Share 2020 Octoberfest - Bucket

[NEF Said]

Day 25 bucket: BOSTON Part 1.

Old City Hall

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From Wikipedia...
"...was home to its city council from 1865 to 1969. It was one of the first buildings in the French Second Empire style to be built in the United States." It has a ton of architectural details as detailed here.

Old South Meeting House

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From Wikipedia...
"The meeting house or church was completed in 1729, with its 56 m (183 ft) steeple. The congregation was gathered in 1669 when it broke off from First Church of Boston, a Congregational church founded by John Winthrop in 1630. The site was a gift of Mrs. Norton, widow of John Norton, pastor of the First Church in Boston.[3] The church's first pastor was Rev. Thomas Thatcher, a native of Salisbury, England. Thatcher was also a physician and is known for publishing the first medical tract in Massachusetts.

After the Boston Massacre in 1770, yearly anniversary meetings were held at the church until 1775, featuring speakers such as John Hancock and Dr. Joseph Warren. In 1773, 5,000 people met in the Meeting House to debate British taxation and, after the meeting, a group raided three tea ships anchored nearby in what became known as the Boston Tea Party.

In October 1775, led by Lt Col Samuel Birch of the 17th Dragoons, the British occupied the Meeting House due to its association with the Revolutionary cause. They gutted the building, filled it with dirt, and then used the interior to practice horse riding. They destroyed much of the interior and stole various items, including William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation (1620), a unique Pilgrim manuscript hidden in Old South's tower. After the British evacuated Boston, the plan for rebuilding the interior of the church was drawn by Thomas Dawes.

Old South Meeting House was almost destroyed in the Great Boston Fire of 1872, saved by the timely arrival of a fire engine from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, but the fire caused the city's residential districts to shift toward the Back Bay, away from the church."

Old State House (back view of building in main thread)

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More info on this in my main thread.

 

[NEF Said]

Day 25 bucket: BOSTON Part 2

Faneuil Hall

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From Wikipedia (this area has a controversial history)...
"Faneuil Hall (/ˈfænjəl/ or /ˈfænəl/; previously /ˈfʌnəl/) is a marketplace and meeting hall located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts. Opened in 1743, it was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain. It is now part of Boston National Historical Park and a well-known stop on the Freedom Trail. It is sometimes referred to as "the Cradle of Liberty".

...
After the project of erecting a public market house in Boston had been discussed for some years, slave merchant Peter Faneuil offered, at a public meeting in 1740, to build a suitable edifice at his own cost as a gift to the town. There was a strong opposition to market houses,[citation needed] and although a vote of thanks was passed unanimously, his offer was accepted by a majority of only seven. Funded in part by profits from slave trading, the building was begun in Dock Square in September of the same year. It was built by artist John Smibert in 1740–1742 in the style of an English country market, with an open ground floor serving as the market house, and an assembly room above. According to Sean Hennessey, a National Park Service spokesman, some of Boston's early slave auctions took place near Faneuil Hall.

In 1761, the hall was destroyed by fire, with nothing but the brick walls remaining. It was rebuilt by the town in 1762. In 1775, during the British occupation of Boston, it was used for a theatre.

In 1806, the hall was greatly expanded by Charles Bulfinch, doubling its height and width and adding a third floor. Four new bays were added, to make seven in all; the open arcades were enclosed, and the cupolawas moved to the opposite end of the building. Bulfinch applied Doric brick pilasters to the lower two floors, with Ionic pilasters on the third floor. This renovation added galleries around the assembly hall and increased its height. Neighboring Quincy Market was constructed in 1824–1826. Faneuil Hall was entirely rebuilt of noncombustible materials in 1898–1899.
...
On Friday in early August 1890, one of the first black Republican legislators of Boston, Julius Caesar Chappelle, made a speech "At the Cradle of Liberty" in support of the Federal Elections bill that would help give Black people the right to vote. Chappelle was a Boston legislator from 1883–1886."

Dome inside Faneuil Hall

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[acnomad]

Old City Hall

Old South Meeting House

Old State House (back view of building in main thread)

Faneuil Hall

Dome inside Faneuil Hall

I have so many fond memories of the time I lived near Boston. Thanks for sharing these images and reawakening them.

 

[acnomad]

No gators at this spot today, but the rain was coming (as it always seems to do in South Florida), so I tried a quick pano, which I knew would not be my keeper for the day, but I took it anyway - because it's fun!

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Five images captured in portrait orientation, merged in Lightroom. You can see by the alternating vertical stripes of bright and dark areas that the W-Nikkor vignettes a bit even at f/8. This could have been corrected easily in each individual image before merging, but not worth the trouble for this particular image.

 

[NEF Said]

Day 25 Bucket: Boston Part 3 (final)

Quincy Market

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From Wikipedia...
"By the time Boston was incorporated as a city in 1822, downtown commercial demand had grown beyond the capacity of Faneuil Hall. To provide an expansion of shop space Quincy Market was built, as an indoor pavilion of vendor stalls.

Designed by Alexander Parris, the main building was built immediately east of and "behind" Faneuil Hall which at the time sat next to the waterfront at the town dock. In an early example of Boston's tendency for territorial growth via landfill, part of the harbor was filled in with dirt to provide a plot of land for the market. The commercial growth spawned by the new marketplace led to the reconstruction or addition of six city streets.

From its beginning, the Market was largely used as a produce and foodstuff shopping center, with various grocers of such goods as eggs, cheese, and bread lining its inside walls. Digging performed for expansion of the market in the late 1970s uncovered evidence of animal bones, suggesting that butchering work was done on-site. In addition, street vendors took up space outside the building in its plazas and against its outside walls. Some surviving signs of early food and supplies merchants hang today in the upstairs seating hall.

The market is two stories tall, 535 feet (163 m) long, and covers 27,000 square feet (2,500 m2) of land. Its exterior is largely granite, with red brick interior walls, and represents the first large-scale use of granite and glass in post-and-beam construction. Within, it employs innovative cast iron columns and iron tension rods. The east and west facades exhibit a strong Romanstyle, with strong triangular pediments and Doric columns. In contrast, the sides of the hall are more modern and American, with rows of rectangular windows.

The building's shape is a long rectangle, providing for a long hallway down its center line. On the roof are eight evenly spaced chimneys, and a copper-based dome in the center of the building, which covers an open common seating area and the major side entrances.

The main building is flanked on either side by 4 1⁄2-story brick and granite buildings, called the North Market and South Market."

The Freedom Trail

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From Wikipedia...
"The Freedom Trail is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) path through downtown Boston, Massachusetts, that passes by 16 locations significant to the history of the United States. Marked largely with brick, it winds between Boston Common to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. Stops along the trail include simple explanatory ground markers, graveyards, notable churches and buildings, and a historic naval frigate."

Sears Crescent Building

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From Wikipedia...
"Sears' Crescent was constructed in 1816 as a series of Federal period commercial rowhouses. Around 1860 these were given a unified curving facade with Italianate styling. The Sears' Block, built in 1848, is a rare surviving instance of granite post-and-lintel construction. Both buildings were developed by David Sears, a leading mid-19th-century developer of Boston who was responsible for the filling of Back Bay. They are the only buildings that remain on the original route of Cornhill, one of Boston's oldest streets, most of whose route has been lost or obscured by urban renewal."

 

[NEF Said]

No gators at this spot today, but the rain was coming (as it always seems to do in South Florida), so I tried a quick pano, which I knew would not be my keeper for the day, but I took it anyway - because it's fun!
View attachment 1672816
Five images captured in portrait orientation, merged in Lightroom. You can see by the alternating vertical stripes of bright and dark areas that the W-Nikkor vignettes a bit even at f/8. This could have been corrected easily in each individual image before merging, but not worth the trouble for this particular image.

Ominous looking weather in the shot. Great capture.

 

[Kry27]

So beautiful, colorful, sunny days theae are... Oh. One week, and it's November already...


Fall Colors / This is an RGB image

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Apple tree joining the fun

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Yet another wooden piece of art

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[acnomad]

Wonderful photos, Roland.

 

[NEF Said]

So beautiful, colorful, sunny days theae are... Oh. One week, and it's November already...


Fall Colors / This is an RGB image

View attachment 1672842


Apple tree joining the fun

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Yet another wooden piece of art

View attachment 1672841

Nice set. The woodwork is my favorite of the three.

 

[NEF Said]

Day 26 bucket for York Maine

Obligatory Town Hall

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From a historical marker...
"First built in 1733 as the York County Court House, this building was condemned as unsafe in 1811 and a new two story building 40 feet by 50 feet in size was built to replace it. In 1832 after years of controversy the County Court was moved from York to Alfred where it still exists today. The building was remodeled in 1872 and in 1893 a 16 foot addition was added to the back side representing the building you see in front of you today. The building was originally painted gray with dark green trim and shutters.

The Town Hall has been the site of the towns administrative offices since the mid 19th century..."

Emerson-Wilcox House

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From the York Historical Society website...
"For more than 250 years, the Emerson-Wilcox House served as a general store, stage tavern, tailor shop, post office, and home. Now part of the Old York Historical Society, it is a house museum offering a series of ten period rooms ranging in date from 1750 to 1850, and a small exhibition gallery. The dwelling is typical of the vernacular Georgian architecture of Southern Maine. Built in 1742 by George Ingraham, the small center chimney house consisted of a parlor, hall, and two bedchambers. The subsequent owner, Edward Emerson, expanded the house in 1760, by moving a 1710 structure from elsewhere in town. This created the “L” shaped building seen today. A final addition in 1817 brought the total number of rooms to fifteen. Today, the house is interpreted to tell the stories of the families who lived here, from their challenges to earn a living, to their attempts to create comfort at the edge of American civilization."

The Old Gaol

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From a historical marker...
"...It is thought to be the earliest surviving British Colonial public structure still standing on its original site in North America. Construction started in 1719, beginning with a two room stone walled structure. It incorporated timbers from an earlier jail built in 1653 here in York and was enveloped in later additions of the eighteenth century which gave it the distinctive gambrel form roof that now covers the structure.

The title of Gaol (pronounced "jail") has been associated with the building since it was built as the King's Prison for the Province of Maine, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It originally served as the point of incarceration for all prisoners apprehended between the Piscataqua and St. John Rivers, Maine's southernmost and northernmost borders. Although few, there are documented records of escapes. It remained Maine's primary prison until the period just before the Revolution, and then served as a York County jail until about 1860...."

 

[NEF Said]

Day 26 bucket: York Maine part II...

McIntire Garrision House

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Built by settlers for defense against Native American attacks, Wikipedia has...
"It is a two-story log structure, sheathed in wooden clapboards, with a side-gable roof pierced by a central chimney. The second floor projects slightly over the first floor on all four sides, one side of which has been fitted with a trapdoor to see below. The walls are constructed out of sawn logs 7.5 inches (19 cm) thick, and dovetailed together at the corners. The interior is very plain, with wooden floors, paneled walls, and unfinished ceilings. The extant windows are a later modification, and do not reflect period fenestration.

Traditional sources long maintained that the construction date of this house was in 1645. However, architectural analysis in the 20th century has shown that it was built using methods not adopted until the early 18th century. These types of houses were relatively common in southern Maine during the colonial period, when it was regularly subjected to attack by Native American forces (sometimes with French participation). The building would not have been finished in clapboard at that time. The building was subjected to a "restoration" by early architectural preservationists in the early 20th century,[3] and more historically-informed restoration later in the 20th century."

Captain John Bennett House

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Stumbled across this building with a bunch of businesses in it and was taken by the architecture. Sign a the location had a picture of a sailing ship and the name "Captain John Bennett House". I couldn't find any historical info on the person.

First Parish Church building...

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This was another mystery. The markers talk about the First Parish Church being the oldest religious society in continuous existence in Maine. They talk about several buildings, one built in 1635 as a meeting house. Then, another in 1667, and then a third in 1712 and indicate it is the steepled building that is to the right of this building. They talk about a fourth building in 1747 that replaced the third building and they have a drawing of the steepled building. I'm not sure if this is the first or second building.

 

[jbailey930]

Day 26 bucket: York Maine part II...

McIntire Garrision House
View attachment 1672896
Built by settlers for defense against Native American attacks, Wikipedia has...
"It is a two-story log structure, sheathed in wooden clapboards, with a side-gable roof pierced by a central chimney. The second floor projects slightly over the first floor on all four sides, one side of which has been fitted with a trapdoor to see below. The walls are constructed out of sawn logs 7.5 inches (19 cm) thick, and dovetailed together at the corners. The interior is very plain, with wooden floors, paneled walls, and unfinished ceilings. The extant windows are a later modification, and do not reflect period fenestration.

Traditional sources long maintained that the construction date of this house was in 1645. However, architectural analysis in the 20th century has shown that it was built using methods not adopted until the early 18th century. These types of houses were relatively common in southern Maine during the colonial period, when it was regularly subjected to attack by Native American forces (sometimes with French participation). The building would not have been finished in clapboard at that time. The building was subjected to a "restoration" by early architectural preservationists in the early 20th century,[3] and more historically-informed restoration later in the 20th century."

Captain John Bennett House
View attachment 1672897
Stumbled across this building with a bunch of businesses in it and was taken by the architecture. Sign a the location had a picture of a sailing ship and the name "Captain John Bennett House". I couldn't find any historical info on the person.

First Parish Church building...
View attachment 1672898
This was another mystery. The markers talk about the First Parish Church being the oldest religious society in continuous existence in Maine. They talk about several buildings, one built in 1635 as a meeting house. Then, another in 1667, and then a third in 1712 and indicate it is the steepled building that is to the right of this building. They talk about a fourth building in 1747 that replaced the third building and they have a drawing of the steepled building. I'm not sure if this is the first or second building.

I too appreciate your photography of these buildings and the background you provided from the Wiki's. Your photo journey for the meme is very good inspiration.

 

[acnomad]

There's an element missing in this photograph (I really thought I knew the train schedule):

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[Palouse]

Paul, these last several Bucket dumps, are true winners all. Such a variety, and I do love the Gaol! Stunners in every way.

 

[Hylander]

Old Boston City Hall is reminiscent of the Old Executive Office Building in Washington DC next to the White House -- a Second Empire stucture. New Boston City Hall is a brutalist monstrosity. Not all brutalist buildings are hideous, but this one is.

I have a suggestion. Since you may have a day to fill after you tackle cities in New Hampshire, why don't you head down to Ipswich MA with your 28/2.8 AIS, where there is a significant number of 17th century houses, some of which I believe are still occupied as residences (as well as many structures from the 18th and following centuries)?

Or you could go down there after you've finished your Oktoberfest portfolio and create a new thread.

https://historicipswich.org/17th-century-houses-in-ipswich-massachusetts/

https://historicipswich.org/first-period-houses/

 

[NEF Said]

Paul, these last several Bucket dumps, are true winners all. Such a variety, and I do love the Gaol! Stunners in every way.

I saw the building name and was really curious as to what Gaol was. I clearly knew that it wasn’ta soccer term...goooooal!

 

[NEF Said]

Old Boston City Hall is reminiscent of the Old Executive Office Building in Washington DC next to the White House -- a Second Empire stucture. New Boston City Hall is a brutalist monstrosity. Not all brutalist buildings are hideous, but this one is.

I have a suggestion. Since you may have a day to fill after you tackle cities in New Hampshire, why don't you head down to Ipswich MA with your 28/2.8 AIS, where there is a significant number of 17th century houses, some of which I believe are still occupied as residences (as well as many structures from the 18th and following centuries)?

Or you could go down there after you've finished your Oktoberfest portfolio and create a new thread.

https://historicipswich.org/17th-century-houses-in-ipswich-massachusetts/

https://historicipswich.org/first-period-houses/

Interesting idea. I think I’ll have a full schedule with cities for Oktoberfest (and hope weather holds out - rain and snow coming), but will be an interesting place to visit sometime. I don’t think I’ve ever been there.

 

[NEF Said]

Day 27 bucket: Concord New Hampshire Part 1 of 3...

Governor Frank West Rollin's House

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From Wikipedia...
"It is a 2-1/2 story wood frame structure, with an L-shaped layout and a cross-gabled roof. The exterior is finished in wooden shingles. The gable ends project beyond the many body, with a flare at the base. Window bays project in several places, and the entrance is sheltered by a gabled porch. The interior is lavishly decorated in Colonial Revival woodwork. On the third floor is a bedroom that was designed to resemble a ship's cabin.

The house was built in 1890, and is one of the city's unparalleled examples of Shingle and Colonial Revival architecture. It was designed by the Boston firm of Andrews, Jaques & Rantoul, and was featured in New Hampshire Homes for its elegance and attention to detail. The "Ship Room" was designed by the naval architects Burgess and Packard, again with meticulous attention to detail. Rollins, a native of Rollinsford, was a successful banker when entered politics in 1894, serving a single term as Governor of New Hampshire in 1899-1900."

Henry J. Crippen House

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From Wikipedia...
"It is a 2-1/2 story masonry structure, with a mansard roof providing a full third floor in the attic level. The front facade is symmetrically arranged, with a pair of entry doors under a portico supported by wooden piers with recessed panel bases and brackets beneath the dentiled cornice. The doors and windows are all topped by segmented arches with cast iron keystones. The cornice of the roof is studded with paired heavy brackets and equally heavy dentil molding. Above the mansard portion of the roof is another band of molding. The paired entries are flanked on either side by projecting bays that rise a full two stories, and are topped in the mansard layer by dormers with projecting hoods. The south elevation of the house is distinguished from the north by the presence of a two-story half octagonal tower projection, in front of which is a side porch with ornately decorated balustrade and supports; the north facade has a simple two story projecting bay.

The house was built about 1879 by Lorenzo Brown, who sold one of its two units in 1878, and the other in 1879. The house is typical of mid-19th century Second Empire buildings that once lined North Main Street in larger numbers; most of them have either been demolished or altered significantly. The second unit's buyer was Henry J. Crippen, an English immigrant who became a prominent local railroad financier and educator. The Crippen family owned the house until 1955. In 1982, it underwent a historically sensitive rehabilitation for use as professional offices."

Lewis Downing Jr. House

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From Wikipedia...
"The house is basically rectangular, with cross-gable sections projecting from the sides. Its notable features include the paired brackets in the eaves, the chimneys, and the side porch, which retains some of its original styling despite 20th-century repairs and replacements. A late-19th-century garage at the rear of the property also has decorative touches such as bracketed eaves, and a side entrance framed by arched latticework.

This house was built in 1851 for Lewis Downing Jr., president of the Abbot-Downing Company, a nationally known manufacturer of coaches, and is the only surviving building associated with that business. It is a modest example of Italianate architecture, and is typical of Concord's mid-19th-century upper-middle-class residential construction. Downing's father had established a carriage-making business in Concord in 1813. In 1826, Downing Sr. and partner J. Stephen Abbott developed the very successful Concord coach. Downing Jr. took the helm of his father's business in 1865 and oversaw its greatest period of growth, opening shops in New York and Vermont, and selling products internationally as far away as Africa and Australia. His house, in which he lived until his death in 1901, remained in the family until 1919, and now houses professional offices."

 

[NEF Said]

Day 27 bucket: Concord New Hampshire Part 2 of 3...

Horace Chamberlain House

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From Wikipedia...
"The 2-1/2 story wood frame Queen Anne Victorian was built in 1886 by Horace Chamberlin, superintendent of the local division of the Boston and Maine Railroad. Although the house was probably built from mail-order plans (a popular way to acquire building plans at the time), it exhibits a wealth of Queen Anne and Shingle Style decoration, both inside and out. The house has a hip roof, but there are numerous projections, including a turret with conical roof on the right side of the front facade. The left side has a single story porch, decorated with Stick style balustrades both below and above the roof. Above the porch is a projecting bay window which is topped by a large gable that extends over the splayed corners of the bay, where there are curved brackets. The gable front is sheathed in decoratively cut shingles, with a small square window in the center.

The house remained in the Chamberlin family until Horace's wife died in 1918. Since the family had no children, she donated the property to the Concord Women's Club, of which she had been a longtime member. The club uses the building as its clubhouse; its interior, which is rich in detailed woodwork and styling, has been only modestly altered to accommodate the club's needs"

Endicott Hotel

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From Wikipedia...
"It is a four-story brick building, with a basement that is partially exposed due to the lot's sloping terrain. Its most prominent feature is the oriel tower at the northwest corner, a signature element of Damon Brothers design. The ground-floor storefronts facing South Main Street are finished in black tile, an Art Deco alteration of the 1940s, which are the only major exterior alteration. The main building entrance is recessed in the center of the South Main Street facade, with an arched window above it on the second floor, and a heavily bracketed balcony on the third floor. The rightmost window bay has a projecting oriel bay on the second and third floors.

The building was completed in 1894 to a design by the regionally notable Damon Brothers architects. It was the city's first large commercial building south of Pleasant Street, and the first devoted exclusively to commercial activities. (The earlier buildings included civic and social meeting spaces on upper levels.) Its exterior has undergone only modest alterations.[2] The building's first owner was George Blanchard, under whose ownership it was used for commercial and office space. In 1908 it was purchased by John Butler Smith, who converted it to a hotel serving travelers arriving at the nearby railroad station, and gave the building its present name. In 1985 the upper floors were converted to apartments."

Merrimack County Bank

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From Wikipedia...
"The three story brick Federal style building was built in 1826 to house the offices of the Merrimack County Bank on the first floor, law offices on the second floor, and a public meeting space above. In 1840, the upper floor was taken over by the New Hampshire Historical Society for use as a library. The Society significantly altered the interior in the early 20th century to convert this space for display purposes. In 1952 the building was acquired by the Christian Mutual Life Insurance Company, which restored the interior to its original Federal appearance, and sold the building to a law firm in the 1970s. The building also housed the law offices of future president Franklin Pierce.
...
Its most distinctive external feature is its stepped gable ends. The five bays on the front facade are demarcated by blind arches that are slightly recessed from the main facade. Its center entry is sheltered by a pillared wooden portico added in 1921 by architect Guy Lowell as part of the Society's alterations."

 

[NEF Said]

Day 27 bucket: Concord New Hampshire Part 3 of 3...

County Courthouse

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From Wikipedia...
"The site where the courthouse stands has been used for civic purposes since 1790, when Concord, then a town, built a townhouse on the site. That building was enlarged in 1823 when Merrimack County was created, with Concord as its shire town. That building served both town and county functions until 1855. The present building was built in response to the need for more space by both governments, and was completed in 1857 to a design by New Hampshire native Joshua Foster. That design had more Classical Revival features than the building has now, with a mainly granite exterior, a 33-foot (10 m) dome on top and an arcaded front porch across the facade.

The building served both city and county in that form until 1904, when the city sold its interest in the building to the county, and built a new city hall. The county then decided to renovate rather than replace the building, work which was completed in 1907. Significant alterations included the removal of the dome and arcade, construction of the Renaissance entry pavilion, and refacing the exterior in brick.[2] A modern wing was added to the front (east side) of the building in the 20th century."

New Hampshire State Library

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From their web site...
"The present state library building, built in 1895 of native granite, is one of the complex of buildings comprising the center of state government in Concord. Flanked by shrubs, it bears the name of the state in Latin on its facade. Aptly titled, it serves all branches of state government as well as all citizens of the state.

The beginnings of the State Library were in 1717 and it is generally considered to be the oldest such institution in the United States. In colonial times, the British government sent over its statutory commands in great folios which were preserved, and moved about as the seat of government changed from one place to another. In 1777 Congress passed a resolution recommending "to the several states to order their statute laws and the additions that may be made thereto to be sent to Congress and to each of the states together with all discoveries and improvements in the arts of war made in such states respectively." This is done today, as in the 18th century.

When the present capitol was completed at Concord, in 1819, the books owned by the State were allotted to a room. To the laws and journals of the Province and State, the public documents of the United States, then small in number, had been added; and volume one of the New Hampshire court reports was just appearing from the press. Four years later, the Legislature of 1823 authorized and appropriated $100 annually, requesting the Governor "to purchase such books for the enlargement of the state library as he may think proper." An act of 1826 provided for the purchase of "one copy of the Journal of the Senate and House of Representatives for each session since the adoption of the present constitution."

By 1828 the modest accommodations had been outgrown and the north side of the state house was made into a library. In 1833 the first regular librarian was appointed, but to serve only during sessions of the Legislature. In 1846 the Secretary of State was made librarian ex officio and the first catalog was printed.

Many towns throughout the state had begun to set up their own libraries, but these were "social" or "parlor" so called and were supported by subscriptions or memberships. There were some that were part of local academies; some were in factories or places of business; but in Peterborough, in 1833, the first Free Public Library in the world to be supported by taxation was established. The library spirit proved to be so compelling that by 1849 a law was passed permitting towns to appropriate money for the purchase of books and the maintenance of a building for the use of its people. New Hampshire, the first state to pass such a law, made libraries sure of some measure of public support.

1866 marked the establishment by Legislative Act of the State Library as a separate department with a librarian, a Board of Trustees, and rooms on the west side of the capitol. In 1889 the first Library Association in the country was incorporated, its purpose to be the promotion of the efficiency and usefulness of libraries to cultivate fellowship among its members. Two years later a Library Commission was formed, by act of the General Court. With its four members, and the State Librarian an ex officio member, the Commission served to advise libraries and give assistance. They were also permitted to aid in the establishment of free public libraries with state aid, by giving books to the value of $100."

Old Post Office

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From Wikipedia...
"It is a large two-story granite structure, built in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, with a Chateauesque hip roof crowned by iron cresting. The walls are finished in a rough-hewn texture, although the walls of the raised basement are smooth. The main facade faces east, and is dominated by an arcade of three squat Gothic arches supported by smooth round pillars.

The main portion of the building was built between 1884 and 1889 for the federal government to a design by James Riggs Hill, the United States Treasury Department's Supervising Architect. The building was twice extended, in 1913 and 1938. When first built, it housed not only the post office, but other federal offices and the federal district court. The federal government occupied the building until 1967. The building was afterward acquired by the state and converted for use as legislative offices."