Monument Monday: Bunker Hill Monument
In 1842 Bunker Hill Monument* was completed.
The event was considered one of national importance.
Indeed, the completed structure represents the offering of a nation, and is a remarkable example of the truth that where men fail in carrying out an object that appeals wholly to pure and patriotic sentiment, women invariably succeed.
Mount Vernon, Bunker Hill, and the Old South Church are so many monuments to the women of America.
For a comprehensive résumé of the history of the present monument, we have no more appropriate language than that of Hon. G. W. Warren in his annual address to the Monument Association, made in 1862.
“On the 17th of June, 1823, the Bunker Hill Monument Association was first organized. In two years from that day the young patriotic society had obtained the means to acquire to itself a large part of the field of the battle of Bunker Hill, and to lay, with imposing ceremonies, the cornerstone of the monument. In 1843, just twenty years from its organization,—the great work having been completed by popular aid alone,—the association, with equally imposing ceremonies, and in the presence of the whole executive government of the nation, and of patriotic and official personages from every state, inaugurated one of the grandest monuments to one of the grandest objects of commemoration in the world.”
William Tudor of Boston, the accomplished scholar, was the first to draw public attention to the building of a memorial on Bunker Hill, commensurate with the importance of the event it was forever to celebrate. He pursued the subject until the sympathies and co-operation of many distinguished citizens were enlisted.
This action resulted in some preliminary steps being taken. In November, 1822, Dr. John C. Warren, nephew of the general, purchased three acres of land on Bunker Hill, thus securing a site for the proposed monument. A meeting of those friendly to the enterprise was held at the Merchants’ Exchange in Boston, in May, 1823, which resolved itself, under an act of incorporation passed June 7, 1823, into the Bunker Hill Monument Association. Daniel Webster presided at the first meeting.









