Bunker Hill Monument

The battle was mostly on Breed’s Hill

Despite the familiar name “Battle of Bunker Hill,” most of the fighting on June 17, 1775 took place on Breed’s Hill in Charlestown. Bunker Hill itself lies nearby.

The Revolution’s first major battle

New England provincial forces faced British regulars in a pitched battle. The British ultimately captured the position, but suffered severe casualties. The provincials gained confidence that militia forces could stand against professional troops.

Charlestown burned

During the battle, much of Charlestown burned. The destruction turned the fighting into a catastrophe for local residents as well as a military turning point.

From battlefield to memorial landscape

Decades later, preservation-minded citizens formed the Bunker Hill Monument Association. Their goal was to preserve part of the battlefield and build a permanent monument to the battle and the provincial militia.

The cornerstone

On June 17, 1825—the fiftieth anniversary of the battle—the Marquis de Lafayette laid the cornerstone before a huge commemorative crowd.

Solomon Willard and granite engineering

Architect Solomon Willard led the monument project. The massive granite obelisk was an engineering achievement built before modern power equipment, using hand tools, horses and later steam-powered lifting machinery.

Money problems changed the battlefield

The Monument Association struggled financially and sold much of the battlefield land it had acquired. Private houses eventually covered most of the original battlefield, leaving the monument grounds as the most visible preserved core.

Women and fundraising

A major women-led fundraising fair associated with Sarah Josepha Hale raised a crucial sum toward completion. The story of the monument therefore includes civic organizing as well as architecture.

Completion and dedication

The obelisk was completed in the early 1840s and dedicated in 1843. For decades it was the largest obelisk in North America, until the Washington Monument surpassed it.

A monument with changing meanings

The monument began as a patriotic memorial, but later reformers also used it symbolically. Suffragists, for example, connected its language of liberty to their own struggle for rights.

The climb

Visitors can climb 294 spiral steps to the observation level. The ascent reinforces the monument’s original dual purpose as both memorial and destination.

Why it mattered

Bunker Hill Monument preserves more than the memory of one battle. It also tells a nineteenth-century story about preservation, fundraising, national identity, tourism and the way each generation reinterprets the Revolution.

Timeline