Worcester City Hall and Common

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Worcester City Hall and Common
City Hall viewed from Worcester Common
Worcester City Hall and Common is located in Massachusetts
Location: 455 Main St., Worcester, Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°15′44″N 71°48′6″W / 42.26222°N 71.80167°W / 42.26222; -71.80167Coordinates: 42°15′44″N 71°48′6″W / 42.26222°N 71.80167°W / 42.26222; -71.80167
Built: 1669 (1898)
Architect: Peabody & Stearns
Architectural style: Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals
Governing body: Local
MPS: Worcester MRA
NRHP Reference#:

78001405

[1]
Added to NRHP: March 29, 1978

Worcester City Hall and Common is a historic city hall and town common at 455 Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts.

The Common, established in 1669, originally encompassed about 20 acres (8.1 ha), compared to its 4.4 acres (1.8 ha) at present.[2] A meeting house used for both town meetings and religious functions was constructed on the Common in 1719, on the same site as the current City Hall. In 1763, the first meeting house was demolished and what became known as The Old South Meeting House was constructed on the site. It was here, on July 14, 1776, that Isaiah Thomas publicly read the Declaration of Independence for the first time in New England.

Worcester City Hall was designed by Peabody & Stearns and completed in 1898. It was partly modeled after the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy.[3] City Hall is currently the 4th tallest building in Worcester.

Near the center of the Common is the meeting house's burial ground, marked by gravestones and the Bigelow Monument. The Soldiers' Monument, located near the northeast corner of the Common, honors the 398 Worcester soldiers killed in the American Civil War. The Burnside Fountain, located near the southeast corner of the Common, provided water for horses, and features the sculpture Boy with a Turtle, commonly known as "Turtle Boy."

The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.[1]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. 
  2. ^ City of Worcester, Parks Dept.
  3. ^ Worcester's City Hall Worcester and its People, College of the Holy Cross
Preceded by
Old State Mutual Building		 Tallest Building in Worcester
1898—1971
69m		 Succeeded by
100 Front Street
Topics
Lists by states
Lists by insular areas
Lists by associated states
Other areas


This article about a National Register of Historic Places listing in Worcester County, Massachusetts is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Worcester_City_Hall_and_Common&oldid=532591023"