The Bunker Hill Monument is a war memorial on Breed's Hill in the Charlestown section of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It commemorates the Battle of Bunker Hill, a major American Revolutionary War battle that took place there on June 17, 1775. The monument primarily consists of a granite obelisk at the center of Monument Square park, within the Monument Square Historic District. The obelisk was designed by Solomon Willard and erected between 1825 and 1843. It is flanked by William Wetmore Story's sculpture of William Prescott to the south and an entrance building to the north. Designated as a National Historic Landmark, the Bunker Hill Monument is part of the Freedom Trail and Boston National Historical Park.
The first monument at the site was dedicated in 1794 and honored American soldier Joseph Warren, who was killed in the battle. After the site was placed for sale in 1822, the Bunker Hill Monument Association (BHMA) was formed to acquire and preserve the site. Willard took over the design from Loammi Baldwin Jr., who drew up the original specifications based on a design that Horatio Greenough submitted for a design competition. The cornerstone was laid in 1825, but due to insufficient funds, work was halted twice for extended periods between 1829 and 1840. The monument was dedicated on June 17, 1843, though landscaping continued for years afterward.
When completed, the Bunker Hill Monument was United States' largest obelisk that served as a war memorial. The monument has required ongoing maintenance through the years, and additions have been made to the grounds. A temporary wooden entrance building was built in 1857, and the Prescott sculpture was added in 1881. Following decades of fundraising, a granite entrance building was completed in 1902. The BHMA maintained the monument until 1919, when Massachusetts's Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) took over. The monument has been owned and managed by the National Park Service since 1976.
The Bunker Hill Monument is located in Monument Square within Charlestown (since 1874, part of Boston) in Massachusetts, United States. The monument is built atop a Continental Army fortification on the summit of Breed's Hill, where in 1775 the Battle of Bunker Hill took place during the American Revolutionary War.
The monument is located in a square, park named Monument Square, surrounded by an avenue also named Monument Square. An iron fence runs along the park's perimeter, with hexagonal posts topped by hexagonal caps and triangular finials. There are quatrefoil and pendant motifs at the bottom of the fence, along with granite blocks at the foundations of each post. Deciduous trees run parallel to the fence. For the most part, the park has grassy lawns. Five granite markers, dating from 1876, denote the locations of key events in the Battle of Bunker Hill.
There are four gates on the avenue around Monument Square. These represent a different regiment that participated in the battle: the New Hampshire (north), Connecticut (east), Massachusetts (south), and United States (west) gates. Grand staircases ascend from each of the gates. Each staircase is divided into two to four flights of granite steps. The stair at the Massachusetts gate is the widest, while that at the New Hampshire gate is slightly smaller; the other two stairs are small, secondary entrances. The stairs have cast-iron handrails interspersed with posts containing triangular finials, along with granite monuments commemorating each gate's respective regiments. At the time of the obelisk's completion, three gates led directly to streets extending perpendicularly off Monument Square's sides, each measuring wide. Monument Avenue, a road extending southward from Monument Square, was built only after the obelisk was completed.
At the top of each staircase, concrete walkways connect with the monument itself. A circular asphalt path connects all four concrete walkways, surrounding a platform containing the main obelisk, an entrance building to the north, and a statue of Colonel William Prescott to the south. The Bunker Hill Monument is a stop on the Freedom Trail, a path connecting historic sites in Boston; sequentially, it is the last stop after the . A red-brick strip marking the trail's route is embedded into the walkways. The strip formerly passed through two of the park's entrances, but in the 1990s, a portion of the strip at one entrance was removed to reduce confusion.
is a glacial drumlin in the southern portion of the Charlestown Peninsula, created 12,000 years ago by retreating glaciers. After the area was colonized by the English in 1625, Breed's Hill was named for the Breed family, early settlers who owned land on the hill's eastern slope. The hill was originally connected to the mainland portion of Charlestown (now the separate city of Somerville) in colonial times by a short, narrow isthmus known as the Charlestown Neck. In the 19th and early 20th centuries the peninsula's shape and connections to other landforms were significantly altered, with the waters of the Charles River between Cambridge and Charlestown heavily filled in. By the American Revolution, the south slope of Breed's Hill had a road leading westward.
The portion of the hill within Monument Square park slopes fairly steeply. The buildings along the avenue surrounding Monument Square are mostly three-to-four-story houses, designed in the Greek Revival, Italianate, and Second Empire styles starting in the 1840s. The Charlestown High School and the former Charlestown Library are also located on the avenue. The designs of these buildings are influenced by deed restrictions, including a mandatory setback from the street, intended to preserve the area's character. The Bunker Hill Museum, preserving artifacts from the battle, is located within the Charlestown Library. The monument is about from Bunker Hill, which is situated to the north. Bunker Hill is slightly higher than Breed's Hill, at , and is topped by the St. Francis de Sales Church; sources sometimes considered Breed's Hill part of Bunker Hill. Approximately to the southeast is the Charlestown Navy Yard.
The obelisk, entrance building, and Prescott statue are located at the center of Monument Square park. They are surrounded by a northâÂÂsouth concrete platform, which is constructed of rectangular and triangular slabs. An iron fence surrounds the base of the obelisk itself, running between granite piers diagonally opposite each of the obelisk's corners. The fence has posts topped by caps and finials, and the cross-bars have Greek crosses at the bottom and inverted scallop designs at the top. Brick footings are placed under the platform, while curbstone is installed under the obelisk fence.
The main structure of Bunker Hill Monument is an obelisk designed by Solomon Willard, made of of granite. It occupies the southeastern corner of the redoubt constructed during the Battle of Bunker Hill. The obelisk rises from its base; this was the maximum height its sponsor, the Bunker Hill Monument Association, could afford. The foundation, measuring deep and across, is built of six courses (or horizontal layers) of granite. At the base, the obelisk has a square footprint measuring about across, which tapers to near the top of the shaft. The shaft's granite is laid horizontally into 78 courses.
The exterior wall has a surface area of , and its thickness ranges from at the bottom to at the top. There are narrow windows on the northern elevation at regular intervals, and the top of each elevation has a single square window. Several lamps illuminate the exterior at night. Above the top of the shaft is the pyramidion, a capstone shaped like a four-sided pyramid. The pyramidon rises above the shaft and has another five or six courses of granite. Its pinnacle's faces are sloped at 90-degree angles from each other.
Inside the obelisk is a hollow cylindrical shaft, reached from the entrance building to the north. The shaft measures across at the base. Next to the entryway is a marble replica of an earlier memorial on the same site, which had commemorated Joseph Warren, an American soldier killed in the battle. A spiral staircase ascends through the shaft, with 294 steps. The number of steps above ground level is painted at intervals of 25 steps. The obelisk is not accessible above ground level, E. H. Cameron wrote in 1953 wrote that there was no space inside to fit an elevator, while Susan Wilson stated in 2004 that a steam-powered elevator was briefly used by passengers before being removed. The narrow openings on the obelisk's northern elevation illuminate the staircase, with window ledges that are covered with mesh. Atop the obelisk is a square observation room measuring across and high. Two cannons salvaged from the battle were displayed in the room in the 19th and early 20th centuries; one of them was later moved to the entrance building, while the other was moved to the Minute Man National Historical Park. The interior, intended to fit no more than 50 people, was frequently overcrowded after the obelisk's completion.
The entrance building, known as the Bunker Hill Lodge, is made of granite blocks and dates from 1902. It is a one-story neoclassical building with a rectangular grid of three by four bays, measuring across and tall. The facade is made of gray Deer Isle granite. The eastern elevation has an Ionic-style portico, which supports a pediment with a carved lintel. Beneath the portico are stairs leading to elaborate cast iron doors. The northern and southern elevations also have smaller entrances, including a ramp leading inside. The rest of the facade has casement windows with slightly-protruding rectangular window frames, and the corners have pilasters with undecorated capitals. The entablature just below the roofline has egg and dart decorations. During the 20th century, a sign describing the battle was affixed to the exterior.
Inside the Bunker Hill Lodge is an entrance vestibule, a central room (sometimes known as the rotunda), and a pair of smaller spaces flanking the rotunda. The vestibule's floor is made of multicolored marble mosaic tiles arranged into various patterns, while its plaster vaulted ceiling has a central octagonal medallion. The rotunda is at the northwestern corner and measures across, with a mosaic-tiled floor. The rotunda's Siena-marble walls support a plaster ceiling dome with coffers. Henry Dexter's large statue of Warren, built for an earlier entrance building in 1857, stands in the rotunda. Leading off the rotunda to the north and south are rooms, which originally served as men's and women's lounges, respectively.
The bronze William Prescott statue, south of the obelisk, was sculpted by William Wetmore Story in 1880âÂÂ1881. The sculpture is raised on a granite pedestal with the inscription "Colonel William Prescott; June 17, 1775". This pedestal also contains other panels, which are left blank. The sculpture itself stands about or tall. The statue depicts Prescott with his right leg advancing and his right hand grasping a sword, while his left hand is extended backward. The pose reportedly depicted his appearance as he told his men, "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes". Prescott is sometimes credited with having first said this phrase during this battle; the phrase is variously also attributed to Israel Putnam, John Stark, or Richard Gridley, though in actuality, none of them originated it. The statue also has a broad-brimmed hat and a loose coat, and there are a shovel and pickaxe near its feet.
In June 1775, American patriots, having caught word of a British plan to fortify the Charlestown peninsula, decided to fortify it before the British could. On June 16, under the leadership of General Israel Putnam and Colonel William Prescott, the Americans stole out onto the Charlestown Peninsula to establish defensive positions on the hills overlooking Boston. Prescott originally intended to build a redoubt, or defensive fortification, on Bunker Hill, but the redoubt was instead constructed on the nearby Breed's Hill, which was lower and was closer to Boston. Early on June 17, the British discovered the fortifications and set out to reclaim the peninsula. British soldiers under General William Howe sent troops to attack Breed's Hill; colonists held off the first two British attacks, but the third attack forced the rebels to retreat.
The British won at great cost, having lost a significant amount of the officer corps stationed in America. On the American side, 450 were killed or wounded, while the British recorded more than twice as many casualties, at 1,054. The dead were buried where they lay. While many corpses were reclaimed by families of the deceased, a 2009 news report stated that mass graves could still exist under gardens around Monument Square. The British strengthened the fortifications on the hill before evacuating Boston in March 1776. The area surrounding Breed's Hill's summit was parceled up in the early 19th century. The site of the Bunker Hill Monument was likely owned by Sarah Russell and several other landowners.
The Battle of Bunker Hill's anniversary was not commemorated during the ongoing war. The first monument commemorating the battle was constructed by the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts in honor of Joseph Warren, who had been one of their members. The Warren memorial, delayed due to a lack of money, was dedicated on December 2, 1794. It was an wooden column designed in the Tuscan order, standing on a brick pedestal measuring tall and across. This pillar, which stood near where Warren was believed to have died, was surrounded with a fence . The Warren memorial remained in place until 1825.
The Charlestown Artillery hosted its first parade memorializing the battle in 1794, and further such parades took place in the early 19th century. Several paintings honoring the battle were also commissioned in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. After Henry Dearborn published a book about the battle in 1818, controversies regarding the book's accuracy (and particularly his criticisms of Putnam's role) rekindled interest in the topic. Interest in a permanent monument may have been inspired by an 1817 visit to the battlefield by U.S. President James Madison.
The Bunker Hill battlefield was placed for sale at an auction in April 1822. This attracted the notice of the businessman William Tudor, who is often credited with devising the idea for the monument. One of his acquaintances, the physician John Collins Warren, bought part of the site that November, constituting about . Subsequently, several menâÂÂincluding Warren, Tudor, Daniel Webster, George Ticknor, William Sullivan, and George BlakeâÂÂmet at the house of Thomas Handasyd Perkins to discuss plans for a monument. On May 10, 1823, the group called their first meeting at Boston's Merchants Exchange. About two dozen attendees formed the Bunker Hill Monument Association (BHMA), which was incorporated by Massachusetts Governor William Eustis on June 7, 1823. Eustis's immediate predecessor, John Brooks, was the organization's first president. Only men could become members; women were not given membership until 1936. During its inaugural year, the BHMA mainly focused on administrative matters, forming the Standing Committee to oversee its operations. The new organization also collected Revolutionary-era artifacts, particularly those related to the Battle of Bunker Hill; in so doing, they obtained the Washington Benevolent Society's entire collection.
The BHMA began soliciting donations from the public in mid-1824. The association's director offered honorary memberships to those who donated at least $5, and the BHMA distributed flyers throughout New England, asking for donations. In its public communications, the BHMA extolled the site's topography and implied that the battlefield would be preserved as an open landscape. In July 1824, the BHMA appointed a group to oversee preparations for a cornerstone-laying ceremony. The association invited the Marquis de Lafayette (who was touring the United States for the war's 50th anniversary) to the monument site that August. He agreed to donate funds and speak at the cornerstone-laying ceremony; his involvement, along with regular newspaper reports on the progress of the fundraiser, increased public interest in the monument. In a letter that October, the BHMA's directors suggested that $75,000 be raised. Early in 1825, Eustis suggested to the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature, that the state government take over following its completion. These suggestions were discarded when he died shortly afterward.
In February 1825, the General Court authorized the BHMA to spend up to $10,000 on stone for the monument. The same legislation also allowed the organization to acquire up to on Breed's Hill. This area was soon acquired from ten landowners at approximately ; it did not include any of the Breed family's former holdings. Each landowner agreed to sell the BHMA their land at its appraised value, but one of the landowners subsequently demanded ten times the appraised amount of his site. To avoid delays, the association agreed to pay the inflated price. The BHMA also wanted to add Charlestown's nearby training field (now Winthrop Square) to its land holdings, but this never occurred for financial reasons. About 2,500 donors had given between $5 and $500 each by April 1825.
The BHMA wanted a structure with a design connoting heroism. Solomon Willard was appointed in late 1824 to devise plans for a column. The BHMA resolved to raise $37,000 for the construction of Willard's design, which Dearborn wrongly believed would be taller than any other commemorative column worldwide. In January 1825, the BHMA decided to host an architectural design competition for the monument, publishing specifications for the monument in local newspapers, and Willard withdrew his plans. The first design committee consisted of Webster, the engineer Loammi Baldwin Jr., George Ticknor, Gilbert Stuart, and Washington Allston. The committee offered $100 for the best design. It received 50 formal submissions mailed from as far away as South Carolina. Several plans were submitted after the April 1 deadline, including alternatives such as a Gothic church, but were not considered. Although the committee preferred designs for a column, Robert Mills and Horatio Greenough also submitted designs for obelisks. Greenough's design consisted of an obelisk with statuary at the base and plain surfaces elsewhere, while Mills's design was more ornate. Debate arose over whether an obelisk or a column should be used. At the time, obelisks were frequently used at graves, whereas columns were affiliated with heroism.
The BHMA committee, in late April, suggested that Greenough receive the $100 award. On May 19, the association narrowed down the choices to a column and an obelisk, and another committee was appointed to procure designs and tentative budgets for both. At a vote on June 7, the committee voted 11âÂÂ5 in favor of an obelisk, having considered an obelisk more imposing and appropriate for the site. Baldwin, who sat on the board of artists, was tasked with drawing specifications for Greenough's design. Dearborn wrote a letter advocating for a column, which he said would cost $58,500, while Willard claimed that an obelisk would cost only $37,000. The final design was adopted July 5, when Baldwin recommended a plan costing $100,000. Baldwin's design deviated from Greenough's original proposal, which had called for a obelisk atop an elevated platform, with buttresses at the corner. Baldwin's plan was austere and sparsely decorated, measuring tall and across at the base, with the obelisk's faces oriented with the cardinal directions. The BHMA also considered installing statues of soldiers who fought at Bunker Hill but ultimately decided against it.
Meanwhile, the BHMA procured a cornerstone with inscriptions and artifacts relating to the battle. The organization also wanted to invite as many Revolutionary War veterans as possible. The cornerstone was laid on June 17, 1825, the battle's 50th anniversary, at the center of the proposed site. More than 100,000 attended the event, which included a parade and much fanfare. The attendees included 190 Revolutionary War veterans, hailing from across Massachusetts and the Eastern United States. They marched from the Massachusetts State House to Breed's Hill, where Daniel Webster addressed the audience; he sold the copyright to his speech for $600 to help fund construction. Lafayette, who performed the ceremony, received a piece of the Warren monument from the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. In recognition of the Grand Lodge's commemoration efforts, the BHMA invited the fraternity's Grand Master to conduct the services. Rev. Joseph Thaxter, who had been a Continental Army chaplain during the battle, officiated as chaplain. The artifacts were later moved to a new cornerstone at the obelisk's northeastern corner.
A group of five men, including Baldwin, were appointed to a construction committee on July 12, 1825. By that September, the BHMA had raised $54,433.07âÂÂmore than half the $100,000 construction costâÂÂand its directors voted to begin construction. Baldwin resigned not long afterward, and Willard was rehired that October to carry out the design. Willard refused to be paid more than a small salary, and he also agreed to donate $1,000 for the obelisk's construction. James S. Savage was hired to construct the monument. The BHMA had raised $64,010.55 before construction started. Only about half this amount could be used for the obelisk itself; the remainder was allocated toward land acquisition and other matters.
Before construction formally commenced, Willard visited various quarries to examine granite, reportedly walking in doing so. In November 1825, workers began landscaping the site, and the BHMA decided to obtain granite from Quincy, Massachusetts, a southern suburb of Boston. The BHMA paid Gridley Bryant $325 for the right to quarry the granite from an outcropping that became known as the Bunker Hill Ledge. By quarrying its own granite, the BHMA saved an estimated $60,000 in construction costs; it could spend , while a typical quarry would have charged . To save additional money, the BHMA used larger granite blocks, which required fewer stones. The granite blocks, averaging each, were quarried by wedging and were then dressed and trimmed to fit the obelisk. The foundation was being constructed by 1826.
The Granite RailwayâÂÂa broad-gauge, horse-drawn railway from QuincyâÂÂwas constructed to transport the granite blocks. Although the railway become operational on October 7, 1826, a contract to transport the granite was not signed until early 1827. The foundation was completed that July. Since the Granite Railway ran only to the Neponset River waterfront in Quincy, the blocks had to be transferred to barges, then transferred again in Charlestown. To carry the blocks up approximately , an inclined railway was built in Charlestown, ascending to the obelisk's southeastern corner. Within one year, the Granite Railway had transported of granite. The repeated transfers damaged the blocks and caused delays, and in 1828 the BHMA decided to have oxen transport the granite directly to Breed's Hill.
Twice during construction, the BHMA ran out of money to complete the obelisk; consequently, construction was suspended for a combined ten years. The first time was in 1828, when the BHMA obtained various loans in a futile attempt to keep the project solvent. The association reserved a plot around the obelisk and placed a mortgage on the remaining, non-reserved land. In January 1829, work was suspended after the loans were depleted. Although $56,525.19 had been spent on construction to date, most of these expenses had been allocated to the foundation. Fourteen courses of granite had been laid, bringing the obelisk to a height of about , and there was enough stone to build another . A temporary roof was built atop the completed section of the obelisk. The BHMA unsuccessfully asked the General Court for permission to raise money through a lottery. The group also solicited subscriptions from Boston residents and appealed to women's groups in New England. The women's groups raised $2,000, as each woman and child could contribute only $1 to that effort.
In 1831, the BHMA's officers passed stringent restrictions on the sale of land or material, but these were rescinded the next year. The association also made personal appeals to numerous wealthy Bostonians, to little avail, while donations from the general public had slowed considerably. In April 1833, the philanthropist Amos Lawrence appealed to the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association for funds, but nothing came of this proposal, despite sizable support for it. By that year, the association's debts totaled $30,000. The association planned to sell the plots around the obelisk, and it formed a committee, which suggested reducing the obelisk's height to save money. That June, the BHMA agreed to sell off the non-reserved land, anticipating that it could raise $25,000 by selling off . The BHMA planned to divide the land into 50 lots, having appointed Willard to oversee the process. Ultimately, the land was split into 115 lots. The association also agreed to shorten the obelisk to , and its officers rehired Willard in June 1834 to oversee the design.
Work continued until November 1835, when funding shortages stopped construction again. During this time, $20,000âÂÂ23,000 was raised for the project; the Ladies' Fund raised about $3,000, while the remainder was raised by the Mechanic Association. Nearly the entire amount was spent on the newly-built portion of the obelisk, which had reached when funds were depleted. In 1838, the BHMA further reduced the northâÂÂsouth length of the reserved area from , bringing the site to about . The reserved area was to be known as Monument Square, surrounded by a road. After the remaining two-thirds of the original site was sold in September 1839, the BHMA not only paid off its entire debt but also recorded a $1,767.57 surplus. Excess soil from Monument Square's western and eastern slopes was relocated to the square's northern boundary, filling in a depression there.
In 1839, Lawrence and Judah Touro each pledged $10,000 to match local contributions to spur the monument's completion. The terms of the men's gifts required private donors to raise an additional $25,000 or $30,000. Touro made his gift on the condition that he remain anonymous, but his name was subsequently divulged anyway. A subscription drive to raise the necessary funds was not carried out. By June 1840, the BHMA's directors were doubtful that there would ever be sufficient funds. In response, a local ladies' group suggested hosting a fundraising fair.
Several women, including Ladies' Magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale, formed a committee to organize the fundraiser, setting up the Ladies' Fair at Quincy Market in Downtown Boston. The fair ran for seven days in September 1840, coinciding with a Whig Party convention. The items for sale included handmade goods, pastries baked by women across the U.S., models of the monument, and kisses from the socialite Eliza Henderson Boardman Otis. The Ladies' Fair raised $30,035.53. These profits were combined with additional funds from Lawrence, Touro, and private donors, including $800 and real estate from the Mechanics' Association. In total, these efforts raised $55,153.27 for the project.
With sufficient funding secured, the BHMA's directors voted to build the obelisk to its original 220-foot height, and a new construction committee was appointed. James S. Savage was hired to complete the construction, and work resumed in May 1841. Savage devised a steam-powered derrick with a specialized movable boom, which hoisted the granite blocks to the shaft's upper levels; this significantly expedited construction. The pyramidion was laid on July 23, 1842, when a crowd watched a derrick raise the capstone to the top for 16 minutes. The monument was dedicated on June 17, 1843, again with an oration by Daniel Webster and a large parade. U.S. President John Tyler and every state governor were invited to the dedication, and Tyler attended with his cabinet and 13 battle survivors. In total, the monument is cited as having cost $102,000 or $120,000. A replica of the original Warren monument was dedicated at the obelisk the following week, June 24.
When the monument opened, the BHMA charged admission for the climb, but many visitors hesitated to pay the fee. The association also raised money through donations. The monument had a guestbook, whose signatories included King Edward VII of Britain and the future British prime minister Winston Churchill. The monument hosted Bunker Hill Day commemorations on June 17 each year, a day known as the "glorious seventeenth". Bunker Hill Day, originally a solemn commemoration, evolved over time into a festive event. American flags were displayed in the windows during major holidays and other special occasions approved by the BHMA. Over the next century, the association's members included 6 Harvard University presidents, 12 U.S. presidents, 20 Boston mayors, and a myriad of Massachusetts governors and military personnel.
George M. Dexter began devising plans for a permanent entrance building in 1843, but he died while drawing the plans. William S. Park completed the plans, which were then delayed for lack of funding. Landscaping continued for years after the obelisk's official dedication, although a small mound, likely part of the original fortification, remained intact. Savage added a brick sidewalk, fence, and trees at Monument Square's perimeter; a granite platform around the obelisk; and walkways and stairs leading to the sidewalk. Eight entrances were builtâÂÂfour at the corners and four on each side of Monument SquareâÂÂand two concentric walkways were added as well. A replica of the site's original Warren monument was placed inside the obelisk in 1845. The BHMA voted in 1849 to exclude inscriptions of names and dates from the obelisk; these inscriptions had been part of early plans, but the BHMA felt the inscriptions would detract from the obelisk's symbolism.
Henry Dexter was commissioned to design a sculpture of Joseph Warren in 1850. A wooden entrance building, the first Bunker Hill Lodge, was completed in 1857 and was the first significant modification of the monument. The first Bunker Hill Lodge, a single-story edifice, was intended as a temporary structure but lasted for over four decades. The Joseph Warren sculpture was displayed in this wooden building. During the American Civil War, the monument remained open, and over 40,000 people signed its guestbooks. A wooden flagpole mast was mounted from the top of the obelisk in 1861. To avoid detracting from the obelisk's appearance, this flagpole was removed in 1866, replaced the next year by a freestanding flagpole northeast of the obelisk.
During the early 1870s, the BHMA undertook landscape upgrades such as repairs to staircases; repaving of walkways around the obelisk; and regrading the slope of Monument Square park. The original entrances at the corners of Monument Square were closed off, and visitors were redirected to the gates along each of the square's sides. Lampposts and drains were added as well. The association added two fountains south and west of the obelisk in 1871 and removed the flagpole to the northeast in 1874. Afterward, two poles atop the obelisk displayed flags only during special occasions.
For the battle's centennial, a massive procession marched from Downtown Boston to the monument. The BHMA subsequently commissioned granite markers in 1876, commemorating important events in the battle, and it installed a fence around the purported site of Warren's death that year. The avenue around Monument Square was resurfaced in concrete. The BHMA also planned to install seats and benches, which were delayed for a decade, and winding paths, which were never installed. The BHMA established a fund in the 1870s to replace the wooden structure with a permanent building and another fund for a proper memorial to Colonel Prescott. George E. Ellis offered in 1880 to donate a bronze statue of Prescott, an offer the BHMA accepted that June. The association hired William Wetmore Story to design the sculpture, which was dedicated on the battle's 106th anniversary, June 17, 1881.
The park's steps received iron handrails in 1887, and lamps and iron seating areas were added to Monument Square park the next year. A wire fence was built around the obelisk's platform in 1889. That year, the Boston Common Council passed legislation requesting that Boston's mayor ask Massachusetts's governor to take over the monument. The city proposed installing commemorative tablets along Monument Square's perimeter sidewalk that year prompting protests from the BHMA. Massachusetts state representative James E. Hayes proposed in 1893 that the state take over the monument and park. At the time, the obelisk was still in good shape, and the BHMA spent $7,000 annually on maintenance. State legislators rejected the state-takeover proposal in 1897.
A local group proposed installing exterior lights near the top of the obelisk in 1900, but this was not carried out, as the BHMA did not want to pay for the lighting. In June 1901, the BHMA voted to build a granite entrance building at the obelisk's base, and the original wooden building was demolished the same year. The granite building opened to the public in October 1902. Early the next year, a state legislator proposed taking over the monument's operation, but this legislation failed. While the BHMA's expenses could no longer be funded through ticket revenue alone, it still wished to keep operating the monument. The obelisk continued to display the American flag, and in 1903 the British flag was flown for the first time, commemorating a visit by the British Army's Honourable Artillery Company. The new entrance building displayed portraits of BHMA presidents until 1907, when they were removed in favor of artifacts relating to the battle itself.
During the early 20th century, the BHMA's expenses continued to rise, while the grounds fell into disrepair. The architect Charles Allerton Coolidge surveyed the site in 1907, finding that the walkways were in bad condition and were redundant to each other, and that the fence surrounding the obelisk's platform was unattractive. The monument's flags were removed in either 1910 or the 1920s. By the 1910s, the monument recorded more than 30,000 annual visitors, though substantially fewer people actually paid the fee to enter. By then, it cost about $5,000 per year to manage the grounds; the BHMA recorded only $4,100 in annual ticket revenue. The association's board members included members of many prominent New England families, and the Detroit Free Press wrote in 1913 that about fifteen families effectively controlled the monument's operation. An inscription on the monument was proposed in 1914. During that decade, the BHMA continued to lose money, even after receiving large donations from several members.
State representative James H. Brennan proposed in late 1918 that the state government take over the monument. Governor Calvin Coolidge signed legislation in April 1919 allowing such a takeover to occur, and the BHMA voted in June to turn over operations to the state government. The monument and park were deeded to the government of Massachusetts the next month. The Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) took over operation, establishing the Bunker Hill Reservation, which encompassed Monument Square park. The MDC, which primarily oversaw parks and parkways, owned only one other historic site at the time: the Dorothy Quincy Homestead. Upon the MDC's takeover, the state government provided an annual appropriation for the monument's maintenance and operated it year-round except on Christmas. The BHMA remained in existence, continuing to own many artifacts from the war. These artifacts were lent to the MDC, which displayed them at the Bunker Hill Lodge.
Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. of the Olmsted Brothers landscape-design firm was hired to examine the site in 1919. Olmsted reported that the fences, steps, walkways, and obelisk needed repairs, and Brennan claimed that pieces of the obelisk's exterior were falling out. After the MDC proposed in early 1920 that $35,000 be set aside for repairs, steeplejacks repointed the masonry that year. Two years later, the Massachusetts House of Representatives proposed further funds for repairs, and utilities were upgraded. The state legislature proposed in 1926 that the obelisk be illuminated at night. The MDC recommended improving walkways and smoothening Monument Square's slope in a 1928 report, for which state funding was requested the next year. By then, state representative Charles S. Sullivan claimed the monument was being neglected. Arthur Asahel Shurcliff prepared plans for the landscape improvements, which also involved fence and staircase upgrades. Most of Shurcliff's proposals were not carried out, except for some landscape improvements such as a plaza and greenery at the obelisk's base.
Although the federal Civilian Conservation Corps upgraded many MDC parks during the Great Depression, the corps did not perform work on the Bunker Hill Monument. Instead, the MDC spread out the landscape upgrades over two decades, having allocated $50,000 to the effort by 1934. The project was to be completed by 1939 but was delayed due to funding shortages. During World War II, to prevent enemy forces from sabotaging the nearby Charlestown Navy Yard, visitors were banned from using cameras or scopes. The obelisk was temporarily closed from 1942 onward, although the entrance building continued operating. After the war, the state legislature asked the MDC to study the feasibility of adding plaques for local World War II veterans; this elicited opposition from several groups, and the MDC ultimately rejected this plan. By 1947, the MDC had regraded the park's perimeter and relocated the walkway there. The agency installed a Battle of Bunker Hill diorama in the entrance building during 1947âÂÂ1951.
The monument had 20,000 annual visitors by the early 1950s, relatively few of whom hailed from Boston. The federal government's Boston National Historic Sites Commission studied the site in 1956, finding that the obelisk, grounds, and entrance building had fallen into disrepair due to poor maintenance. Despite the presence of two policemen during the day, the grounds were often used for active recreation, and the monument was often vandalized. Visitors etched their names in the observatory atop the obelisk, where there was minimal surveillance, and the Prescott statue's sword was defaced so frequently that it was withdrawn from public display. Newspapers also reported on the site's poor condition. BHMA president Charles W. Eliot II attributed the degradation to a lack of nearby playgrounds.
After state legislator Gerard F. Doherty requested funds for cleaning the monument, rehabilitation efforts began in 1958. The MDC cleaned the obelisk's exterior and replaced fences and handrails, and explanatory plaques were added to the entrance building. While an MDC district commissioner retrospectively said this work made future maintenance easier, workers had not been able to completely remove stains and scratches. In 1961, the MDC sought $70,000 from the General Court for the grounds' restoration. The grounds underwent rehabilitation that year, including the installation of new sidewalks and fences. New lighting was installed in 1966, and, to prevent nighttime vandalism, the MDC constructed a steel cage between the entrance building and the obelisk the next year. Also in the 1960s, one of the monument's cannons was removed for safekeeping and stored in a nearby police station; it was later reinstalled in Minute Man National Historical Park. Spotlights were added in the 1970s, though they did not illuminate the whole monument at night.
Amid continuing maintenance issues, there were efforts in the mid-1960s to have the federal government take over the Bunker Hill Monument, which the BHMA endorsed. The MDC voted in 1968 to allow the federal government to take over the monument as a national historic site. The actual transfer process took several years, and the original national-site proposal was superseded by plans for a multi-site national park. The agency approved $22,000 for landscape repairs in 1969 and carried out additional repairs three years later. The MDC notified U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy in 1972 that it had no objections to the National Park Service (NPS) taking over the site. The monument and grounds were still in disrepair, and the Boston Redevelopment Authority wanted to rehabilitate it ahead of the United States Bicentennial. The monument became part of the newly-established Boston National Historical Park in 1974, though it remained under MDC control for two more years. During that period, the MDC and federal government jointly funded site improvements for the Bicentennial. The project included planting trees and repairing walkways, drainage, and lighting. Granite tablets were added to each of Monument Square's entrances, and a large diorama of the battle was added to the entrance building.
The NPS took over operations in 1976. While the agency did not charge any admission fee, it closed the monument during U.S. government shutdowns. When the NPS took over, the monument had 150,000 annual visitors, and the Charlestown Historical Society ran a free-admission museum about the battle nearby. Relatively few visitors at the time were black, amid racial tensions in the largely-white neighborhood during the 1970s Boston desegregation busing crisis.
When the NPS took over, the site had again deteriorated, and the obelisk itself had broken granite and failing masonry joints. Modifications over the years, including fences, enclosures, and benches, were inconsistent with the original design. The Freedom Trail was extended to the site in 1977. The monument was closed for repairs in December 1979, reopening the following November. The repairs included making the obelisk's foundation waterproof, repointing the stones, and adding fences. In addition, drainage and lighting systems were upgraded. Visitation declined in the 1980s as tourists increasingly sought out other destinations such as Faneuil Hall and Faneuil Hall Marketplace.
Two flagpoles were added to the obelisk in 1993, and American flags were hoisted atop them, marking the first time that flags were flown there since the early 20th century. The NPS completed a $100,000 renovation in the mid-1990s, which included trimming trees, repairing fences and steps, and conducting an archeological study of the battlefield. A car crashed into the New Hampshire gate in 1996, shortly after the renovation was finished. The crash caused $20,000 in damage, but the NPS struggled to raise money for repairs for two years, even after the driver's insurance company paid part of the repair cost. A new natural gas pipe was added in the late 1990s; to avoid disrupting archeological artifacts or ripping open the lawns, workers drilled the new pipe sideways from the street.
By the 2000s, the obelisk had 170,000 to 200,000 annual visitors. As part of a multiyear rehabilitation program for the Boston National Historical Park, the NPS announced in 2003 that it would renovate the monument and construct a museum for $3.1 million. The Massachusetts Grand Lodge provided another $500,000 for the project. By then, the monument had poor ventilation and often leaked; it was excessively hot during the summer and had to be closed during the winter. There was also loose masonry on the obelisk's exterior, and the entrance building had insufficient space for exhibits. the grounds were repaired in 2005âÂÂ2006. The obelisk then closed to the public in May 2006 for a $3.7 million renovation, which included repairs, accessibility upgrades, and new lighting. The lights, consisting of metal-halide lamps, were installed along the obelisk's entire height. The obelisk repairs were completed in April 2007, and the Bunker Hill Museum was dedicated in the Charlestown Library that June. Most artifacts from the entrance building were moved to the museum, which exhibited artifacts, dioramas, and a cyclorama of the battle. Visitors climbing the obelisk during certain parts of the year had to obtain passes from the museum.
Several documents pertaining to the monument were sold at auction in 2019 and again in 2021. The monument was temporarily closed during the COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts, during which the NPS displayed a live camera feed of Boston from atop the monument. In 2021, masons began repointing the pyramidion and the top ten courses of the shaft as part of a two-year project. A restoration of the entrance building was completed in 2022, and the NPS began making further repairs to the masonry the next year for $1.4 million. The cornerstone ceremony was reenacted in 2025 for the battle's 250th anniversary.
Until the Washington Monument was completed in 1885, the Bunker Hill Monument was the United States' largest obelisk built as a war memorial. The Associated Press wrote that the obelisk had been the U.S.'s "first significant commemorative structure", and The Art Bulletin described it as the nation's oldest such obelisk. The war monument in High Point, New Jersey, built in 1930, was patterned after the Bunker Hill Monument. The obelisk's pyramidion inspired a similar feature atop the Griswold Monument in Connecticut, which was built without a pyramidion but was retrofitted with one in 1881. The obelisk's general design also inspired that of the nearby Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge's towers. After the Bunker Hill Monument was completed, granite was more widely used in buildings across the U.S..
At the monument's 50th anniversary in 1893, the Boston Daily Globe wrote that the obelisk "is of national interest" because of its size and because it commemorated an important battle. During the early 20th century, a writer for The Advance wrote that, although there were "finer monuments" around the world, "there is not one that is more important" to American history. The San Francisco Chronicle called the Bunker Hill Monument, Washington Monument, and Statue of Liberty "the three most glorious of all the monuments on the Western Hemisphere", and a Boston Daily Globe writer characterized a visit to the monument as a patriotic duty for Americans visiting Boston. Although the monument's creators had been affiliated with the Federalist Party, it later became a local symbol of the Whig party and democracy in general, and one source described it as representing "working-class immigrant pride in Charlestown".
The monument also stood out from the Boston skyline. One writer said that, until the 1910s, the obelisk and the gold-domed Massachusetts State House were "the two commanding objects in Boston". The Boston Daily Globe wrote in 1928 that the advent of skyscrapers and airplanes had made the obelisk less imposing. In 1947, a writer for Better Homes and Gardens wrote that the monument still commanded a "splendid view", even if the structure itself was "disappointing". Red Book magazine wrote in 1968 that the monument still stood "tall and majestic", and another commentator in 1980 called the Bunker Hill Monument and the Charlestown Navy Yard's USS Constitution "two of the most delightful stops on the [Freedom] Trail". In 2013, The New York Times wrote that the Bunker Hill Monument was an exception to Boston's general lack of "outsize monuments". The Times later wrote that, despite being imposing, the monument did not "instantly convey 'Boston' to a global audience" as places like the Statue of Liberty, Chrysler Building, or Empire State Building did for New York.
There has also been commentary about the obelisk's staircase. One commentator in 1925 described climbing the stair as an arduous affair that required training. Another said in 1987, "I almost would rather have fought the Battle of Bunker Hill than climbed the gray stone monument dedicated to it." A Frommers guide called the climb "punishing" and said that the monument, with its small windows and lack of elevator, was "not a can't-miss experience".
The Bunker Hill Monument became a National Historic Landmark (NHL) on January 20, 1961. The NHL designation was granted in part for the obelisk's role as a major early war memorial and in part because the site itself had historical significance. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, when the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 went into effect. The NRHP nomination form cited the site's military significance. Also in 1966, the state government enacted further protections, prohibiting the use of eminent domain to acquire the land.
The monument is part of two United States historic districts. It is one of eight sites in the Boston National Historical Park, which was designated in 1974. The monument and park are also part of the Monument Square Historic District, designated in 1987 partly for its architectural character. Outside Monument Square, the remainder of the former battlefield is not covered by any historic district, prompting local residents to create the Charlestown Historic Battlefield District Committee in 2023.
Lydia Sigourney's poem "" was published in her Scenes in my Native Land (1845) together with a description of both the monument and the battle. Harriet Prescott Spofford also wrote a sketch about the monument and other Charlestown sites in New-England Legends, a poetry collection written in 1871. The obelisk appears as a setting in the 2015 video game Fallout 4. The exterior of the obelisk has been used for artwork, such as a 1998 piece where interviews with Charlestown murder victims' family members were projected onto the monument.
The monument has also been the subject of nonfiction work, such as several editions of Richard Frothingham Jr.'s 1849 book of the Battle of Bunker Hill, an 1877 book by former BHMA president George Washington Warren, and a 1953 book by the engineer E. H. Cameron. It was depicted in a postage stamp issued in 1959 by the United States Post Office Department. A model of the obelisk is also shown alongside a sculpture of Sarah Josepha Hale in Newport, New Hampshire.