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First Town-House, Boston

1658 establishments in Massachusetts1711 disestablishments in the Thirteen ColoniesBuildings and structures completed in 1658Buildings and structures in BostonFinancial District, Boston
Former buildings and structures in BostonTown halls in Massachusetts
First Town House1
First Town House1

The First Town-House in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony was located on the site of the Old State House and served as Boston's first purpose-built town hall and colonial government seat. Robert Keayne left £300 in his will for the construction of a marketplace and town-house; this was more than doubled by subscriptions from 104 "Townesmen", and on August 1, 1657, a contract was signed with Messrs. Thomas Joy and Bartholomew Bernad for the construction. The initial price was £400 but the final bill came out to £680. The contract was for "a very substantiall and comely Building...sixty six foot in Length, and thirty six foot in Breadth from outside to outside, set upon twenty one Pillers of full ten foot high ... the wholl Building to Jetty over three foot without the Pillers everie way...according to A modell or draught presented to us, by the sd. Tho. Joy & Barth. Bernad. The time wch Payment shall be as followeth viz: one Hund. Pound at the Bringing of the Timber to the Place, A second Hund. at the raysing, a third Hund. at the inclosure & Covering, a fourth at the finishing and Compleating..." The wood-frame building was completed and occupied in 1658. A sketch drawn in 1930 based on the original specifications shows an open-walled public market (a traditional medieval form) on the ground floor. Three rows of seven stout posts supported the upper stories, which were walled by broad planks three inches (76 mm) thick, "well grooved into one another" and planed smooth on both sides. The roof was of the meeting-house type: hipped, with a "walke upon the top fourteen or 15 foote wide with two turrets, & turned Balasters and railes, round about the walke". The second story was ten feet high, and the third half-story rooms were lighted by three cross gables on each side. The three-foot overhang "everie way", a very rare feature in non-military architecture, was braced by diagonal struts from the posts and ornamented by corner pendants. A steep stairway, hitched to one end of the building like an inelegant afterthought, clambered to the upper rooms. These consisted of Boston's first public library, a gift of Robert Keayne; a large room "for the courts to meete in both in Winter & Sumer, & so for the Townsmen & commissioners of the Towne"; a room for an Armory (Keayne had organized the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts and become its first commander); and "a gallery or some other handsome roome for the Elders to meete in".The building also housed the Colonial government, with Governors Endecott, Bellingham, Leverett and Bradstreet presiding under the old charter, then Edmund Andros, followed by Phips, Stoughton, Bellomont and Dudley under the new charter. It was the focal point of Boston's civil and political life: receptions held by governors and prominent citizens; assemblies of the Legislature; meetings of the colony and town officers; the marketplace with its stalls and stores all made it so. In his diary, Samuel Sewall recorded many stirring scenes inside and near the town-house. There the revolt against Governor Andros was centered; the same year the first Episcopalian service in Boston was held in the deputies' room. Captain Kidd was there examined by the governor in 1699; the captain of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company was elected in the large room in 1701, and the Company exercised there in June 1702. In 1704 Captain Quelch and five other pirates were tried there.The building was destroyed in the great fire on the night of 2 October 1711.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article First Town-House, Boston (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

First Town-House, Boston
State Street, Boston Downtown Boston

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 42.359558333333 ° E -71.057338888889 °
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Address

28 State Street

State Street 28
02108 Boston, Downtown Boston
Massachusetts, United States
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First Town House1
First Town House1
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Freedom Trail
Freedom Trail

The Freedom Trail is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) path through Boston, Massachusetts, that passes by 16 locations significant to the history of the United States. Marked largely with brick, it winds from Boston Common in downtown Boston through the North End to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. Stops along the trail include simple explanatory ground markers, graveyards, notable churches and buildings, and a historic naval frigate. While most of the sites are free or suggest donations, the Old South Meeting House, the Old State House, and the Paul Revere House charge admission. The Freedom Trail is overseen by the City of Boston's Freedom Trail Commission and is supported in part by grants from various nonprofits and foundations, private philanthropy, and Boston National Historical Park. The Freedom Trail was conceived by local journalist William Schofield, who in 1951 suggested building a pedestrian trail to link important local landmarks. Boston mayor John Hynes decided to put Schofield's idea into action. By 1953, 40,000 people were walking the trail annually.The National Park Service operates a visitor's center on the first floor of Faneuil Hall, where they offer tours, provide free maps of the Freedom Trail and other historic sites, and sell books about Boston and United States history. Some observers have noted the tendency of the Freedom Trail's narrative frame to omit certain historical locations, such as the sites of the Boston Tea Party and the Liberty Tree.