USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The book of Boston: the Federal period, 1775 to 1837 > Part 3
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THE
STATE HOUSE
AND
BOSTON
COMMON.
The State House and Boston Common, c. 1830
structure, the red-brick façade, is the original Bulfinch build- ing. The wings were added later when there was need for enlargement. The bricks, painted white in 1825 and yellow later, were restored to the original natural red in 1928. The chimneys were removed when central heating was installed. In spite of these and other changes, much of the old is hap- pily preserved and combined with the new.
The State House by Pendleton, 1830, showing the chimneys
Detail of the State House showing the dome and portico
The dome, the first in Boston, was of wood painted lead color. It was covered with copper by Paul Revere and Sons in 1802, gilded in 1861, and in 1874 the first gold leaf was applied. Blacked out during World War II, the gold leaf has since been replaced and the beautiful dome, termi- nating in a lantern, shines once more on the Boston skyline. 56
The New State House
This noble State House set a fashion for capitol archi- tecture. Previously Bulfinch had designed the State House for Connecticut at Hartford and later, after spending twelve years in Washington, D.C., working on the national capitol, he did the State House for Maine at Augusta. The Boston State House with its superb dome and colonnaded façade is an architectural gem.
The ** interior of the State House, like the exterior, al- though altered, restored, and enlarged, retains some of the fine original features. Outstanding among these is ** Doric Hall, the beautiful entrance foyer of the Bulfinch front, just inside the Beacon Street door on the first floor. This dig- nified room, fifty-five feet square, is divided into three aisles by ten noble Doric columns, and is paved with black-and-
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Interior of the Bulfinch House, Doric Hall
The BOOK of BOSTON
white marble forming a checked floor. Arched niches frame statues and other memorials of our famous men. The figure of George Washington in white marble, executed by Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey in 1826, occupies the place of honor in the center. Graceful archways lead to stairways on the east and west. The quiet dignity of this gallery is further enhanced by the whiteness of classic details against a beige wall.
On the second floor the superb Bulfinch interiors remain structurally much as they were in 1798. These rooms now house many paintings, flags, and other objects of historic interest.
Interior of the Bulfinch State House, Senate Chamber showing the ceiling and galleries
Interior of the Bulfinch State House, Senate Reception Room showing the ceiling
The ** Senate Chamber, now used as the Senate Recep- tion Room, is a handsome rectangular apartment with col- onnaded ends, like many of the great rooms of this period in England. Here the tall Ionic columns are raised on un- usual chamfered bases. Six of the original tall arched win- dows still light the south and east walls, but those on the north wall were closed when the first addition to the State House was erected. High on the west wall, above the lovely balustraded gallery of the old Senate, is the original clock framed in laurel leaves. The lofty barrel-vaulted ceiling is ornamented with Adamesque detail of white raised plaster on a dark Wedgwood-blue background. The yellow-buff
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The BOOK of BOSTON
plaster walls are ornamented with the characteristic white classic cornice and pilasters. This is one of the finest examples of the American interpretation of a late Georgian interior in a public building.
The original House of Representatives, ** now the Senate Chamber, is another distinguished room in this style. Directly above the Doric Hall, in the center of the Bulfinch front, it reaches up under the massive dome and is spanned by a great domical ceiling richly decorated with classic raised plaster ornament of white on a background of Wedg- wood blue. The spandrels are beautifully decorated with symbolic trophies representing commerce, agriculture, war, and peace. The original woodburning fireplaces, which ac- cented and warmed each corner, are now gone, but the graceful old colonnaded galleries remain. It is still a superb example of the early Federal-classic style in American civic architecture.
The Council Chamber, now the Governor's Office, occupies the southwest corner of the Bulfinch front. It is twenty-seven feet square with a flat ceiling of white plaster twenty feet high. The smooth plaster walls are of light Wedgwood blue with white Corinthian pilasters, panel mouldings, and other details including the Arms of the State.
Adjoining is the Council Chamber, formerly the Gov- ernor's room or private office. From 1798 to 1937 this smaller, simpler room was used by all the chief executives. Originally there were twenty of these minor rooms.
The State House has been added to over the years and many of the newer rooms are good examples of the later periods of architecture.
Among these is Memorial Hall, known as the ** Hall of Flags, a fine circular room with richly colored marbles, 60
The New State House
mosaics, stained glass, and murals. Here, also, is a splendid display of battle flags and colors.
The ** State Archives, now housed in the newest room (underground), preserve letters and papers of the colonial governors as well as those of George Washington, John Hancock, and others. Here, also, with additional precious material are valuable documents including the original Char- ter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony of 1628.
The ** State Library, in the Annex, was established in 1828 with 600 volumes and now has more than 750,000. Among its treasures is the original manuscript of Bradford's History of the Plimoth Plantation.
The famous codfish known as the ** Sacred Cod hangs in the State House in the new House of Representatives at the rear of the Bulfinch building. This emblem of Massa- chusetts is an interesting old model of a fish, four feet ten inches long, carved from a solid block of pine. It is a colonial replica of an earlier codfish of that period. The original was set up in the Old State House as "a memorial to the impor-
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The Sacred Cod
The BOOK of BOSTON
tance of the cod fishery to the welfare of the Common- wealth" and burned there in the fire of 1748. The codfish has always been cherished and cared for as is shown, for example, in a bill from Thomas Crafts, Jr., who charged fifteen shillings to paint it in 1773. At the suggestion of John Rowe, the owner of Rowe's Wharf, it was moved with much ceremony from the old to the New State House in 1798.
New Streets
As early as 1796 Bulfinch had a street plan for Beacon Hill. This was influenced by the tree-shaded squares of Lon- don and France with which he was familiar. A park was to extend up the hill on Mount Vernon Street from what is now Willow Street to Walnut. When mansions were built on the ridge they were set back thirty feet from the sidewalk to allow for this garden square which never materialized, but the restrictions on the setback still hold. Much later, however, the well-known Louisburg Square was created nearby, where it remains today, one of the beauty spots of the Hill.
In 1801 Bulfinch became interested in developing the neck to Roxbury. To avoid monotony he laid out streets around an oval grass plot, with the old road, recently re- named Washington Street, running through the center. This park, known as Columbia Square (and later the * Blackstone and Franklin Squares of the Victorian South End), was named for the sailing ship Columbia. In 1787 she made the first voyage from Boston to Canton, China, and then con- tinued on to be the first ship to carry the stars and stripes 62
Wharves and Warehouses
around the world. This took three years. On their return to Boston the men were honored by a dinner given by John Hancock.
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India Wharf with the Bulfinch stores and the archway
Wharves and Warehouses
In 1805 Bulfinch designed warehouses, wharves, stores, and streets along the newly made water front, beyond the old colonial South End, flanking Long Wharf at the end of State Street. (See illus. on p. 20.) The India Wharf stores, which preceded India Wharf, formed a long brick block with a central arch. When Atlantic Avenue was cut through, in the Victorian period, it pierced this arch and destroyed all but a few of these fine old stores attributed to him.
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Leveling and Filling
As the need for more land continued to press the grow- ing town, a substantial part of the Hill was cut down to fill in along its water front. In 1804 Silas Whitney set up a gravity railroad to speed the progress of grading the west side of the Hill. This railroad, said to be the first of its kind in the country, attracted a great many sightseers. A series of empty cars went up on rails while others went down loaded and dumped the gravel from the top of the "mountain" onto the beach of the Charles River, beyond West Cedar Street, making the land for the present Charles Street area. Accord- ing to an eyewitness, when Pinckney Street was cut through the top of Mount Vernon it left a bank on the southerly side "thirty or forty feet in height" about opposite the head of Anderson Street. The digging began in another part of the Hill in 1811 at the rear of the State House. Here the dirt was carted away by horses. (See illus. on p. 53.) By 1824 the Hill was leveled to its present height with the exception of Cotton Hill on the east which was not cut down until 1835.
Markets
In 1805 the old colonial ** Faneuil Hall Market was rebuilt and enlarged by Charles Bulfinch into the beautiful building we see today. He doubled the width, added a third story, and moved the cupola forward but reset the original colonial grasshopper weather vane back in its place on the dome. The historic hall on the second floor was also rebuilt by Bulfinch. Here the fine balustraded galleries on the sides, 64
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MARK BEEF CO.
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Faneuil Hall as rebuilt by Bulfinch
supported by columns, and the pilastered walls reflect the classic ornament so popular in this early Federal period. The ground floor continues to be used for a market as it has been for more than two hundred years, a splendid example of a fine old building still serving a useful purpose.
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The BOOK of BOSTON
About 1810 Bulfinch built the new Boylston Market on Washington Street near the corner of Boylston, to serve the needs of the growing Federal South End. Parkman's Market in the West End at the corner of Cambridge and Green streets was also built about this time and is attributed by some to Bulfinch. These were of similar design, both being of brick with a cupola, but the Boylston Market was a more notable building. This market, considered 'way out of town at that time, was named for Ward Nicholas Boyl- ston, a liberal benefactor of Boston who gave the clock on its tower. There were twelve stalls accommodating the market on the ground floor and a large hall above. Here in the auditorium, known as Boylston Hall, the famous Handel and Haydn Society, founded in 1816, held concerts for many years. When the building was destroyed the cupola was removed. It may now be seen on the Calvary Methodist Church on Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington.
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Interior of Faneuil Hall as rebuilt by Bulfinch
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The Boylston Market
Cupola of the Boylston Market now on the Calvary Methodist Church, Arlington
Portrait of Jean Louis A. M. Lefebvre de Cheverus, first Roman Catholic Bishop of Boston
Churches
During the early Federal period Bulfinch built several churches in Boston. The first of these was the Hollis Street Church whose original wooden building had burned along with the neighboring district (now the Metropolitan The- ater area) in the great fire of 1787. This church differed in design from his others. The entrance façade had a central pedimented portico and two towers each with a dome. The interior, spanned with a dome ceiling, had a pulpit against the rear wall. This new-style pulpit in front of the congre- gation was a change from the colonial type located at the side, with a sounding board suspended above, and set a fashion used all over New England in the 19th century. In 1810 this noble edifice was floated down the harbor on a raft to East Braintree.
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Churches
In 1800 Bulfinch designed without charge the first Roman Catholic Church in New England, for the beloved Bishop Jean-Louis A. M. Lefebvre de Cheverus, an exiled French priest who served as the first Catholic bishop of Boston. Protestants and Catholics alike contributed to the
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Church of the Holy Cross, first Roman Catholic Church in New England
The BOOK of BOSTON
building fund. This fine Church of the Holy Cross of red brick with white Italian-classic details was erected in 1803 and razed in 1868. It stood almost at the corner of what is now Franklin and Devonshire streets. The site is marked by a * plaque nearby.
A beautiful French silver coffee urn, made in 1787 in Paris by Mathieu de Machy was presented to Bulfinch in recognition of his services. The engraving reads, "To Charles Bulfinch, Esquire. Presented by the Catholics of Boston, January 1, 1806." It is now in the Museum of Fine Arts.
Bulfinch silver urn by Mathieu de Machy, Paris
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Second edifice of the New North Church now St. Stephen's Roman Catholic Church
In 1804 Bulfinch built a handsome church for the "New North Religious Society" on Hanover Street in the North End, across from the present Paul Revere Mall. This is the only one of his Boston churches still standing. Like the Church of the Holy Cross, it is of red brick with white wooden pilasters on the façade, a clock tower, belfry, and an castern dome, but in other details it differs from the earlier church. The entrance on a projecting porch has a Palladian
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St. Stephen's Church, only one by Bulfinch still standing in Boston
Churches
window above and higher up a lunette window. Other win- dows are framed with recessed arches, so characteristic of Bulfinch, and all the windows have rectangular panes of clear glass. Originally there was a Paul Revere bell. This bell and some of the windowpanes have been removed but much of the original church remains.
The simple dignity of the exterior is enhanced by an interior of fine proportions, with two side balconies sup- ported by slender graceful columns. In 1862 it became ** Saint Stephen's Roman Catholic Church. Although some changes were made then, and also when Hanover Street was widened, it remains today a fine example of Bulfinch's eccle- siastical style.
Interior of St. Stephen's Church
Portrait of Asher Benjamin attributed to Chester Harding
Asher Benjamin
Asher Benjamin (1773-1845) was another well-known architect of this early Federal period. Like Bulfinch, he was influenced by the Adam-classic style of the late Georgian period in England. He was perhaps most noted for the numerous books which he published from 1797 to 1841. These were a source of inspiration not only in Boston but throughout New England and served as builders' guides to many. These men built the beautiful classic white wooden homes and churches whose simple dignity is so characteristic of the New England landscape.
Born in 1773, he was ten years younger than Charles Bulfinch and probably was his most serious competitor. Benjamin started his career in the western part of the state.
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Asher Benjamin
Later he worked in Connecticut and Vermont. During the years 1826-1828 he made his home in Dunstable, now Nashua, New Hampshire, where he designed the canal locks and helped with the village church, school and street plans. With this exception, he resided in Boston from 1803 until his death in 1845 and designed some notable buildings still stand- ing here today.
West Church by Asher Benjamin
Charles Street Meetinghouse by Asher Benjamin
Outstanding among them is the ** West Church built in 1809, or red brick with a projecting center on the façade and a triple portal. This lovely old Federal church has the usual clock tower with a belfry terminating in a dome which in turn is topped by a weather .vane. White rectan- gular panel ornaments and pilasters decorate the façade, details used by both Benjamin and Bulfinch, but always in different arrangements. The interior is spacious and digni- fied, with a handsome ceiling, cornice, and gallery. A beauti-
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Detail of the Charles Street Meeting House
ful gilded clock is set in the gallery face above the entrance. The pulpit and the pews were removed in 1892 when it ceased to be a place of worship. We owe the preservation of the West Church to Mr. Andrew C. Wheelwright, who bought the building and maintained it until the city took it over. It was used as a branch of the Boston Public Library from 1896 to 1960. Although threatened during the demo- lition of the West End, this important church has been saved and will be used for Methodist church services.
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The BOOK of BOSTON
Not far away, on what was then the shore of the Charles River, Asher Benjamin built another church in 1807, the ** Charles Street Meetinghouse. Like his West Church, it is of brick with a projecting porch and terminates in a tower with a belfry, a dome with a weather vane, and a clock which still strikes the hours. This style of clock tower was a popular feature in the Federal period, but each was of dif- ferent design. Bulfinch and Benjamin used a variety of domes on top of their clock towers instead of spires. Both of Ben- jamin's Boston churches have the classic features of the pe- riod - pilasters, panel ornaments on the façades, and arched sashed windows set with rectangular panes of clear glass. The Charles Street Meetinghouse also has arched doorways framing fanlighted doors, a balustrade with urn finials, and a cupola completely different from that on his West Church. Although both have been much altered in their interiors, these beautiful meetinghouses have been little changed ex- ternally. Boston is most fortunate in having these two Ben- jamin churches at the foot of Beacon Hill, one on Cambridge Street near Bowdoin Square and the other on lower Mount Vernon Street at the corner of Charles Street.
Peter Banner, an Englishman, who worked in Boston from 1806 to 1828, built the ** Park Street Church in 1809, on the corner of Park and Tremont Streets overlooking the Common. The graceful white steeple of this brick church is one of the highest and finest of its type in Boston. Seen through the trees by day and under modern illumination at night, it is a thing of beauty. Originally it was higher, but after a great gale which caused it to sway, it was rebuilt with some changes by the architect Gridley J. F. Bryant (1816- 1889).
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Park Street Church by Peter Banner
NAVHY
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
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Detail of the Park Street Church
Asher Benjamin
The bowed columned sections flanking the entrance to the church are unusual and stately. The fine capitals of the columns were executed by Solomon Willard (1783-1861), a carver of distinction.
This church stands on the site of the old colonial gran- ary, a spot later known as "Brimstone Corner" because gun- powder was stored in the church basement during the War of 1812. Here at the Park Street Church William Lloyd Garrison spoke convincingly against slavery and in 1832 the song "America" was first sung - to mention but two of the important events of its past.
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Meeting House Hill, Roxbury, 1790, from a painting by John Ritts Penniman
The BOOK of BOSTON
On Meeting House Hill in Roxbury stands the ** Eliot Church, the oldest wooden meetinghouse left in Boston. Built in 1804, this typical New England white church, with clear, small-paned windows and green blinds, a bell made by Paul Revere and a clock on the steeple, crowns this his- toric area. It is named for the early colonial pastor, John Eliot, who preached to the Indians in their own language. Later, during the Revolutionary War, George Washington viewed the towns of Boston and Charlestown through a spyglass from this vantage point.
The church records reveal the changes in the way of life here through the years. The parishioners of this early Federal period were engaged in many professions and busi- nesses, indicative of the diverse interests of Boston. Among them were schoolteachers, lawyers, and physicians; mer- chants dealing in dry goods, flour, wool, cotton, and the China trade; shopkeepers, tanners, farmers, blacksmiths, gar- deners, ropemakers, master mariners, soap boilers, candle- makers, coopers, and bankers. In 1790 there was a row of horse sheds with arched openings for the use of those driv- ing from a distance to church. In 1820 the church was warmed by two woodburning stoves, the first heat in the building.
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State Street, 1792, showing the old State House
Other Red-Brick Buildings
There were other notable buildings of brick in Federal Boston. Many were designed by Bulfinch, among them the Boston Bank on State Street and the new Almshouse built on Leverett Street overlooking the Charles River. This long three-story edifice, built in 1799, had a higher center unit, accenting the façade, and a basement kitchen, a feature which became popular in Boston during the Victorian period.
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View of State Street, 1830-40, by Bartlett showing columned build-
ings, center right, the U.S. Bank, and far right, the Suffolk Bank
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Silver urn by Paul Revere with engraving of the First Boston Theater by Bulfinch
The First Boston Theater
At the corner of Franklin and Federal streets stood the first Boston theater. Built in 1794, it was indicative of the new way of life in Federal Boston. Gonc was the old Puritan attitude of frowning on pleasure. The theater was eagerly desired and greatly admired. Bulfinch designed this splendid building without charge and supervised the construction. Unfortunately it burned in 1798 and the beautiful exterior 86
First Boston Theater as rebuilt by Bulfinch with the Tontine Crescent at the left
is known to us only as pictured on a gold medal presented to him, and also on a silver urn made by Paul Revere, and in other engravings. It was speedily rebuilt with a plainer façade but with a rich interior. There was a spacious ball- room as well as a theater, retiring rooms, and a kitchen. The handsome circular auditorium had a color scheme of azure blue, lilac, and straw color, accented with gold, and the boxes were hung with crimson silk.
This pleasant neighborhood with its beautiful churches and dwelling houses was later swallowed up either by com- mercial enterprises or in the great Boston fire of 1872.
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Plan and Elevation of the Tontine Crescent by Bulfinch
Residences
Many of Boston's most beautiful homes were built be- fore the War of 1812 and its attending financial difficulties. Several of these were free standing, as they were in the colonial period, but most of the Federal houses in the town were attached and formed blocks or rows along the new straight streets. Brick sidewalks were laid when the houses were built and shade trees were planted. The houses were mostly of brick with slate roofs, but a few were still of wood, and some at the end of the period were of granite. They were of all sizes, including a surprising number of three or more story mansions built by wealthy merchants of the day. Many of these handsome early Federal residences still remain standing on Beacon Hill or tucked away among later and taller buildings in the older parts of the city.
Boston is unique in this picturesqueness. Few other cities in the country have so many examples of the old rosy- brick architecture which reflects so clearly the gracious living of the early days of our republic. These fine old houses are worthy of study as representative of the best in American taste.
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The Tontine Crescent at the right of the Park and Franklin Place houses at the left, Franklin Street 1794
The Tontine Crescent
The * Tontine Crescent was the first and most beautiful block of houses in Boston. Built in the fashionable new South End in 1793, it was designed by Bulfinch. The name Tontine Crescent came from the method of financing and the cres- cent shape of the buildings. The money was to be obtained by selling shares of stock in this project. This was offered to the public, but only half the shares were sold and William Scollay, Charles Bulfinch, and his brother-in-law Charles Vaughn assumed the rest of the financial obligation. The garden and pastures of Joseph Barrell behind his residence on Summer Street were purchased and a range of brick houses five hundred feet long was erected on Franklin Street
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LIBRARY
Detail of the center of the Tontine Crescent showing the archway with the street sign, Arch Street, and the Franklin Urn
where the street still bends. This handsome curved row of sixteen individual homes, so like those of Bath, England, was designed as one building or unit. Originally there were to be two of these crescents facing each other across an oval park, but owing to some difficulty in obtaining the land, the second block was built in a straight line and called Franklin Place. (See illus. on p. 89.)
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