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Top 10 Outstanding Facts about the Faneuil Hall Marketplace

Faneuil Hall Marketplace is a marketplace and meeting hall located near the waterfront and today’s Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts.

It has over 70 retailers and 40 office tenants occupy the 200,000 square feet of retail and 160,000 square feet of space on Boston鈥檚 iconic mixed use festival marketplace.

Four historic buildings constitute Faneuil Hall Marketplace; Faneuil Hall, North Market, Quincy Market, and South Market adjacent to the east of Faneuil Hall, and which operates as an indoor/outdoor mall and food eatery.

Boston area locals often use the term Faneuil to refer to the entire surrounding neighborhood, particularly as a landmark for its vibrant nightlife.

Below are the top 10 outstanding facts about the Faneuil Hall Marketplace;

1. Profits from slave trading were part of the funding used in the construction of the hall.

Peter Faneuil – Wikipedia

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. He intended the brick building to be a centre of commerce, a function which it still fulfills today.

The building was begun in Dock Square in September of the same year. It was built by artist John Smibert in the style of an English country market, with an open ground floor serving as the market house, and an assembly room above. It opened its doors in September 1742.

According to Sean Hennessey, a National Park Service spokesman, some of Boston’s early slave auctions took place near Faneuil Hall.

2. Faneuil Hall Marketplace was destroyed by a devastating fire.

James Otis Jr. – Wikipedia

On January 18, 1761, a fire destroyed most of Faneuil Hall, with nothing but the brick walls remaining. The interior was rebuilt and expanded in 1762 true to Smybert鈥檚 original design and re-opened on March 14, 1763, with James Otis, Jr. delivering an address.

James Otis Jr. was an American lawyer, political activist, pamphleteer, and legislator in Boston, a member of the Massachusetts provincial assembly, and an early advocate of the Patriot views against the policy of Parliament which led to the American Revolution.

Faneuil Hall was rebuilt with funds raised in part by a state authorized lottery. The lottery tickets were signed by John Hancock.

3. Additional changes to Faneuil Hall Marketplace

Charles Bulfinch – Wikipedia

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 cupola was 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.

Faneuil Hall was entirely rebuilt of noncombustible materials in 1898鈥�1899.

4. It served an important historical role in the build up to the American War of Independence

Faneuil Hall during the American War – Fallout Wiki

The American War of Independence also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, secured a United States of America independent of Great Britain.

In 1764, Faneuil Hall was the scene of the first protest against British laws, specifically objecting to the Stamp Act and the Sugar Act, followed by further demonstrations against British legislation up to 1774.

The hall was used for town meeting until 1822. Several famous Americans gave rousing speeches at Faneuil Hall, including Samuel Adams, whose statue stands at its entrance.

One of the first black Republican legislators of Boston, Julius Caesar Chappelle, made a speech in Faneuil Hall in support of the Federal Elections bill that would help give Black people the right to vote.

5. Faneuil Hall is nicknamed the 鈥淐radle of Liberty鈥�

Samuel Adams – Wikipedia

The cradle of liberty typically refers to the home, birthplace or origin of freedom. The Faneuil Hall is considered as the 鈥淐radle of Liberty鈥� as during the eighteenth century that Faneuil Hall served an important historical role in the build up to the American War of Independence.

 It was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain. Pre-Revolutionary war meetings were held in its second-floor meeting rooms. The meeting room was first used in 1764.

6. The Hall was used to detect spies during the American Revolution

Faneuil Hall, grasshopper – Flickr

The weather vane on top of Faneuil Hall was considered so well-known to Boston citizens that if a suspected spy was not able to tell his inquisitors that the weather vane was shaped like a grasshopper, the spy would be convicted.

The gilded grasshopper weather vane was created by Deacon Shem Drowne in 1742. The weather vane is believed to be modeled after the grasshopper weather vane on the London Royal Exchange, based upon the family crest of Thomas Gresham.

Up to date, the Faneuil Hall鈥檚 grasshopper remains a symbol of Boston.

7. The 鈥淕olden Grasshopper鈥� has undergone several changes over the years

Faneuil grasshopper – Wikipedia

The weathervane was damaged in the 1763 fire, and repaired by Thomas Drowne, a blacksmith whose father created the grasshopper. Drowne slipped a time capsule in the stomach of the newly-repaired grasshopper. It was engraved, 鈥淔ood for the Grasshopper.鈥�

As the grasshopper has been periodically refurbished, historical newspapers, coins, and messages from mayors have been added over the years.

In 1974 the 鈥淕olden Grasshopper鈥� weathervane was stolen, when a former steeplejack at Faneuil Hall managed to steal the weathervane and hide it in a corner of the building鈥檚 tower. His plan unraveled shortly after he was picked up in Abington on drug charges. In an effort to land a plea deal, he disclosed it location, and it was recovered.

8. Faneuil Hall is a landmark

Faneuil Hall, 2020 – Wikipedia

On October 9, 1960, the building was designated a National Historic Landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places following the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, which placed all National Historic Landmarks in the National Register.

The area between the eastern end of Faneuil Hall and Congress Street is part of Boston National Historical Park.

The North and South Markets buildings are currently under study for landmark status by the Boston Landmarks Commission.

9. It is part of the Freedom Trail

The Freedom Trail – Wikipedia

The Freedom Trail is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) path through Boston, Massachusetts, that passes by 16 locations significant to the history of the United States.

It winds from Boston Common in downtown Boston through the North End to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown.

Stops along the trail are marked largely brick and include simple explanatory ground markers, graveyards, notable churches and buildings, and a historic naval frigate.

10. Faneuil Hall includes public art and landscape artwork

Painting on the front wall in Faneuil Hall – Wikimedia Commons

Art within Faneuil Hall includes many paintings and sculpture busts of Revolutionary War activists, pre-Civil War abolitionists, and political leaders.

The shoreline marking artwork entitled, A Once and Future Shoreline, is made with etched silhouettes of seaweed, seagrass, fish, shells and other materials found along a high tide line.