Massachusetts State Building
Architect: Peabody & Stearns, Boston, Massachusetts
Area: 7,064
Cost: $44,000
Picturesque World’s Fair, An Elaborate Collection of Colored Views—Published with the Endorsement and Approval of George R. Davis, 1894
MASSACHUSETTS BUILDING.—Typical of the history and character of the Old Bay State was the Massachusetts Building, which stood just east of New York on the broad roadway leading east from the Fifty-seventh street entrance to the grounds. It was in the old Colonial style and, as nearly as was practicable, a duplicate of the historic John Hancock residence which, until within comparatively recent years, was one of Boston’s landmarks. The building was three-stories in height, the exterior of staff an imitation of cut granite and, like its original, was surrounded by a terrace raised above the street, having a fenced in fore-court in front planted with old-fashioned flowers and plants. It was this court, with its flowers so familiar in childhood to thousands of the men who have made the West, that appealed very pleasantly to hosts of minds. The idea was entirely in keeping with the house itself. The main entrance opened into a large hallway with a tiled floor, and faced a broad colonial staircase leading to the second story. The post-office and general reception room on the right was what might have been expected from the exterior view. Its marble floor, tiled walls, uncovered beams and high mantel were all in the style of what our forefathers would have considered an ideal mansion. On the left of the hallway were two large parlors. The second floor, somewhat similarly divided, was given over to women, and the third was occupied by servants. There were in the various apartments many quaint and interesting exhibits of colonial times.
Massachusetts State Building
Massachusetts completes the group of New England States and this section of the Park. Its building is a reproduction of the residence of John Hancock, which stood on Beacon Hill, in Boston. It is three stories high, surrounded in the centre by a cupola, and the exterior finished in staff in imitation of cut granite. Above the cupola is a flagstaff with a gilded codfish for a weathervane, and a liberty pole eighty-five feet high stands in the front porch. The house is surrounded by a raised terrace filled in front upon one side with old-fashioned flowers and foliage.
The main entrance to the building opens into a spacious hall with a tiled floor, and facing it is a broad colonial stairway leading to the rooms above. The front parlor is furnished by the Essex Institute, an old historical society.
The floor of the general reception room is of marble, and its walls are covered with tiles, the beams and rafters being bare, and the mantel high, as in the old Dutch houses of New York and Pennsylvania as well as of western Massachusetts. Peabody & Stearns, of Boston, were the architects of the building, and the cost was $50,000.
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