Duxbury Dedicates Standish Monument
On this day in 1872, a crowd of 10,000 climbed to the top of Captain's Hill in Duxbury to watch the cornerstone being laid for the Myles Standish Monument. Military leader of the Plymouth Colony, Standish became a popular national hero when Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published his fictionalized poem, "The Courtship of Myles Standish," in 1858. The Massachusetts state government and private individuals, including President Ulysses S. Grant, contributed to the memorial. It took 28 years to raise all the money needed. When it was finally finished in 1898, the 116-foot tall shaft, with a 14-foot statue of Standish at the top, was rivaled only by the Washington Memorial as a U.S. monument to an individual citizen.
Related Moments
Fire Rages at Myles Standish State Forest
Fire Rages at Myles Standish State Forest
On this day in 1964, a raging wildfire crossed the boundaries of Myles Standish State Forest, and into the town of Plymouth. Two days earlier flames had consumed 800 acres of the forest, but firefighters...
Pilgrim Monument Completed in Provincetown
Pilgrim Monument Completed in Provincetown
On this day in 1909, two young girls, using ropes and a pulley, helped haul the last stone into place to complete the Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown. The town's Yankee residents had long been seeking...
Puritans Leave for Massachusetts
Puritans Leave for Massachusetts
On this day in 1630, the last well-wishers stepped off the ship Arbella and returned to shore. More than a week after the vessel first set out, the winds were finally favorable. The ship weighed...
