Bancroft Tower - Worcester, MA
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 42° 16.586 W 071° 48.950
19T E 267802 N 4684308
Bancroft Tower is reached via Bancroft Tower Road in Salisbury Park in Worcester, MA.
Waymark Code: WMKJJ5
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 04/21/2014
Views: 1
The Bancroft Tower was built by Stephen Salisbury III, a wealthy Worcester citizen who left no heirs. It was constructed in tribute to Secretary of the Navy and briefly Secretary of War under President James Polk during the U.S. war with Mexico.
The tower sits high on a hill. It is constructed as if it were the front of a castle, but it's really just a facade. It is more closely resembles a large free-standing arch that's built of boulders and cobblestones in the Romanesque Style. The tower is 56' high, cost $15,000 (in 1900) and encloses several small, narrow but empty rooms.
A plaque on the ground near the archway is inscribed:
BANCROFT TOWER
THIS TOWER WAS BUILT IN 1900
TO HONOR THE MEMORY OF
GEORGE BANCROFT
1800 - 1891
BORN AT THE FOOT OF THIS HILL
HE ROSE TO THE POSTS OF
SECRETARY OF THE NAVY
FOUNDER OF THE U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND
U.S. MINISTER TO GREAT BRITAIN
AND GERMANY
THIS MEMORIAL WAS BUILT BY HIS
FRIEND AND ADMIRER