Canada -- Description and travel; United States -- Description and travel
Flagstaff Hill, the most prominent eminence, near the centre of the
Common, is surmounted by the Soldiers' Monument, rising ninety feet,
with a colossal statue of America on the apex, overlooking the city.
It was designed by Milmore, and is one of the most imposing memorials
of the Civil War in the country. Nearby stood the "Old Elm," which was
much older than the city, and was blown down in 1876. The adjacent
sheet of water is the noted "Frog Pond" of colonial memory, and dear
to the hearts of all old Bostonians. Near the northeastern boundary
the Brewer Fountain, famous for its magnificent bronzes, the
munificent gift of a prominent citizen, pours out its limpid waters. A
colossal equestrian statue of Washington adorns the Public Garden.
These attractive grounds are additionally embellished by tasteful
little lakes, statues and lovely floral displays. On the southern side
of the Common is the old Central Burying-Ground, which contains the
grave of Gilbert Stuart, the portrait painter, who died in 1828.
Beneath the edge of the Common on the southern and eastern sides is
the great Subway, which crosses Boston, giving needed relief to the
congested traffic, and was completed in 1898 at a cost of nearly
$5,000,000, a most commodious, airy and well-lighted tunnel,
accommodating many lines of electric cars, and providing speedy
transit across the crowded city.
THE STATE HOUSE.
The famous Boston State House, fronting on Beacon Street at the summit
of the hill, stands upon ground which, in the eighteenth century, was
John Hancock's cow-pasture, his residence, for many years alongside,
having been replaced by the ornamental "swell-fronts" of the Somerset
Club. This rounded construction, known as the swell-front, is a
distinctive feature of the old-time Boston residential architecture,
and in many buildings the effect is heightened by the luxuriant
overrunning vines of the Boston ivy, which is especially fine in the
autumn. A Corinthian portico fronts the State House, which was built
about the beginning of the nineteenth century, but has since been
repeatedly enlarged, the latest extension being completed in 1898, so
that the whole building is now four hundred by two hundred and twelve
feet, the lantern on the dome rising one hundred and fifty feet. Upon
the terrace in front are statues of Daniel Webster and Horace Mann.
The eastern side of the last extension has a small park, and here, on
top of Beacon Hill, has been erected a reproduction, practically on
the original site, of the Beacon Monument, which was put there in 1790
to commemorate the success of the Revolution, but was removed in 1812.
Within the State House is the Memorial Hall, containing the
battle-flags of Massachusetts regiments and other historical relics.
Portraits, busts and statues of the great men of Massachusetts adorn
the interior rooms. From the lantern surmounting the dome is the
finest view of Boston, with the mass of estuaries penetrating the land
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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