Atop Beacon Hill on land once owned by John Hancock, the Massachusetts State House, built in 1798, features a 23-karat gold plated copper dome and a commanding view of the Boston Common. While a wooden pinecone reportedly tops the structure in recognition of the city’s 18th century logging industry, it is the fishing industry that has garnered the most unusual symbol. A wooden fish, the Sacred Cod, hangs in the chambers of the House of Representatives. Originally hung in the old State House, it has dangled from its present spot since 1895 (except for its fifty hours spent as a “codnap” victim in 1933) its head pointed approvingly toward the party in power.
John Hancock, while known most widely for his flourishing signature on America’s Declaration of Independence, was also the first governor of the state and a plaque stands at the former site of his residence next to the capitol building. The Bulfinch Entrance, facing Boston Common, commemorates the State House architect, Charles Bulfinch, who also worked on the US Capitol building and its grounds from 1918 – 1829.
Boston, and indeed all of Massachusetts, is rich with Early American history, heroes and symbols. I appreciate the slight whimsy represented by a fish dangling over its legislators.
Coming up: Cliff dwellings, climbs, and canyons in Arizona; more on Boston and Cape Cod -and some Midwestern surprises.
The idea to find a cold water cod fish dangling down over legislators In the State house left me mesmerized. Unfortunately, no photo was provided .
This most humble fish which is also known as stockfish or bacalao in Latin countries renders itself to amazing variations for cooking. I have tasted so many different cod fish dishes in Portugal alone, that it would fill a book of recipees.
The cod was the ideal fish to dry and preserve with salt on long ocean voyages during the times of descoveries. It was practical for storing when fridges were unknown. Certainly, this must have been done on American vessels as well, as top ideas travel everywhere fast.
It must be one of the cheapest fish on the market and it is beautifully suited for fish cakes. Hopefully it has not been harvested to near extinction as happens so often nowadays.
Cod is also often sold preserved or fresh in Tenerife of the Canarias Spain. There too, it is named Bacalao which is Portuguese.
Just wondering why this great fish ended up as an important decoration in an American state building. ..
AH! The sacred cod, they were all sacred to me Heather, as they helped to fill my paypacket at the end of a trip.
It would have been the same with fishermen the world over.