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Worcester City Hall and Common
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City Hall viewed from Worcester Common
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| Location: | 455 Main St., Worcester, Massachusetts |
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| 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) of land compared to its 4.4 acres (1.8 ha) at present.[2] The Burnside Fountain, also known as Turtle Boy, is located on the edge of the common.
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 in its stead. It was here, on July 14, 1776 that Isaiah Thomas publicly read the Declaration of Independence for the first time in New England. The current Worcester City Hall was designed by Peabody & Stearns and completed in 1898. It was partly modeled after the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy.[3]
The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.[1]
City hall is currently the 4th tallest building in Worcester.
| Preceded by Old State Mutual Building |
Tallest Building in Worcester 1898—1971 69m |
Succeeded by 100 Front Street |
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