Massachusetts State House

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The Massachusetts State House, also known as the Massachusetts Statehouse or the New State House, is the state capitol and seat of government for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, located in the Beacon Hill<ref name=neighborhoods>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> neighborhood of Boston. The building houses the Massachusetts General Court (state legislature) and the offices of the Governor of Massachusetts. The building, designed by architect Charles Bulfinch, was completed in January 1798 at a cost of $133,333 (more than five times the budget), and has repeatedly been enlarged since. It is one of the oldest state capitols in current use. It is considered a masterpiece of Federal architecture and among Bulfinch's finest works, and was designated a National Historic Landmark for its architectural significance.<ref name=nhl>Template:Cite web</ref>

Building and grounds

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Stereograph image of the State House Template:Circa, before wings were added to the building
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The building c. 1895

Today the building officially functions and is maintained under the auspices of the Superintendent of the Bureau of the State House.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The building is situated on Template:Cvt of land on top of Beacon Hill in Boston, opposite the Boston Common on Beacon Street. It was built on land once owned by John Hancock, Massachusetts's first elected governor.<ref name=grounds/> The Masonic cornerstone ceremony took place on July 4, 1795, with Paul Revere, then Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, presiding.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Before the current State House was completed in 1798, Massachusetts's government house was the Old State House on what is now Washington Street. For the building's design, architect Charles Bulfinch made use of two existing buildings in London: William Chambers's Somerset House,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and James Wyatt's Pantheon.<ref>Template:Cite book.</ref>

After Maine separated from Massachusetts and became an independent state in 1820, Charles Bulfinch designed Maine's capitol building with architectural influence of the Massachusetts Capitol building with a simplified Greek Revival influence.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Commonwealth completed a major expansion of the original building in 1895.<ref name="officialguide">Template:Cite web</ref> The architect for the annex was Bostonian Charles Brigham.

In 1917, the east and west wings, designed by architects Sturgis, Bryant, Chapman & Andrews, were completed.<ref name=grounds>Template:Cite web</ref>

In July 2016, Governor Charlie Baker proposed to the state legislature to sell Template:Convert of permanent easement on the west side of the State House lawn to a neighboring condominium. The land in question was once pasture owned by John Hancock and the easement would allow for the addition of au pair units.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Through legislation passed by the legislature the land surrounding the state house is considered "open space".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Dome

The original wood dome, which leaked, was covered with copper in 1802 by Paul Revere's Revere Copper Company.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The dome was first painted gray and then light yellow before being gilded with gold leaf in 1874. During World War II, the dome was painted gray once again, to prevent reflection during blackouts and to protect the city and building from bombing attacks.<ref name=trail>Template:Cite web</ref> The dome was re-gilded in 1969, at a cost of $36,000.<ref>Don Aucoin. "Dome in Decline." Boston Globe, February 15, 1997, pp. A1, A9.</ref> Then, in July 1997, the dome was once again re-gilded, in 23k gold. The estimated cost this time was $1.5 million.<ref>"Statehouse Dome Undergoes Golden Re-gilding." North Adams (Mass.) Transcript, July 22, 1997, p. B 8.</ref>

The dome is topped with a gilded, wooden pine cone, symbolizing both the importance of Boston's lumber industry during early colonial times and of the state of Maine, which was a district of the Commonwealth when the Bulfinch section of the building was completed.<ref name=trail/>

Statuary

In front of the building is an equestrian statue of General Joseph Hooker.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Other statues in front of the building include Daniel Webster, educator Horace Mann, and former U.S. President John F. Kennedy. The statues of Anne Hutchinson and Mary Dyer are located on the lawns below the east and west wings.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Inside the building is a statue of William Francis Bartlett, an officer in the Civil War.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Building interior

The original red-brick Bulfinch building contains the Governor's offices (on the west end) with the Massachusetts Senate occupying the former House of Representatives Chamber under the dome. The Massachusetts House of Representatives occupies a chamber on the west side of the Brigham addition. Hanging over this chamber is the "Sacred Cod", which was given to the House of Representatives in 1784 by a Boston merchant. The Sacred Cod symbolizes the importance of the fishing industry to the early Massachusetts economy.<ref>Massachusetts State House, via cityofboston.gov</ref>

The House Chamber is decorated with murals by Albert Herter,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> father of Massachusetts Gov. Christian Herter. Murals on the second floor under the dome were painted by artist Edward Brodney.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Brodney won a competition to paint the first mural in a contest sponsored by the Works Progress Administration in 1936. It is entitled "Columbia Knighting Her World War Disabled". Brodney could not afford to pay models, and friends and family posed. The model for Columbia was Brodney's sister Norma Brodney Cohen, and the model for the soldier on one knee in the foreground was his brother Fred Brodney.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1938, he painted a second mural under the dome called "World War Mothers". The models were again primarily friends and family members, with sister Norma sitting beside their mother Sarah Brodney.<ref name="wht">Template:Cite web</ref>

Above the murals, the names of 53 Massachusetts citizens honored in 1895 were inscribed- Carver, Bradford, Endecott, Winthrop, Vane, Pickering, Knox, Lincoln, John Adams, Dane, Quincy, J. Q. Adams, Webster, Sumner, Wilson, Andrew, Choate, Parsons, Shaw, Story, Everett, Phillips, Garrison, Mann, Howe, Allen, Devens, Bartlett, Putnam, Franklin, Bowditch, Peirce, Agassiz, Bulfinch, Morse, Morton, Bell, Bancroft, Prescott, Motley, Parkman, Emerson, Hawthorne, Holmes, Bryant, Longfellow, Lowell, Whittier, Copley, Hunt, Edwards, Channing, Brooks.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

A staircase in front of the Bulfinch building leads from Beacon Street to Doric Hall inside the building. The large main doors inside Doric Hall are only opened on three occasions:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

  1. When the President of the United States or a foreign head of state visits.
  2. When the Governor exits the building on his or her last day in office. The Governor descends the staircase, crosses Beacon Street, and enters Boston Common, symbolically rejoining the people of Massachusetts as a private citizen.
  3. When a regimental flag is returned from battle. Since the regimental flags now return to Washington, D.C., this has not been done since the Vietnam War.

Memorial Hall, also known as the Hall of Flags, is a room that sits central to the state house's second floor. The room displays regiment flags of returning Massachusetts soldiers from various regiments across every war since the Civil War. The stained glass skylight above contains the seals of the original Thirteen Colonies of the United States, with the Massachusetts seal in the center.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Samuel Adams and Paul Revere time capsule is a metal box located in a cornerstone of the State House, placed there in the late 18th century and rediscovered in 2014. The contents include coins, newspaper clippings, and other historical artifacts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Offices

Constitutional officers

Legislature

The majority of State House office space is given over to the Legislature. Every member of the House and Senate is assigned an office. Large third-floor suites are assigned to the House Speaker<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (Room 356) and Senate President<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (Room 332). Other offices include the House and Senate clerks, House and Senate counsel, and Legislative Information Services.

Press

One corridor of the building's fourth floor is a sort of Newspaper Row, anchored by the large Press Gallery suite where reporters from a range of publications maintain desks. The central Press Gallery room was given to use of reporters by the Legislature in 1909.<ref>Template:Cite act</ref> The Massachusetts State House Press Association, established in 1909, governs these shared workspaces.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Some individual news outlets have separate offices.

Veterans' organizations

A suite of rooms on the fifth floor is home to the Massachusetts headquarters of several veterans' groups, including the American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary, AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, Italian American War Veterans of the United States, Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America, Korean War Veterans, Marine Corps League, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Persian Gulf Era Veterans, Polish Legion of American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Vietnam Veterans of America.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

"Hub of the Solar System" nickname

One of Boston's most enduring nicknames, "The Hub of the Universe",<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> stems from a remark by Oliver Wendell Holmes from his 1858 book The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table in which he mentions the State House:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> "A jaunty-looking person ... said there was one more wise man's saying that he had heard; it was about our place—but he didn't know who said it. ... Boston State-House is the Hub of the Solar System. You couldn't pry that out of a Boston man if you had the tire of all creation straightened out for a crow-bar".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

See also

References

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Sources

Further reading

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