Fire At Boston's Old City Hall Causes $150K In Damages

BOSTON — One of Bostons' historic landmarks caught fire Saturday morning. Just after 3:30 a.m. Boston firefighters were called to 45 School St. at Old City Hall where the first responders saw smoke coming from the basement.

Fire officials said firefighters contained the fire to just one room and no one was in the building at the time of the fire. There were no injuries, officials said. Boston Inspectional Services were notified. Officials estimate the damages to be around $150,000.

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1970.

Built in the early 1800s, Old City Hall was one of the first buildings in the French Second Empire style to be built in the country. After the building was finished, the style was used extensively elsewhere in Boston and for many public buildings along the East Coast from the Old Executive Office Building in Washington to other city halls in Providence,Baltimore and Philadelphia.

Old City Hall housed the Boston city council from 1865 to 1969, when city hall moved to its current spot.

It now houses a number of businesses, organizations, and Synergy Investments purchased Old City Hall for $30.1 million in 2017.

Photos courtesy Boston Fire Department