Old City Hall is one of Boston’s great historical landmarks and served as city hall from 1865 until 1969. The building has an interesting history of being a pioneer in several ways. One would be in it’s architecture, it was one of the first buildings in the United States to be designed in the French Second Empire style; a style that would often be used for other American buildings, including the Executive Office Building in Washington D.C., and city halls in Maryland, New York, and Philadelphia. Old City Hall is one of the few such buildings that still remains today.
Old City Hall is also connected to the beginnings of American education. It is built on the site of the first public school; Boston Latin School, founded by the pilgrims in 1634 and attended by such famous men as Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams. A statue of Ben Franklin can be found in the courtyard of Old City Hall, along with several others including one of Josiah Quincy; the second mayor of Boston who served six consecutive terms, and a statue of a donkey; the symbol of the democratic party.
Another important first for Old City Hall came about in 1969. When it ceased to serve as Bostons’ city hall, rather than tearing it down, it was decided that the building would be recycled. It was then converted to house office spaces and a restaurant. This was the first example of adaptive reuse, the recycling of an old building for a different use. This idea was highly praised by the American Institute of Architects, and was so successful that it lead to the recycling of many other historical buildings throughout the 1970′s and 80′s, and continues into the 21st century, allowing them to be preserved while remaining useful.
