Boston’s Old State House, completed in 1713 on the site of the earlier town house that burned in 1711, is the city’s oldest surviving public building. It served as the seat of Massachusetts government in the colonial and early state periods, bringing courts, the legislature, and executive functions together under one roof. At the center of Boston’s political life before the American Revolution, it stood near the site of the Boston Massacre and reflected changing ideas about public politics. After the legislature moved out in 1798, it became city hall, later commercial space, and ultimately a preserved museum and landmark closely tied to Boston’s civic memory.

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Cambridge, Massachusetts · USA