Bunker Hill Monument and Prescott Bronze

Why is it significant?

Stand before the monumental base of the Bunker Hill Monument, a colossal 221-foot granite obelisk that commands the highest summit of Breed's Hill.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Stand before the monumental base of the Bunker Hill Monument, a colossal 221-foot granite obelisk that commands the highest summit of Breed's Hill. Completed in 1842 to designs by celebrated architect Solomon Willard, this awe-inspiring obelisk was the first monumental stone obelisk erected in the United States, pre-dating the Washington Monument in the nation's capital by more than four decades.

Although named for Bunker Hill, the fierce fighting on June 17, 1775, took place almost entirely right here on Breed's Hill, where twelve hundred provincial militiamen under Colonel William Prescott threw up an earthen redoubt overnight. Prescott famously issued the immortal tactical command to his ammunition-starved men: "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!"

To transport the massive blocks of Quincy granite needed for the obelisk, engineer Gridley Bryant constructed the Granite Railway in 1826—officially the very first commercial railway in American history. In 1825, on the fiftieth anniversary of the battle, the Marquis de Lafayette laid the cornerstone before a crowd of over one hundred thousand people, with Daniel Webster delivering one of the most famous patriotic orations in American history. The battle was a pyrrhic British victory: although the British eventually took the hill after the colonists ran out of gunpowder, the British suffered over one thousand casualties—nearly half their attacking force. Facing the square, the Bunker Hill Museum preserves the original drum carried during the battle by young drummer boy John Robbins. Standing before the monument is William Wetmore Story's heroic 1881 bronze statue of Colonel Prescott, defiantly clutching his sword as he steadies his men.

Looking up at the two hundred and ninety-four stone steps ascending inside the hollow granite shaft to the observation chamber, the sheer architectural and emotional power of this sacred site is overwhelming. It was here that ordinary colonial farmers and tradesmen proved they could stand unflinchingly against the greatest military power on earth. The commanding views from this historic hilltop across Boston Harbor remind visitors of the immense strategic importance of this ground during the opening months of the Revolution.

Descend the eastern hill path down Monument Avenue toward the historic Charlestown Navy Yard.