next fifteen years, the two doors each side of the main entrance at the west end being replaced by windows in 1857, giving the appearance seen during the last forty years of its existence.

In 1866 the large Town Hall was divided, and the Council chambers used since that time constructed at the west end, while the east half was devoted to the uses of the Police (later the Municipal and Central District) Court. The whole of the first story was given over to the offices of the various city departments. The cost of these extensive improvements was $27,232.20. The only external change after this was the adding of the clock tower in 1888. The expense of the several alterations, added to the first cost of the building, amounted to nearly $60,000. The large "Upper" Town Hall was, until the completion of Mechanics Hall in 1857, the largest audience room in Worcester, and it was much in demand for concerts, lectures, and other public assemblies. Various political parties at different times held conventions and meetings within its walls. The Free-Soil party was born here in 1848, and from this building went out the famous resolution by Reverend George Allen, which became the watchword of the exciting campaign of that year. It was in the City Hall on the 11th of March, 1854, that Eli Thayer announced his "Plan of Freedom," which, applied in his Kansas emigration movement, thwarted the purpose of the Southern leaders after they had accomplished the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. Among the distinguished names associated with this hall may be mentioned Daniel Webster, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas H. Benton, Louis Kossuth, Father Mathew, John B. Gough, Jenny Lind and W. M. Thackeray, and there are many others of equal or lesser note. Not its least honorable use was that for the transaction of the municipal business during the closing years of the town organization, where gathered the substantial citizens of that time, including several of more than local distinction, impelled by earnest desire for the common welfare. With the coming of the City Government and its more direct and convenient methods, the general town meeting was abolished; and after the opening of more elegant and commodious places for public gatherings, the old hall gradually fell into disuse, until in 1866 it was finally closed. The room and its many interesting associations exist now only as memories in the minds of our older citizens.

The last public gathering held in the building was on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 4, 1898, when the surviving voters of 1848 assembled to say farewell to the old City Hall. Ex-Mayor Stoddard presided, and addresses were made by Mayor Dodge, Honorable A. S. Roe, Ex-Mayor Sprague, Samuel Hathaway, Dexter Rice, Alzirus Brown, Frederick G. Stiles and others. The demolition of the building took place during the interval between the above date and July 1st.

THE NEW CITY HALL.

N the 23d day of April, 1894, the governor of the Commonwealth approved an act passed by the General Court which authorized the city of Worcester to borrow the sum of $300,000 in excess of its debt limit fixed by statute, for the purpose of building a new city hall. This was the first definite move made towards the realization of a project which had for several years agitated the minds of our citizens and public officials, and which the pressing needs of an increasing population now imperatively forced to an immediate consideration. In consequence, however, of a controversy which arose and was continued for some time by the advocates of different sites for the structure, little progress was made in the undertaking during the next twelve months. The question at issue was in due course submitted to judicial and legislative investigation, and the decision to locate the building on the Common was finally sustained in the spring of 1896.

At a regular meeting of the City Council held June 3, 1895, it was

Ordered: That the mayor be, and he is hereby authorized and requested to advertise for and obtain competitive plans and specifications for a new city hall building, to be located on the Old Common, so called, in the city of Worcester, equally distant from Front and Park streets, the front line of said building to be not nearer than fifty feet distant from the easterly line of Main street. Said plans and specifications to be for a building the cost of which shall not exceed the sum of $300,000. The said plans and specifications to be completed and delivered to the mayor on or before September 10, 1895.

And it is further Ordered: That the sum of $5,000 be paid as compensation to competitors furnishing plans.

The award to be made by a committee consisting of the mayor, the superintendent of public buildings, together with an expert and disinterested architect, to be selected and appointed by the mayor.

In accordance with the last provision of the above order, Mayor Marsh, on the 13th of June, appointed the well-known and distinguished architect, Richard Morris Hunt, as the professional adviser, to whose decision the plans for a city hall were to be referred, but the

death of this gentleman on the 31st of July following necessitated another appointment, and his son, Richard Howland Hunt, was selected.

The competing architects were: Peabody & Stearns of Boston; Carrere & Hastings of New York; Hartwell & Richardson of Boston, and A. P. Cutting, Barker & Nourse, George H. Clemence, Clellan Waldo Fisher, E. Boyden & Son, and Fuller & Delano, all of Worcester. After a careful examination of the nine sets of plans, the award was announced September 21 as follows: To Peabody & Stearns the design for the construction of the building; and the prize money was distributed among four of the unsuccessful competitors, Hartwell & Richardson receiving $2,000, Carrere & Hastings $1,500, A. P. Cutting $1,000, and Clellan Waldo Fisher $500.

At a meeting of the City Council held June 13, 1895, a loan of $50,000 was authorized to provide for the preliminary work in the erection of the new City Hall, and on the 11th of November of the same year it was

Ordered: That a commission of three citizens be elected by ballot in joint convention by the City Council, who shall proceed to erect with all reasonable dispatch a new city hall building, in compliance with the plans and alterations submitted by Messrs. Peabody & Stearns, and already accepted in accordance with the order of the City Council passed June 3, 1895.

The person who may hold the office of mayor during the existence of this commission and the erection of the building shall be, cr-officio, a member of said commission.

And on the 25th of November it was

Ordered: That a joint convention of the two branches be held forthwith for the purpose of electing City Hall Commissioners.

Pursuant to the last mentioned order, the two boards met in joint convention and elected William H. Sawyer, Harrison S. Prentice and Andrew Athy members of the commission to erect a new city hall.

On the 21st of April, 1896, a communication from the City Hall Commission, to the effect that the design in accordance with the accepted plans could not be carried out properly in the construction of the new City Hall for the sum already appropriated, was acted upon by the City Council, and an additional amount of $275,000, making a total of $575,000, was voted without opposition. April 23 the contract for the construction of the building was awarded to Norcross Brothers for the sum of $470,761, their bid being the lowest among seven competitors. During the summer the foundations were com

pleted, and the laying of the corner-stone was appointed for the 10th of September, and arrangements were made for a military and civic parade, and Masonic and other ceremonies proper to the occasion.

The weather on Thursday, the 10th of September, proving too inclement for outdoor exercises, the ceremonies were postponed to Saturday the 12th, when they were successfully carried out in accordance with the programme, which is given in the following pages.

The City Hall building proper was completed at the end of the year 1897, but various circumstances and minor details combined to delay occupancy until April, 1898. The dedication took place on the 28th of that month, at which time Chairman Sawyer, in behalf of the City Hall Commission, made a full report of the doings of that board, and formally delivered the keys of the building to the mayor in the presence of a large and representative gathering of Worcester citizens.

LAYING OF THE CORNER-STONE.

The grand military and civic parade which preceded the ceremonies at the corner-stone was successfully carried out in all its details under the able direction of General Josiah Pickett, chief marshal, assisted by Major E. T. Raymond, chief of staff. Nearly all the military, Masonic and other civic bodies in the city participated and the line moved promptly at the time designated. The procession probably equaled if not exceeded in numbers any one which had previously appeared in Worcester.

The exercises at the corner-stone began, according to the programme, with the playing of Kellar's American Hymn by the consolidated bands under the leadership of E. D. Ingraham of Battery B Band, stationed at the south end of the main floor of the building. Mayor Sprague then stepped forward and said:

Gentlemen of the City Council: In absence of the chairman of the City Hall Commissioners who are charged with the erection of the building, I have the honor to announce that the corner-stone of the City Hall is ready to be laid.

Alderman Alonzo A. White, president of the Board of Aldermen, then rose and said:

Mr. Mayor, in accordance with an order adopted by the City Council, you are respectfully requested to assume the entire direction of the exercises and ceremonies incident to the laying of the corner-stone of the new City Hall.

Rev. Calvin Stebbins, pastor of the Church of the Unity, offered the following prayer, amid the silence of the vast multitude :