Trivia Question…

Posted on February 12, 2004 by sheila

What was the largest single building in the British American colonies – at the time of the American Revolution?

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12 Responses to Trivia Question…

  1. Ken Hall says:
    February 12, 2004 at 10:21 am

    Fenway Park.

    All kidding aside, without Googling (scout’s honor, such as it is), I have no idea…except that said building is most likely in either Boston, New York, or Philadelphia.

    I dunno…Fanueil Hall? It seemed fairly large when I was there.

  2. red says:
    February 12, 2004 at 10:23 am

    Ken – nope. That would have been my guess, too – but tis not correct, my friend.

    Next?

  3. BSTommy says:
    February 12, 2004 at 10:26 am

    Probably way off base. The building that served as the legislative house/seat of goverment in Williamsburg, Va.

    (Guessing).

  4. red says:
    February 12, 2004 at 10:28 am

    Good guess. Nope.

    I’ll wait for a couple more guesses – and then I will begin to provide clues.

  5. Dave J says:
    February 12, 2004 at 10:37 am

    It’s certainly not Faneuil Hall: the old (British) state house is larger than that, despite “Faneuil Hall” often being shorthand inclusive of the three larger 19th-century buildings of Quincy Market.

    I’m going to guess it’s not a government building, as that would just seem too obvious. It could be a university building at Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Columbia (then Kings), Princeton or William & Mary, but I don’t think it’s that either. The Fulton Fish Market predates the Revolution, doesn’t it? I’ll guess that.

    OTOH, “British American colonies at the time of the Revolution” includes Quebec, so maybe it’s the Citadel in Quebec City. Does a fortess lke that count as one building?

  6. red says:
    February 12, 2004 at 10:40 am

    Dave J –

    You are very very close.

    (The citadel in Quebec City does not count as one single standing building, in this case. Perhaps it should.)

  7. red says:
    February 12, 2004 at 5:35 pm

    All right – let’s close this trivia question down.

    The answer is: Princeton’s Nassau Hall. 176 by 50 feet, with a domed central pavilion.

  8. Bill McCabe says:
    February 12, 2004 at 5:41 pm

    You know, now that you mention it, I remember hearing this fact before while reading about the Battle of Princeton in 1776. The British were driven into it and forced to surrender.

  9. Easycure says:
    February 12, 2004 at 6:26 pm

    Very nice trivia question. I was going to guess an importing company “warehouse” in Boston. I was thunking maybe a tea importer…….yuck yuck.

  10. CW says:
    February 12, 2004 at 8:15 pm

    Neato. What’s in there today?

  11. Ted K says:
    February 14, 2004 at 10:03 pm

    Good question – I had guessed the hall that Philadelphia built for George Whitefield, but that was really only remarkable because for a while it was open to any passing preacher who desired a large space: “if the grand mufti of istanbul were to send a minister to us, the doors would be open to him.” (paraphrase, Franklin _Autobiography_)

    The building was eventually turned over to the institution that became U Penn, with a proviso that one of the lecture halls always be available to itenerant ministers.

  12. Ted K says:
    February 14, 2004 at 10:04 pm

    Feh, forgot the new address.

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