Big Scores · STOP 08 · Downtown
Excessive Charges
In 1639 the colony convicted the merchant Robert Keayne of overcharging and fined him £200. Then he paid for Boston's first Town House, and later won a seven-day court fight over a pig that, by one 1856 history, changed how the legislature was organized. His bronze tablet across Washington Street from the Old State House remembers the Town House. Read what it forgets.
This is stop 8 of Big Scores. Walk it - any two stops are free.
The plate
Collected on site
Washington Street, west side, opposite the Old State House (just south of Court Street)
Directions
Argue about it
Was Robert Keayne a price gouger or a scapegoat?
Both sides, with their sources, are on the story card in the app.
In these collections: Crime Scenes
Near State · Near Government Center · Near Bowdoin · Near Downtown Crossing · Near Park Street · Near Aquarium · Near Haymarket
Sources (2)
- Captain Robert Keayne (HMdb marker 18514)Historical Marker Database · tablet June 1 1925; photos 2009 and 2021-06-17
- The History and Antiquities of BostonSamuel G. Drake (Boston: Luther Stevens) · 1856