Faneuil Hall (, , or ) is a historic building in Downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Opened in 1742, the building was designed by artist John Smibert as a marketplace and meeting hall. Faneuil Hall is sometimes referred to as "the Cradle of Liberty", having been the site of many speeches, debates, and other events over its history. Over the years, the building, and especially its Great Hall meeting room, has received commentary for its symbolism. Faneuil Hall is part of Boston National Historical Park and is designated as a National Historic Landmark. It is owned by the Boston government and operated as part of the Faneuil Hall Marketplace.
Faneuil Hall hosted regular events and speeches before the American Revolutionary War, along with a marketplace at ground level. The original building burned down in 1761 and was rebuilt over the next decade. Faneuil Hall was remodeled and expanded by Charles Bulfinch in 1806, and it was renovated again in 1827 after the nearby Quincy Market opened. The interiors were rebuilt of noncombustible materials in 1898–1899, and Cram and Ferguson oversaw another renovation between 1923 and 1925. Further modifications took place throughout the 20th century, including several cleaning, fireproofing, restoration, and accessibility projects. The building was renovated again in the 21st century.
Faneuil Hall has four stories including the attic, and is made of red brick, divided vertically into several bays. There are entrances and arched sash windows on the first floor, and additional windows on the other stories, each separated by pilasters of varying designs. The slate gable roof has a cupola and a grasshopper-shaped weathervane. Inside, the basement is used for offices and education, while the first floor contains a market area measuring . A stair from the main eastern entrance ascends through the building. On the second and third floors is the Great Hall, measuring high and across with various pieces of artwork. There are also small offices on the second floor. The fourth-story attic houses the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, and there is a commandery room just beneath the cupola.
Site
Faneuil Hall is located at Merchants Row in Downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States, on the east side of Congress Street between North Street to the north and State Street to the south. It occupies filled land that had been underwater until 1732. The building is accessed by plazas that surround it. The open spaces flanking Faneuil Hall to the north, south, and west are known as Faneuil Hall Square; the western space was historically part of Dock Square. Across Congress Street is Boston City Hall within Government Center, while to the east is the Quincy Market complex. Faneuil Hall is a stop on the Freedom Trail, a path connecting historic sites in Boston; sequentially, it is between the Old State House and Paul Revere House. Until the early 18th century, the site of Faneuil Hall adjoined Town Cove, a cove in Boston Harbor.
Exterior artwork
thumb|[[Samuel Adams, described on the 1880 statue by Anne Whitney at Faneuil Hall as "A Statesman: Incorruptible and Fearless"]]
West of the building is an 1880 sculpture of Samuel Adams. Created by Anne Whitney, the Adams sculpture is cast in bronze and is a replica of a similar sculpture at the United States Capitol. The rest of the western plaza has brick and granite pavement. The market was effectively banned in 1695, and several attempts to establish a public market over the next several decades were unsuccessful. Northern, central, and southern markets were established in 1734,
18th century
First Faneuil Hall
In 1740, colonial merchant and slave trader Peter Faneuil offered to donate a building "for a market for the sole use, benefit, and advantage of the town", provided the Boston Board of Selectmen voted in favor. Faneuil's offer also required that the market be regulated and continually used as such. The selectmen voted 367–360 to accept the offer on July 14, 1740. As it was, the vote was controversial, and citizens challenged its validity. The selectmen identified a site in Merchants Row, which had been occupied by the 1734 central market, Funded in part by profits from slave trading, the building was designed by artist John Smibert in the style of an English country market. It was built primarily by mason Joshua Blanchard and carpenter Samuel Ruggles; Faneuil Hall was originally envisioned as a single-story market house before a second story for the town government was added to the plans.
The building was substantially completed in August 1742 and opened on September 10 of that year. After some debate, the building was named Faneuil Hall for its donor, and the selectmen began hosting meetings there on October 13. The original Faneuil Hall bore similarities to 17th-century English marketplaces, along with other American colonial structures such as the Philadelphia County Courthouse and Boston's Old State House. The assembly hall could fit 1,000 people. The roof had protruding dormers
The marketplace struggled to attract customers or merchants, and the very idea of a marketplace remained controversial. The first merchant, dry goods salesman Anthony Hodgson, leased a stall there in December 1742, Most activity took place in the Great Hall, which was used for town meetings, Social events also took place there, including a celebration in 1744 and weekly concerts starting in 1747. Some of Boston's early slave auctions took place near Faneuil Hall. and the Massachusetts Governor's Council briefly moved to Faneuil Hall the next year after State House burned down. The Governor's Council moved out in 1748 once repairs to the State House were completed. though the weathervane was damaged. Many of the documents were saved; however, with nothing but the brick walls remaining, the selectmen temporarily met in any building that could accommodate them. and the Massachusetts General Court, the legislature of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, approved a lottery to raise funds for the building. Onesiphorus Tileston and several other contractors were hired to conduct repairs, which were underway by late 1761. The selectmen moved back in during October 1762, as repairs continued. The new Faneuil Hall had the same dimensions as the original structure and could fit 1,000 occupants. It had less woodwork than the original structure
After its rededication, Faneuil Hall regularly hosted speeches from pro-independence Patriots, such as Otis and Samuel Adams, and was nicknamed the "Cradle of Liberty". The selectmen allowed both Patriots and pro-British Loyalists to host events there, even while banning the British Armed Forces and the British Board of Customs from using it. In the years before the American Revolutionary War, the building was a frequent location for debates and protests against Great Britain; for instance, residents protested taxes there in the 1760s. Because of its large capacity, Faneuil Hall also began hosting sessions of the General Court of Massachusetts in 1764, Other modifications continued throughout the decade; for example, the interior was illuminated in 1767.
During the 1768 occupation of Boston, the British Armed Forces quartered their 14th Regiment there after local residents protested the Quartering Acts by forbidding British soldiers in their houses. along with regular town meetings and a concert in 1774. Following the Siege of Boston in 1775, British troops hosted theatrical shows at Faneuil Hall, and they stored munitions and weapons there. The marketplace was closed during the occupation. The British evacuated Boston in March 1776, plundering some portraits. The troops had left the building in disrepair,
Post-Revolutionary use
thumb|left|Faneuil Hall in 1776
Town meetings and gatherings at Faneuil Hall did not resume until about 1777, the year after the U.S. declared independence. The building was also used for state lotteries and banquets. The selectmen awarded several contracts for repairs to Faneuil Hall during the early 1780s, including new seats, upgraded windows, and repainting. Doors were removed from the first-floor marketplace, and portraits and busts were commissioned for the upper floors. Exterior repairs also took place during that decade, although a plan to add a bell in the cupola was not carried out. as well as the 1791 construction of the Shambles, a rudimentary marketplace annex with extra stalls.
Though Faneuil Hall remained in use primarily as a town hall and market, it found additional uses in the late 18th century; for example, cadets were granted permission to conduct military exercises in 1785. French residents were allowed to use the building for New Year's parties starting in 1795. growing in popularity after the opening of the West Boston Bridge in 1793. Many merchants participated in Faneuil Hall's events, sometimes marching in honor of events taking place there. The market was overcrowded by the end of the century, prompting the selectmen to study the feasibility of excavating a cellar in 1799. Architect Charles Bulfinch was hired to conduct this study in conjunction with Thomas Tileston–the son of the 1761 reconstruction contractor, Onesiphorus Tileston The town meetings were also becoming overcrowded and sometimes had to be moved to the Old South Church. That May, he presented plans for an expansion of Faneuil Hall. Bulfinch, who had experience designing other buildings such as the new State House, was selected to design the expansion, with Jonathan Hunnewell as the master mason. extending Smibert's existing design northward. The open arcades on the ground story were enclosed, and the cupola was moved to the east end of the new roof. Inside, a gallery was built above the assembly hall, A new headquarters for the Ancients was built on the fourth floor. The work was completed in March 1806.
thumb|Eagle statue in the Great Hall, installed 1824
The expanded building had cellars available for rent; a market on the first story; and offices for the selectmen, assessors, the Boston Board of Health, and the treasurer. The selectmen met on the second floor, and meetings were hosted in the expanded assembly room, the Great Hall. Faneuil Hall shortly began accommodating a variety of events, including anti-British protests before and during the War of 1812, along with parties and Independence Day celebrations. The Great Hall originally had benches, which were lent to the Third Baptist Church in 1811 and not apparently returned. The clerk of Faneuil Hall's market was given his own office in 1813, and a residents' patrol group was allowed to convene there starting in 1816. A bust of President John Adams was installed in the Great Hall in 1818, and a stone eagle was installed there in 1824. Meanwhile, the marketplace had again become overcrowded,
Faneuil Hall was used for town meetings until 1822, when Boston became a city and the board of selectmen was replaced by the Boston City Council. The newly established city charter prevented Faneuil Hall from being sold or leased, instead preserving it for "the free use of the people". Mayor Josiah Quincy III advocated the construction of an entirely new marketplace to the east, Quincy Market (officially known as the Faneuil Hall Market) which was constructed between 1824 and 1826. The same year, Alexander Parris, who had built the Quincy Market buildings, was hired to renovate Faneuil Hall.
1830s to early 1890s
thumb|1839 engraving of Faneuil Hall
Following the 1820s renovations, the building's tenants included goods stores, a poorhouse, and (on the upper floors) military groups. Notable speakers there included John Quincy Adams, Jefferson Davis, Frederick Douglass, and William Lloyd Garrison. Faneuil Hall was a popular meeting place for mechanics' groups, A footbridge connected Faneuil Hall to Quincy Market's central building, allowing events to be held across both buildings; Faneuil Hall also sometimes served as an emergency accommodation for displaced people or agencies. and George Healy's painting of the Webster–Hayne debate was mounted there around that time. The Great Hall had been illuminated by a single chandelier until the early 1850s, when sconces were installed at gallery level. Bryant also proposed expanding the Great Hall into the attic space; this was not carried out, although several rooms were repaired for the Ancients' use. A stair to the rostrum was built as well. Meat merchants became the primary tenants of the original Faneuil Hall, The bell was directly connected to a Boston Fire Department station, and a fire lookout rang the bell whenever there was a fire north of Boylston Street. Following the Great Boston Fire of 1872, the building hosted a post office for three months. Other modifications may have been made in the 1870s. The building was repainted early that decade, and a new rostrum and candelabras were likely installed in the Great Hall around that time. Faneuil Hall had been identified as a fire hazard as early as 1875, though nothing happened for two decades other than the relocation of some paintings. The cupola was leaning by 1894, and Boston's fire commissioner had directed that the fire lookout stop ringing Faneuil Hall's bell. and Damrell wrote in a report the next year that the building was vulnerable to fire.
1890s fireproofing
By 1898, the building commissioner's office had condemned the property as a "fire trap" four times in fourteen years. Although an appropriation to fix the property had been pending since 1892, the City Council had not approved it. The attic was also sagging, despite efforts to shore it up. The Ancients, which were forced to relocate elsewhere within the building, Historical societies and other local organizations advocated for Faneuil Hall's renovation, citing the building's historical significance. The idea of rebuilding Faneuil Hall was finally taken seriously after the fatal Merrimac Street fire of 1898. The City Council allocated $80,000 for reconstructing Faneuil Hall with fireproof material; the allocation was ultimately increased to $103,000.