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"Faneuil Hall Boston, the Cradle of Liberty,
has a greater historical interest than any other building in the United
States, save Independence Hall in Philadelphia. It was built at the
expense of
Peter Faneuil, a wealthy merchant of French descent, and given by
him to the town. The building was completed in September 1742, with
the people voting that it be called 'Faneuil Hall' forever. On March
3, 1748, Faneuil died, and the first public gathering in the new hall was on
the occasion of the eulogy of him on March 14th 1748. Faneuil was buried in the
Granary Burying Ground.
The building was almost destroyed by fire on January 18, 1761. It was re-built, with the funds being in part raised by a lottery authorized by the
state. The lottery tickets bore the ample signature of John Hancock. When re-opened on March 14, 1763,
James Otis Jr. delivered an address dedicating the hall in the cause of liberty, and so it has been
ever called the Cradle of Liberty. In 1805, the building was considerably enlarged.
In the tumultuous times before the Revolution, the hall was the scene of the most excited public meetings, and the great patriot orators of that day sounded from its
platform. On the morning of March 6th 1770, following the
Boston Massacre,
the first public meeting was held in Faneuil Hall, packed from entrance to platform. Witnesses of the Massacre described the events, and Samuel Adams gave an impassioned speech. Adams was appointed to lead a committee to strongly urge the lieutenant
governor to remove all British troops, or the safety of the citizens and soldiers would be
compromised.
In 1772, the first Committee of
Correspondence was established here by a motion by Samuel Adams, and
contained the premises of the Revolution, which Loyalists of that time state
to be the origin of the rebellion. On November 29, 1773, the first meeting
in protest of the imposed tea tax took place at Faneuil Hall. A vote was
taken, and it was resolved that ‘as the town of Boston, in a full legal
meeting, has resolved to do the utmost in its power to prevent the landing
of the tea.’ Because of limited space for the crowds, meetings were
often moved to the Old South Meeting House. During the occupation of Boston in 1774, the hall was used as a theatre for British officers.
The
gilded grasshopper—the vane upon the cupola of the building—is said to been
selected to imitate the one upon the pinnacle of the Royal Exchange in London. Just past Faneuil Hall, along the Freedom Trail, is Curley Park, the
Holocaust Memorial,
Ebenezer Hancock House, and the
Boston Stone. A statue of
Samuel Adams is located on the Congress Street side of Faneuil Hall.
Within Fanueil Hall are several
specialty stores, and you can actually shop in the building as you could
a hundred years or more before.
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Contact Information
Phone Number: 617.242.5642
Web Address: www.nps.gov/...
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