Old State House

The Old State House is an historic government building located at the intersection of Washington and State Streets in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Built in 1713, it is the oldest surviving public building in Boston, and the seat of the state's legislature until 1798. It is now a history museum operated by the Bostonian Society, a nonprofit whose primary focus is the museum. It is one of many historic landmarks that can be visited along the Freedom Trail. Today's brick Old State House was built in 1712–13, possibly designed by Robert Twelves; the previous building, the wooden Town House... of 1657, had burned in the fire of 1711. One notable feature of the building was the pair of seven-foot tall wooden figures depicting a lion and a unicorn; The Lion and the Unicorn are symbols of the British monarchy. The building housed a Merchant's Exchange on the first floor and warehouses in the basement. On the second floor, the east side contained the Council Chamber of the Royal Governor while the west end of the second floor contained chambers for the Courts of Suffolk County and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
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