Old City Hall is a building at 45 School Street in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, U.S., which housed the

Boston City Council The Boston City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is made up of 13 members: 9 district representatives and 4 at-large members. Councillors are elected to two-year ...

from 1865 to 1969. Designed by Gridley James Fox Bryant and Arthur Gilman, it was one of the first buildings in the French Second Empire style to be built in the United States. After the building's completion, the Second Empire style was used extensively elsewhere in Boston and for many public buildings in the United States, including the

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, Providence City Hall in Providence,

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, and

Philadelphia City Hall Philadelphia City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of the City of Philadelphia in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Built in the ornate Second Empire style, City Hall houses the chambers of the Philadelphia City Council and the office ...

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History

Old City Hall, built between 1862 and 1865, is located at 45 School Street, along the

Freedom Trail The Freedom Trail is a path through Boston that passes by 16 locations significant to the history of the United States. It winds from Boston Common in downtown Boston, to the Old North Church in the North End and the Bunker Hill Monument i ...

between the

Old South Meeting House The Old South Meeting House is a historic Congregationalism in the United States, Congregational church building located at the corner of Milk Street, Boston, Milk and Washington Street (Boston), Washington Streets in the Downtown Crossing are ...

and King's Chapel. The

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a Magnet school, magnet Latin schools, Latin Grammar schools, grammar State school, state school in Boston, Massachusetts. It has been in continuous operation since it was established on April 23, 1635. It is the old ...

operated on the site from 1704 to 1748, and on the same street until 1844. Also on the site, the Suffolk County

Courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

was erected in 1810 and converted to Boston's second city hall in 1841, being replaced by the current building twenty-four years later. Thirty-eight Boston mayors, including

John F. Fitzgerald John Francis "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald (February 11, 1863 – October 2, 1950) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician from Boston, Massachusetts. Fitzgerald served as mayor of Boston and a member of the United State ...

Maurice J. Tobin Maurice Joseph Tobin (May 22, 1901July 19, 1953) was an American politician serving as 46th Mayor of Boston, the 56th Governor of Massachusetts and 6th United States Secretary of Labor. He was a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Dem ...

, and James Michael Curley, served their terms of office on School Street at this site over a period of 128 years. With the move to the current

Boston City Hall Boston City Hall is the seat of local government in the United States, city government of Boston, Massachusetts. It includes the offices of the List of mayors of Boston, mayor of Boston and the Boston City Council. The current hall was built in ...

in 1969, Old City Hall was converted over the next two years to serve other functions – an early and successful example of

adaptive reuse Adaptive reuse is the reuse of an existing building for a purpose other than that for which it was originally built or designed. It is also known as recycling and conversion. The adaptive reuse of buildings can be a viable alternative to new con ...

. The Boston-based nonprofit developer Architectural Heritage Foundation, Inc. (now AHF Boston) and the architecture firm Anderson Notter Associates completed the adaptive use and renovation. AHF Boston subsequently managed the property for fifty years. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

and was designated a U.S.

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1970.

Points of architectural interest

*The granite exterior characterized by ornamented columns, the mansard roof, and the projecting central bay *The massive front doors, unusual in the use of different wood, as well as the inlay of the marble circle in each door *The murals in the building entrances on School Street and Court Square illustrating the history of both the building and the site *The marble plaque in the first floor lobby commemorating the laying of the cornerstone in 1862 by

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Joseph Wightman and the dedication of the building in 1865 by Mayor Frederic W. Lincoln Jr. *The hopscotch in the School Street sidewalk recognizing this as the site of the

*The statues in the courtyard: **

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

, who attended school on this site. Scenes of Franklin's accomplishments appear in bas-relief on the square pedestal of the statue. The statue (1856) was the first portrait statue to be erected in Boston. Franklin is depicted as he would actually appear, rather than draped in toga, cloak, or classical attire. The statue was designed by

Richard Saltonstall Greenough Richard Saltonstall Greenough (April 19, 1819 – 1904) was an American sculptor and younger brother to Neoclassical sculptor Horatio Greenough. Greenough was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the youngest child of Elizabeth (Bender) and David Gre ...

, as are two of the bas-reliefs. **

Josiah Quincy III Josiah Quincy III (; February 4, 1772 – July 1, 1864) was an American educator and political figure. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1805–1813), mayor of Boston (1823–1828), and President of Harvard University (182 ...

, Boston's second mayor; the statue (1879) was designed by Thomas Ball. ** A donkey, signifying the Democratic Party, with two bronze footprints in front of it labeled "stand in opposition" and a plaque explaining the origin of the donkey as the party's symbol.

Old City Hall today

In 2017, Synergy Investments purchased Old City Hall for $30.1 million from AHF Boston. With more than of real estate, it now houses a number of businesses, organizations, and a Ruth's Chris Steak House, Welch & Forbes, Underscore VC, McLane Middleton, Kaymbu and many more, though its most famous tenant, the upscale French restaurant Maison Robert, closed in 2004.

Mayors who served in Old City Hall

* Frederic W. Lincoln Jr. (1863–1866) * Otis Norcross (1867–1868) * Nathaniel B. Shurtleff (1868–1871) * William Gaston (1871–1872) * Henry L. Pierce (1873) * Leonard R. Cutter (1873) * Samuel C. Cobb (1874–1876) * Frederick O. Prince (1877) * Henry L. Pierce (1878) * Frederick O. Prince (1879–1881) * Samuel A. Green (1882) * Albert Palmer (1883) * Augustus P. Martin (1884) * Hugh O'Brien (1885–1888) * Thomas N. Hart (1889–1890) * Nathan Matthews Jr. (1891–1894) * Edwin Upton Curtis (1895) * Josiah Quincy (1896–1899) * Thomas N. Hart (1900–1902) * Patrick Collins (1902–1905) * Daniel A. Whelton (1905–1906) *

(1906–1908, 1910–1914) * George A. Hibbard (1908–1910) * James M. Curley (1914–1918, 1922–1926, 1930–1934, 1946–1950) * Andrew J. Peters (1918–1922) *

Malcolm Nichols Malcolm Edwin Nichols (May 8, 1876 – February 7, 1951) was a journalist and American politician. Nichols served as the Mayor of Boston in the late 1920s. He came from a Boston Brahmin family and is the most recent Republican to serve in that ...

(1926–1930) *

Frederick Mansfield Frederick William Mansfield (March 26, 1877 – November 6, 1958) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts. Early life Mansfield was born in East Boston, Massachusetts, March 26, 1877. Mansfield was the son of ...

(1934–1938) *

(1938–1945) * John E. Kerrigan (1945–1946) * John B. Hynes (1947, 1950–1960) * John F. Collins (1960–1968) * Kevin H. White (1968–1984)

Gallery

File:Boston's Second City Hall 1841-1865.png, Old Suffolk County Courthouse and Boston's City Hall 1841 to 1865 File:Old_City_Hall_(Boston).jpg, Old City Hall, c. 1865 File:BostonOldCityHall.jpg, Old City Hall, c. 1868 in a stereograph view File:Old city hall boston front.JPG, Courtyard and entrance, 10/2006 File:1910 CityCouncil office Boston.png, Boston City Council office, City Hall, 1940City of Boston. Boston City Council centennial: then and now, 1910-2010. File:1913 JamesCurley press conference Boston.png, James Curley at Boston City Hall, 1913 File:CityCouncil chambers Boston CityHall.png, Boston City Council chambers, City Hall, c. 20th century

References

Notes Further reading * Boston City Council
Memorial of the inauguration of the statue of Franklin
1857.

External links

Official site

Library of Congress
Historic American Buildings Survey. {{Authority control 19th century in Boston 20th century in Boston City and town halls on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Former seats of local government Government buildings completed in 1865 Government buildings in Boston Government of Boston Landmarks in Financial District, Boston National Historic Landmarks in Boston National Register of Historic Places in Boston Second Empire architecture in Massachusetts