28 Aug The gilded eagle that sits atop the Old State House has been restored to its perch
After a two-year restoration process carried out by Skylight Studios, the Old State House’s venerable gilded eagle has returned.
The Old State House was constructed in 1713 under British rule, and the distinctive lion and unicorn that adorn it- which represent Britain and Scotland respectively – were installed on the east-facing façade at that time. In 1776, after the Declaration of Independence was read from the Old State House’s balcony beneath these statues, revolutionaries tore them from their pedestals and burned them in town square in a show of defiance.
The lion and unicorn on the east-facing façade of the Old State House after 2014 restoration by Skylight Studios.
By 1881 The Bostonian Society (Which merged with the Old South Association to form Revolutionary Spaces in 2020) was formed to preserve the Old State House – which by then had been both Massachusetts’ first State House, and the City of Boston’s first city hall. In its restoration of the building, the Society re-created and installed the infamous lion and unicorn, to the utter dismay of patriotic Bostonians, who still associated them with colonial oppression under the British Empire. In order to avoid a re-enactment of what occurred in 1776, a concession was made: the City of Boston would also put up a gilded eagle on the west-facing façade to represent American freedom. Unlike the original wooden sculptures, the eagle and replica lion and unicorn are made of copper and gilded in their respective gold or silver.
Prior to the restoration of the lion and unicorn in 2014, the last re-gilding of the lion and eagle and re-silvering of the unicorn occurred in 1976 in anticipation of the Bicentennial. The eagle was taken down in 2022 and after a lengthy two-year process to re-gild the 1881 sculpture, it was restored to its rightful place at the end of August. And while the gilded eagle once sat on a perch just below the highest central window, today it sits proudly at the apex of the west side of Old State House.
Old State House eagle in 1967.
Old State House eagle in 1970; pictured from its previous perch.
