State House Stained Glass Works - Boston, MA
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 42° 21.463 W 071° 03.816
19T E 330054 N 4691556
The Massachusetts State House has a large stained glass skylight over the historic flag exhibit, two sets of windows in separate places, and several small panes over office doors.
Waymark Code: WMBNNX
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 06/06/2011
Views: 17
In Boston, within the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Streets there are many great things to see, including the beautiful stained glass installations throughout the state house.
You enter the State House from Beacon Street at the intersection of Beacon and Park Streets, known as the Hooker Entrance. After passing through the gates, you can go on a tour or walk on your own to the several sites. It is too hard to try to direct you through the state house to each location, but general locations will be provided, from the location of the Hall of Flags, which is easy enough to get directions from someone.
The most impressive installation is the skylight over the Hall of Flags. The skylight is a round window directly above the exhibit area, which is also circular. The window has the Massachusetts State Seal in the Center, then surrounding it are the seals of the other twelve original colonies.
If you walk through the entrance toward the front of the building, you enter a memorial area that includes one to nurses. Up the stairs to the next floor, you will see a series of stained glass windows backlit by artificial light. Each has a design at the top that includes a banner stating what the design represents. These are Manufacturing, Education, Commerce, and Agriculture.
If you walk back through the Hall of Flags to the other side, then up one flight of stairs to another window that is lit by the Great Hall behind it. This window has an arrangement of designs on it, which are the various adopted state seals over the years. Actually, Massachusetts is one of four "Commonwealths" not a state, and that is proclaimed in this window, but I'll leave it to the experts to specify the differences.
State House Tours Web Site (this includes a virtual tour with more information about the state house):
(
visit link)