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" (in fact a copy of Bulfinch's State House, not the Old 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.
