In Boston, in Ashburton Park on the east side of the Massachusetts State House is a tall column with a eagle on top. This monument is in rememberance of the American Revolutionary War.
The monument is actually a rebuilt granite column with the original slate plaques. There is a separate bronze plaque that explains this:
"In 1634 the general court caused a beacon to be placed on the top of this hill.
"In 1790 a brick and stone monument designed by Charles Bulfinch replaced the beacon but was removed in 1811 when the hill was cut down.
"It is now reproduced in stone by the Bunker Hill Monument Association, 1898."
The four slate plaques are as follows:
East Tablet
"TO COMMEMORATE
THAT TRAIN OF EVENTS
WHICH LED
TO THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
AND FINALLY SECURED
LIBERTY AND INDEPENDENCE
TO THE UNITED STATES
THIS COLUMN IS ERECTED
BY THE VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION
OF THE CITIZENS
OF BOSTON
M D C C X C."
South Tablet
"STAMP ACT PASSED 1765. REPEALED 1766.
BOARD OF CUSTOMS ESTABLISHED 1767.
BRITISH TROOPS FIRED ON THE INHABITANTS OF BOSTON
MARCH 5. 1770.
TEA ACT PASSED 1773.
TEA DESTROYED IN BOSTON DECEM : 16.
PORT OF BOSTON SHUT AND GUARDED JUNE 1. 1774.
GENERAL CONGRESS AT PHILADELPHIA SEPT: 4.
PROVINCIAL CONGRESS AT CONCORD OCT: 11.
BATTLE OF LEXINGTON APRIL 19. 1775.
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL JUNE 17.
WASHINGTON TOOK COMMAND OF THE ARMY JULY 2.
BOSTON EVACUATED MARCH 17: 1776.
INDEPENDANCE DECLARED BY CONGRESS JULY 4. 1776.
HANCOCK PRESIDENT."
West Tablet
TABLET UPON THE WEST SIDE
"AMERICANS
WHILE FROM THIS EMINENCE
SCENES OF LUXURIANT FERTILITY
OF FLOURISHING COMMERCE
& THE ABODES OF SOCIAL HAPPINESS
MEET TOUR VIEW
FORGET NOT THOSE
WHO BY THEIR EXERTIONS
HAVE SECURED TO YOU
THESE BLESSINGS."
North Tablet
"CAPTURE OF HESSIANS AT TRENTON DEC: 26. 1776.
CAPTURE OF HESSIANS AT BENNINGTON. AUG: 16. 1777.
CAPTURE OF BRITISH ARMY AT SARATOGA OCT: 17.
ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE FEB: 6. 1778.
CONFEDERATION OF UNITED STATES FORMED JULY 9.
CONSTITUTION OF MASSACHUSETTS FORMED 1780.
BOWDOIN PRESIDENT OF CONVENTION.
CAPTURE OF BRITISH ARMY AT YORK OCT: 19. 1781.
PRELIMENARIES OF PEACE NOV: 30. 1782.
DEFINITIVE TREATY OF PEACE SEPT: 10. 1783.
FEDERAL CONSTITUTION FORMED SEPT: 17. 1787.
AND RATIFIED BY THE UNITED STATES 1787. TO. 1790.
NEW CONGRESS ASSEMBLED AT NEW YORK APRIL. 6. 178!
WASHINGTON INAUGURATED PRESIDENT APRIL 30.
PUBLIC DEBTS J'UNDED AUG : 4. 1790."
Source of Text: (
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The hill was cutdown and the soil hauled off to fill in the shore around the small Shawmut Peninsula that Boston then resided in. Essentially Boston Common was up to 60 feet higher than it is today, and the other two hills that used to exist are no longer.
The monument is easily accessible. Pass through the Ashburton Place Gate to the monument a few feet away. While there, look at other memorials in this part, including the Massachusetts Fallen Firefighters Memorial to the left.