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Before the State House in Boston was built on what is known as the "Governor's Pasture," the land belonged to John Hancock and was home to grazing cows. The Capitol sat at King and State streets in Boston before the American Revolution, but after the war, leaders proposed the construction of a larger and more elegant structure to house the state Legislature. Thus began the construction of a new State House in 1795 on Hancock's property. The iconic gilded dome, however, was initially of more modest decorum--wooden and covered...