The Massachusetts Building, erected at a cost of about $25,000, had for
its near neighbor the New York Building, across Commonwealth Plaza to the
west. It was modeled closely after the old State House at Boston, and the
main reception hall was almost an exact reproduction of the old Senate Chamber.
The furniture used on the first floor had been used in the old State House.
Directly above the reception hall was a reduced reproduction of the new
Senate Chamber, called the historical room, the most interesting features
of which were the cabinets of relics, chosen from the rich treasures that
Massachusetts had preserved. In one of the cabinets was a pipe that was
smoked by Miles Standish in 1620, and a piece of embroidery done on board
the Mayflower by Rose Standish, his first wife, before he knew Priscilla
Alden. A powder-horn carried at the battle of Bunker Hill was shown, and
a precious fragment of Paul Jone's flag, -- the first American flag ever
saluted by a foreign power. On the second floor, in addition to the historical
room, there were living apartments for the Commissioners and the hostess
and the Governor of Massachusetts. A state dining room and a private dining
room were the locations of many social affairs.
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