Looking west down the Esplanade, visitors saw the vista closed by the Corinthian porch and golden dome of the Massachusetts Building. It was a facsimile, two-thirds the size of the original, of Charles Bulfinch's front of the State House on Beacon Hill, designed by Wells & Dana of Boston. The Official Guide calls it the 'Old Boston State House.' It stood on a terrace up a broad flight of stairs, facing east over the Federal Concourse. From its tea-room balcony there was a view a mile and a quarter back down the Esplanade to the Column of Progress.
Inside, a version of Doric Hall held historical cases and busts. There were a library, a Dorothy Quincy Room, a tea room hung with French scenic wallpaper and an assembly hall with lantern shows. Todd notes it was hard to find a seat at lunchtime. The Zone Day parade marched to it along the Esplanade before turning back.
At a glance
- Two-thirds the size of the Bulfinch State House front; three floors and an attic.
- Appropriation $265,000 (Todd; Condensed Facts gives $250,000).
- Dedicated March 15, 1915.
Afterward
Its historical collection went to the University of California; the building's fate is not recorded.
Where it stood
Massachusetts Building stood at about 37.80389 N, 122.45715 W on today's map. The whole fairground over the city →
Sources
- Frank Morton Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. III (1921), ch. IX, p. 63 (parade route)
- Frank Morton Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. III (1921), ch. LVIII, pp. 310, 315
- Frank Morton Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. III (1921), ch. LXXVIII, pp. 383-389
- Official Guide of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915), p. 57