Massachusetts State House - Boston, MA - Great Buildings of the World on Waymarking.com

The building is situated on 6.7 acres (27,000 m²) of land on top of Beacon Hill in Boston. It was built on land once owned by John Hancock, Massachusetts's first elected governor.

In his design for the building, architect Charles Bulfinch was inspired by two London buildings: William Chambers's Somerset House, and James Wyatt's Pantheon.


The original wood dome, which leaked, was covered with copper in 1802 by Paul Revere's company. (Paul Revere was the first American to successfully roll copper into sheets in a commercially viable manner.)
The dome was first painted gray and then light yellow before being gilded with gold leaf in 1874. During WWII, the dome was once again painted, this time black or gray (depending on the source), to prevent reflections during blackouts and to protect the city and building from bombing attacks. In 1997, at a cost of more than $300,000, the dome was re-gilded, in 23k gold.

The dome is topped with a pine cone, symbolizing both the importance of Boston's lumber industry in the early colonial days and of the state of Maine, which was a district of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts when the Bulfinch section of the building was completed.

From the Wikipedia

(visit link)

City, State or City, Country: Boston, Massachusetts Year Built: 1797 Architect: Charles Bullfinch Webpage from GreatBuildings.com or other approved listing: [Web Link] Other website with more information about building: [Web Link]

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