Manchester City Hall - Manchester, NH
Posted by: 
silverquill
N 42° 59.455 W 071° 27.809
19T E 299171 N 4762751
Quick Description: City Hall was designed by Boston architect Edward Shaw in the Gothic Revival style and built in 1845 the year before incorporation of the city of Manchester, New Hampshire.
Location: New Hampshire, United States
Date Posted: 12/8/2007 9:50:09 AM
Waymark Code: WM2QJK
Views: 172
Long Description:
Manchester’s first town hall was built on this spot in 1841. It was
a simple wooden building with a cupola. The top floor contained an
armory for the local militia. Unfortunately, a wayward spark
ignited the gunpowder, causing the building to burn to the ground
in 1844.
Not surprisingly, soon after this Manchester purchased its first
two fire engines. The town also hired Edward Shaw, a Boston
architect, to design a bigger and better town hall. This building
was completed in 1845, just in time for Manchester’s incorporation
as a city in 1846. The once small village had grown into a bustling
city of over 10,000 people.
Manchester City Hall was designed in the Gothic Revival style,
complete with buttresses and arched windows. This style was often
used for churches and academic buildings, but was seldom been seen
in government buildings. If you enter City Hall and head toward the
Annex, you will see “Art on the Wall”, avenue that allows local
artists to display their work.
City Hall is open Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00
p.m. Art work is always for sale, and the artists change every two
or three months.
JOHN STARK - "Live free, or die!"
In front of the Annex (the former Hillsborough County Court House)
is a sculpture of Manchester resident and Revolutionary War hero
Brigadier General John Stark. John Stark penned the phrase “Live
Free or Die – Death is not the worst of evils,” which was adopted
as New Hampshire’s state motto in 1945.
