Clipper Ship Monument to Donald McKay - Castle Island, Boston, MA
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 42° 20.347 W 071° 00.614
19T E 334400 N 4689386
The obelisk on the edge of Castle Island facing Boston Harbor is a monument to Donald McKay and the fast and beautiful clipper ships that he had designed and built in Boston.
Waymark Code: WM7GWG
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 10/25/2009
Views: 7
On Castle Island, on a point that defines the entrance to Boston's Inner Harbor, is a lightly colored obelisk that stands out against the darker hulk of Fort Independence. This obelisk is easily viewable from the ferry or any ship that passes through the inner harbor channel and is a monument to Donald McKay and the ships that he had designed.
On all four sides, the monument has reliefs of McKay's face and ship hulls.
On the side facing the outer harbor there is a ship relief with the words,
Flying Cloud
Below that, Don McKay's profile, outlined by an unfurled square sail with ship rigging and mast, is on the side facing the outer harbor. Below is the following:
Donald McKay
1810-1880
Master-builder whose genius
produced ships of a beauty
and speed before unknown
which swept the seven seas
Made the American Clipper
Ship famous the world over
and brought reknown and
prosperity to the city of
Boston
This monument erected by public subscription - 1933
On another side there is a relief of a clipper ship. The words say:
Great Republic
The largest ship in the world
when launched October 4th 1853
4555 tons register 6000 tons
capacity . length 325 feet
beam 53 feet depth of hold
39 feet with a million and
one half feet of hard pine
2056 tons of white oak
336 tons of iron 56 tons
copper 15,653 sq. yds. of canvas
Another side has a listing of clipper ships he built.
Clippers
Staghound * Santa Claus
Flying Cloud * James Baines
Staffordshire ** Defender
North America *Mastiff
Flying Fish * Donald McKay
* Sovereign of the Seas *
Westward Ho * Alhambra
Bald Eagle * Helen Morris
** Empress of the Sea **
Star of Empire * Minnehaha
Chariot of Fame ** Japan
Great Republic ** Zephyr
* Romance of the Seas *
*Champion of the Seas *
Blanche Moore * Lightning
**Commodore Perry **
Amos Lawrence * Adriatic
Abbot Lawrence ** Baltic
**Glory of the Seas**
On the fourth side is a list of other ships:
Packets
Anglo Saxon * Jenny Lind
New World * Parliament
**Washington Irving **
Plymouth Rock * Antarctic
A.Z. ** Anglo American
Ocean Monarch *** L.Z.
**Cornelius Grinnell**
***Daniel Webster***
Traders
Courier * Morris W Heeler
Helicon * Frank Atwood
General Putnam * Benin
Reindeer ** Mary B. Dyer
H. & R. Atwood *** Sultana
Benj. S. Wright * North Star
Geo. B. Upton * R. F. Higgins
*Theodore D. Wagner *
Sovereign of the Seas II
Donald McKay made is mark in several places. He was raised in Nova Scotia, Canada, and was an apprentice in the shipyards in New York City. He built a ship in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, returned to New York, then to Newburyport, before being lured to Boston. The following web site has a detailed account of the clipper ship era, featuring Donald McKay:
Era of the Clipper Ships:
Visit Link
Access to this monument is easy, but, from land, it does require a little walking from the parking lot. William J. Day Boulevard ends at the parking lot at the east end. From there, take either pathway to the right of the ice cream stand, keeping the fort to your right. About a fifth of the way around the fort, you will see the monument.