Located just two blocks from Boston Common and the Park Street Church (behind City Hall Plaza)Faneuil Hall was founded in 1743, by merchant Peter Faneuil -at his own expense as a gift to the city - as a market place and a meeting hall. Faneuil had made some of his money from the slave trade and used profits to build the hall named after him. The ground floor was an open place for other merchants to sell their wares and the upper floor was an assembly room for meetings. The grasshopper weathervane (a symbol of commerce) on the steeple was modeled after the one above London's Royal Exchange. A 1761 fire destroyed the building but was quickly rebuilt, by popular demand, the following year. Just prior to the start of the American Revolution, numerous speeches about gaining independence from Britain were given in the assembly room, giving the building the nickname "Cradle of Liberty." In the mid-1770's, during the British occupation of Boston, Faneuil hall was used as a theater. Noted architect, Charles Bullfinch, in 1806, doubled the height and width of the building. This iconic symbol of Boston's history was designated a "National Historic Landmark" in 1960.
Boston's historic Faneui, Hall (with a statue of Samuel Adams in front) is located just behind City Hall Plaza ( as a side note for those history buffs amongst us, City Hall Plaza was once known as "Sculley Square" - part of Boston's red light district).
The Assembly Room on the second floor was the site of numerous speeches about gaining independence from Britain, just prior to the American Revolution, giving Faneuil Hall the nickname "Cradle of Liberty."