The Massachusetts State House, also called the New State House, is the state capitol and seat of government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is located at Boston in the Beacon Hill neighborhood. The building houses the Massachusetts General Court (state legislature) and the offices of the governor of Massachusetts.

The building sits on 6.7 acres (27,000 m²) of land on top of Beacon Hill in Boston. It is the oldest remaining building in that location.

The original wood dome, which leaked, was covered with copper in 1802. It was first painted gray and then light yellow before being gilded with gold leaf in 1874. The dome is topped with a pine cone representing the state of Maine, which was a district of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts when the Bulfinch section of the building was completed.

In front of the building is an equestrian statue of General Joseph Hooker. Other statues in front of the building include Daniel Webster, educator Horace Mann, and former US President John F. Kennedy. The statues of Anne Hutchinson and Mary Dyer are located on the lawns below the east and west wings.

The original red-brick Bulfinch building contains the Governor's offices (on the west end) with the Massachusetts Senate occupying the former House of Representatives Chamber under the dome. The Massachusetts House of Representatives occupies a chamber on the west side of the Brigham addition. Hanging over this chamber is the Sacred Cod, which was given to the House of Representatives in 1784 by a Boston merchant. The Sacred Cod symbolizes the importance of the fishing industry to the early Massachusetts economy.

In film:

The producers of the movie Amistad used several interior shots of the State House. One scene included the House of Representatives Chamber, which was briefly seen as the US House of Representatives Chamber.

The State House is featured prominently in Martin Scorsese's 2006 film The Departed. In the last shot of the film, a rat crawls along a balcony railing with the dome in the background.

[Source: Wikipedia]

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