Follow the Cod

On Wednesday, January 11, 2023, Revolutionary Spaces will host Follow the Cod to commemorate the 225th anniversary of the transition of Massachusetts government from the Old State House at 206 Washington Street to the current Bulfinch State House at 24 Beacon Street. Led by then-Governor Increase Sumner, the Massachusetts Legislature processed the ‘Sacred Cod’ from where it hung in Representatives Hall at the Old State House to its new home on Beacon Hill on January 11, 1798. More than 200 years later, Revolutionary Spaces will conduct a community-based reenactment of the procession of the Sacred Cod.

At 3:00 PM, the general public is invited to watch honored guests process a reproduction of the Sacred Cod from the Old State House to the new State House. Processional participants will include Members of the Massachusetts Legislature joined by state Constitutional Officers. The procession will be led by a group of Boston Public School students and a sextet from the Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes & Drums.

The procession will begin in the plaza outside the Old State House and will proceed down Washington Street, turning up School Street, crossing Tremont Street, continuing up Beacon Street, turning on to Bowdoin Street, and concluding in Ashburton Park beside the new State House. The public is encouraged to gather on the sidewalks of any of these streets to observe the procession. Following the procession, the new State House will be open to participants for a closing reception with food and refreshments, along with guided tours of the House Chamber and a special opportunity to view the Sacred Cod in its present home.

Learn more about the Sacred Cod: https://www.revolutionaryspaces.org/the-massachusetts-state-house-sacred-cod/