American Antiquarian Society Hall

The Antiquarian Hall is located at 185 Salisbury Street in Worcester, on the corner of Park Avenue. This hall is the third Antiquarian Hall to be built because of overcrowding in the first two. The Antiquarian Society was founded in 1818 by Isaiah Thomas, and the first hall was built in 1820 under his plans and arrangement of the building [1]. The second hall was built in 1854 because of a donation from Stephen Salisbury III, and when he died in 1905 the society received $200,000 and a piece of his land, which the third hall is built on [1]. The third fall was built in 1909 which is the building we see today. When the third building was built the society decided to get rid of many of the artifacts and instead focused on developing its research library collections [1]. Some of the rooms first housed manuscripts, and Isaiah Thomas's first printing press, and some old printing equipment [1]. In 2002 the society decided to add onto this building because of more overcrowding. The new addition was completed in 2002 and added another 12,000 square feet to the building. The project was close to a $9 million project but increased the society's collection capacity 90 percent.

Isaiah Thomas, the founder of the Antiquarian Society, was born in Boston in 1749 and became a well known newspaper writer for the Whig party [2]. On the night the British marched from Boston to seize the ammunition in Concord and Lexington, Thomas fled Boston with his printing press and set it up in Worcester, where he then published the first printed accounts of the battles of Lexington and Concord [2]. This hall catches your eye when you drive by with its large structure and beautiful dome on top. Today the hall is open to visitors which allows people to explore the documents and artifacts of the past. The Antiquarian Hall is a great example of how Worcester residents take pride in their history and want to preserve it so future generations can learn about the past.

[1] McCorison, Marcus. "Antiquarian Hall." American Antiquarian Society: A National Research Library of American History, Literature and Culture Through 1876. (2009). Web. 4 March 2010. http://www.americanantiquarian.org/ahall.htm
[2] McCorison, Marcus. "Isaiah Thomas." American Antiquarian Society: A National Research Library of American History, Literature and Culture Through 1876. (2009). Web. 4 March 2010. http://www.americanantiquarian.org/ithomas.htm