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Bunker Hill Monument

Bunker Hill Monument

Solomon Willard & Loammi Baldwin Jr.

Photo: User:Chensiyuan · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Breed's Hill, Charlestown, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Client / Owner
Bunker Hill Monument Association
Year
Completed 1843
Access
Public
Typology
Cultural
Style
—

The Bunker Hill Monument is a granite obelisk on Breed's Hill in Charlestown, Boston, and a stop on the Freedom Trail. Solomon Willard designed it, taking over from Loammi Baldwin Jr., who drew the first specifications from Horatio Greenough's competition design. It stands 221 feet (67 meters) tall, the most the Bunker Hill Monument Association could afford. About 6,700 tons of granite came from a quarry in Quincy.

The Marquis de Lafayette laid the cornerstone on June 17, 1825, the battle's fiftieth anniversary. Daniel Webster spoke that day and sold the copyright of his speech for 600 dollars to help fund construction. Work halted twice, for ten years in all. The capstone was laid on July 23, 1842, and the monument was dedicated on June 17, 1843.

An interior spiral staircase has 294 steps. The monument was named a National Historic Landmark on January 20, 1961. It stands in Monument Square Park, about 4 acres (1.6 hectares).

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