of 1872 which destroyed 776 buildings, killing 13 people and causing $75M ($1.6B Today) in property damage.
As of 2014, over 870 names were engraved here, each on their own red brick, and placed in a circle surrounding the memorial, labeled the "Ring of Honor". Boston will always remember its first responders who jumped to duty on April 15, 2013 for the Boston Marathon Bombing.
The MLEM Foundation was founded in 1995 to honor fallen policemen in MA over 350 years. Over 400 Fallen Heroes names are engraved on the MLEM. The City of Boston PD is the oldest PD in the US and dates back to 1838, but the first Night Watch in Boston dates back to 1635, 5 years after Boston was founded in 1630. Boston's early night watchmen were armed with 6 foot poles with a Hook on one end, and a blunt end on the other. It was used to beat and capture escaping criminals.
When the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 passed, many free black communities organized all-black Neighborhood Watch groups to protect from slave catchers and patrol black neighborhoods. Pittsburgh, NYC & Detroit developed their own Guards, but Boston was first with the Massassoit Guard, created by Beacon Hill's John P Coburn, Boston's wealthiest black businessman. Beacon Hill's own Gov. John A. Andrew, lived a few blocks away from the State House, and founded the Massachusetts State Police in 1865.
In 1857, 20 years after the founding of BPD, Ezekiel Hodsdon would be the first officer killed in the line of duty, across the Harbor in East Boston. He was apprehending two burglars when they fought back and one shot him in the back of the head. Perhaps the most important event in Boston's history post-1838 was the Boston Marathon Bombings in 2013, which led to the death of BPD Officer Dennis Simmonds, who was hit by a grenade, and Somerville PD Sean A. Collier, shot to death by the bombers, while sitting in his patrol car. MBTA Officer Richard Donohue JR was critically-wounded shooting it out with the bombers, and lost all the blood in his body, his heart stopped for 45 minutes but his life was spared through CPR and he survived to tell his story.
76 names on the Memorial are from Boston PD, 32 are from MA State Police, 6 from Cambridge, and 16 from the Capital of Springfield, MA PD. 30 Sergeants, 5 Captains, 4 Lieutenants, 8 police Chiefs and 1 US Marshal are honored, with the other 350 names marking Officers, Troopers, Patrolmen, Detectives, Inspectors, Corrections Officers, Wardens, Sheriff's Deputies, and Special Agents.
The oldest record of a fallen officer honored here is Charles Lincoln Jr, warden of MA State Penitentiary in Charlestown, MA. He was stabbed in the neck by an insane prisoner, while making his rounds in the prison's shoe shop. There are 35 Slain Officers since 2000 on the memorial.
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