BF - Bunker Hill Citadel
With an elevation of 110 feet, Bunker Hill is one of the tallest hills near Boston. Like other hills around Boston, Bunker Hill is a drumlin, or elongated hill, formed by a retreating glacier eons ago. George Bunker, an early resident of colonial Charlestown, once owned the land that included this hill. Provincials used Bunker Hill for agricultural purposes.In the aftermath of the Battle of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, the Provincials, or colonial forces, looked at Bunker Hill and other hills as military positions. These hills provided high ground with panoramic views and placements for cannon. Provincials planned a Siege of Boston to drive out the British military that had been in Boston since 1774 as part of the British Coercive Acts.British military leaders in Boston saw the advantage of occupying both Bunker Hill, located north of Boston, and Dorchester Heights, located in the south, to break the Siege of Boston. Before the British could act, the Provincials took Bunker Hill for themselves on the night of June 16, 1775.A Provincial force of about 1,000 militiamen took Bunker Hill and built a redoubt, or earthen fort, on the adjacent smaller hill, sometimes called Breed’s Hill. People have since debated the decision to build a redoubt on Breed’s Hill rather than the more prominent Bunker Hill but both hills played a role in the Battle of Bunker Hill.In the early hours of June 17, 1775, the British Navy tried to dislodge the Provincials from their redoubt on Breed’s Hill with a two-hour barrage of cannon fire from ships in Boston Harbor. This failed and over 2,000 British Regulars tried to remove the Provincials from both hills. The Regulars ferried across the harbor from Boston to Charlestown.The Provincials built an elevated, fortified position that spread across sections of both Bunker and Breed’s Hills. With effective musket fire volleys, the Provincials drove back two assaults by the British Regulars. The Regulars pursued a third assault that dislodged the Provincials from both Breed’s Hill and Bunker Hill. The British victory came at a big cost as they suffered over twice the casualties as the Provincials. Also, the Siege of Boston to drive out the British remained intact.Nearly fifty years after the Battle of Bunker Hill, people from Boston and beyond became inspired to formally commemorate the battle. The Bunker Hill Monument Association (BHMA) formed in 1823 with the goal of preserving the battlefield and building a monument. The BHMA decided to build the Bunker Hill Monument on Breed’s Hill since that is where most of the Provincials died.It took over fifteen years to complete the monument, mainly due to the unexpected cost of the endeavor. In 1840, the BHMA almost resigned itself to a 160-foot monument, until Sarah Josepha Hale offered to run a week-long fair in Boston’s Quincy Market. Hale’s “Ladies’ Fair” raised the large sum of $30,000 and with other last-minute contributions, the 221-foot obelisk was completed in 1842.The BHMA owned and managed the Bunker Hill Monument and its surrounding four acres for nearly seventy-five years but passed the complex over to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1919. As the mid-1970s approached, BHMA members, local, state, and federal officials decided that the National Park Service take over this significant national site as the nation’s Bicentennial approached in 1976. The Bunker Hill Monument became part of the National Parks of Boston in 1975. It became a stop on the Freedom Trail in 1977.Today, Bunker Hill is a residential area with a church on top of the hill. Bunker Hill still offers a great panoramic view of the surrounding area.https://www.nps.gov/places/bunker-hill.htm
British Fortification
Charleston Outworks, Britishhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
BF - Breeds Hill - Bunker Hill Monument
(Note - the whole vicinity is considered the area of Bunker Hill so people back then referred to this as both the smaller Bunker Hill or Breed's Hill. Also the fortification was small enough that it's about the size of the concrete immediately surrounding the obelisk- see map link)Due to its close proximity to Boston and its pivotal role during the Battle of Bunker Hill, Breed’s Hill in Charlestown is mostly remembered for its colonial and revolutionary ties. Settled by English colonists in 1625 and first known as “Cherton,” Charlestown became an important location of craft production thanks to deposits of clay and other raw materials. Home to three hills, there have been disagreements about the names of these heights since the 1600s. According to historian Richard M. Ketchum:To the south of it [Bunker Hill], and connected to it by a lower, sloping ridge, was a height of land not sufficiently distinguished to bear any particular name. Some called it Charlestown Hill; others, considering it an appendage of Bunker Hill, referred to it by that title; while some of the local people, out of deference to a farmer whose cattle grazed there, called it Breed’s. Its steep western flank, covered with orchards and gardens, leveled out near the settlement of Charlestown.By 1775, the population of Charlestown hovered around 2,000 to 3,000 people with 400 structures in it, mostly situated on the south shore facing Boston. Bunker and Breed’s Hills, named after George Bunker and Ebenezer Breed, were mostly undeveloped with some farmhouses and pastures. Lacking trees along the hills, residents of Boston had an unobstructed view of the Charlestown Heights from the northern section of town.After the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord, both the British and colonial forces focused on defensible locations surrounding the town of Boston. As the colonials dug trenches in Roxbury and Cambridge, the British forces began to prepare to take both the Charlestown and Dorchester Heights: “First, a detachment would move out against Dorchester Neck, throw up two redoubts there, and then attack the rebel post at Roxbury. Once Boston was safe from attack in that direction, Howe would take a large force to Charlestown Heights and either attack the Americans in Cambridge or outflank that post.” Planned for June 18, General Gage and his staff felt confident they would prevail by the end of the day.Learning of the plan, the colonial forces arrived at the Charlestown Heights first on June 16, 1775. Though there are conflicting reports of where the redoubt should have been placed, construction began around 12:30 am on June 17 at Breed’s Hill. After building their defenses throughout the course of the day, the colonists held the high ground as the British troops landed along the Charlestown shoreline. Over the course of about two hours, the battle raged throughout the peninsula. Pitting 2,200 British troops against a varying number of Provincial (colonial) troops led by Colonel William Prescott, it would become one of the bloodiest battles of the American Revolution. Over 1,000 British soldiers, officers, and Marines were killed or wounded. Approximately 300 to 500 of the 1,400 to 1,800 provincial soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured. Breed’s Hill would remain in the hands of the British Army until March 1776.Though the King Solomon Lodge Masons dedicated a Monument dedicated to Joseph Warren in 1783, a new effort to honor all those who fought during the battle did not begin until the 1820s. On June 17, 1825, on the 50th anniversary of the battle, a large crowd gathered for a cornerstone-laying ceremony for the future Bunker Hill Monument located at the top of Breed’s Hill. Among those present that day were the General Marquis de Lafayette and former Massachusetts senator, Daniel Webster. It took another 18 years for the Monument to be realized.Established on just four of the original 10 acres of the battle, the rest of the area soon became house lots and, eventually, the original Charlestown High School. Annexed by Boston in 1874, Charlestown became a popular neighborhood for working-class Irish immigrants.In 1923, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, then the caretaker of the Bunker Hill Monument, installed this plaque (below) on the exterior of the Bunker Hill Lodge adjacent to the Monument. Breed family members had appealed to the state, as they had previously appealed to the Bunker Hill Monument Association when the Association owned the Monument, that the name "Breed's Hill" was not displayed somewhere prominently on the hill. State officials agreed and installed this plaque.(See Photo) This plaque states: "Breed's Hill Site of the Battle of Bunker Hill Fought June 17, 1775 Although orders were issued by the Committee of Safety to Seize and Fortify Bunker Hill the Colonial Officers After Consultation Fortified this Hill on June 16, 1775." (NPS Photo).Today, Breed's Hill hosts about 2% of the population of Boston with 18,058 residents.https://www.nps.gov/places/breeds-hill.htm
British Fortification
Charleston Outworks(Interestingly west of this parking lot was water, Bunker Hill Campus Store to the North was the landline and the Community college was water, and the south parking lot across the little street was also mostly water.) https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
British Fortification
Charleston Out Workshttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
British Fortification
Copp's Hill Batteryhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Copp's Hill Burying Ground
Established in 1660, Copp's Hill Burying Ground became the resting place for thousands of people of who lived, worked, and died in the North End. Among those interred on the hill are merchant John Pulling Jr. and Old North Church sexton, or caretaker, Robert Newman, the two men believed to have held the signal lanterns on the night of April 18, 1775 to warn of the British advance on Lexington and Concord. Also buried here are Increase, Samuel, and Cotton Mather, all three influential and infamous theologians of Boston.Copp's Hill also serves as the final resting place for early Bostonians of African descent. Many enslaved and free African Americans are buried on this hill, including Black educator, community leader, and Masonic Grand Master Prince Hall. In Boston, Prince Hall and his fellow masons led their community as activists for the abolition of enslavement and for the recognition of their rights as equal citizens in Massachusetts. Hall's modern brothers erected the monument that currently stands next to his original, modest headstone.During the Revolutionary War, some historians suggest British soldiers performed target practice on some headstones here. Copp's Hill also played a pivotal role in the Battle of Bunker Hill due to its view of the harbor and neighboring towns. From this spot on June 17, 1775, Generals John Burgoyne and Henry Clinton directed British soldiers to bombard Breed’s Hill with naval guns. These guns aimed at the fortifications colonists had built the night prior on the hill. Ultimately, the use of artillery from Copp’s Hill helped the British push colonial forces off Breed's Hill.https://www.nps.gov/places/copp-s-hill-burying-ground.htm
British Fortification
North Batteryhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Long Wharf
Located at the base of today's State Street (Once King Street), Long Wharf served as the nucleus of Boston's maritime trade. By the end of the 1700s, it reigned pre-eminent amongst Boston's 80 wharves, handling both international and coastal trade. Regaining its prominence as a commercial center, Long Wharf remains one of the city's most well-known wharves today.Acting upon the suggestion of Henry Deering in 1707, the Selectmen of Boston granted permission to a private group of men (headed by Capt. Oliver Noyes) for the construction of a wharf at the base of King Street. Constructed around 1710-1721, the new wharf extended half a mile into the harbor and became known as "Long Wharf." Early maps show that it was by far the most ambitious undertaking on Boston's waterfront.An immediate success, Long Wharf's site at the base of King Street allowed direct access to the heart of the town—the intersection of King and Cornhill Streets (now State and Washington Streets). Its extreme length of 1,586 feet allowed up to 50 vessels to dock and unload directly into warehouses without the use of lighters or boats. With its site and length, the wharf soon became central to the commercial trade of Boston.Supported by powerful New England merchant families, commercial trade in Boston grew substantially as the town became integrated into the Atlantic trading empire. Due to its location, Boston served as an ideal location as a port of call for ships traveling across the Atlantic ocean. Boston, and Long Wharf in particular, became immersed in the Mid-Atlantic slave trade and what is known as the Middle Passage. Newspaper advertisements in the 1700s document that some ships docked at Long Wharf held enslaved Africans; merchants and captains also sold them alongside their other imports. Installed in 2020, a marker recognizes this history at the end of Long Wharf today.In addition to its economic role in the Atlantic trading empire, Long Wharf played a part in the early military history of Boston. In 1758, victors from the pivotal Battle of Louisbourg during the Seven Years' War landed here to gun salutes and cheering citizens. The arrival of British troops via Long Wharf just over a decade later received a different response, as they came to enforce the King's rights in 1770 (ultimately ending in the Boston Massacre). As part of the Intolerable Acts, British Parliament shut down the port of Boston in 1774, therefore closing Long Wharf stores and docks. According to Frothingham's History of the Siege of Boston, some of the British forces at Bunker Hill arrived from Long Wharf. Wounded from both sides of the Battle of Bunker Hill were brought back across the harbor to Long Wharf in June of 1775. At the end of the Siege of Boston, the British evacuated Boston from Long Wharf in March 1776. In July 1776, the ship that brought word of the Declaration of Independence from Philadelphia landed at Long Wharf. John Adams sailed from it to secure European financial and military support for the Revolutionary War. During this time, privateers and blockade runners sailed from Long Wharf and military stores were kept in its warehouses. Decades later, during the War of 1812, USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides") docked at Long Wharf.After the wars, trade resumed its dominant position on the wharf. Two new buildings, the Custom House Block and the Chart House, joined the Wharf's landscape. The Chart House dates from the 1830s with perhaps some colonial sections. Built in 1848, the Custom House Block provides an example of the monumental granite structures that lined Boston's docks during the height of its commercial prosperity. Both of these buildings help Long Wharf maintain its historic character today.The city of Boston achieved its acme of commercial prosperity in the 1840s-1850s. While trade with Europe continued throughout this period, Boston merchant houses thrived on the China and East Indies trade—silks, madras, and cashmere were transported to Long Wharf warehouses.During this time, Long Wharf also witnessed flashpoints in the city's abolitionist history. In 1851, local authorities marched captured freedom seeker Thomas Sims down Long Wharf to board him on the brig Acorn, which took him back to slavery in Savannah, Georgia. About a hundred abolitionists protested this rendition, as result of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law. Opposition to the Fugitive Slave Law grew rapidly three years later when another freedom seeker, Anthony Burns, faced the same fate. After a short trial and a failed rescue attempt, hundreds of federal troops marched Anthony Burns down State Street to Long Wharf as 50,000 people lined the streets to protest.After the American Civil War, trade declined in Boston and so did the importance of Long Wharf. The primary business of the wharf shifted from international trade to coastal trade and fishing. Atlantic Avenue was built to enlarge the waterfront just at the point when Boston's great maritime era was closing. In 1914, major fish dealers moved to the completed Fish Pier in South Boston. Schooners and coastal steamers gradually disappeared.As is the nature of a utilitarian site, Long Wharf has remained in constant change, reflecting the prosperity and priorities of American shipping and trade. Although these changes have altered the shape and the use of Long Wharf, the portion that remains and the buildings on it retain a strong commemorative value. On November 13, 1966, Boston's Long Wharf received the designation of National Historic Landmark.https://www.nps.gov/places/long-wharf-boston.htm
British Fortification
South Batteryhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
British Fortification - Fort Hill
Fort Hillhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
British Fortification
Beacon Hill Batteryhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Beacon Hill
When the first European colonists settled in Boston in the 1620s, the area of the city we now know as Beacon Hill comprised of three peaks. The colonists referred to this area as the Tri-mountain, or Tra-mount or Tre-mount. They also called it Sentry Hill. In 1635, these early English settlers erected a tall wooden beacon atop the hill to warn the countryside of any danger, attack, or outbreak. From that day forth, the area became known as Beacon Hill.Thomas Hancock, a wealthy merchant, built the first home on Beacon Hill in 1737. Following his death, and that of his widow, this mansion became the home of his nephew, the merchant and patriot leader John Hancock. During the Siege of Boston, 1775-1776, the British military took over this house and used it as their headquarters.At this time, British commander General Gage removed the beacon from Beacon Hill. According to historian William W. Wheildon:After the discomfiture of the 19th of April, and on account of the gathering of Provincial troops at Cambridge, he found it necessary to increase and, extend his defences; and among other things a small fort was built on Beacon Hill and the Beacon removed.Following the British evacuation in March 1776, Bostonians quickly replaced the beacon. It remained there until a storm blew it down in 1789. The Beacon Hill Eagle Memorial, designed by Charles Bulfinch, now stands in its place as a lasting reminder of Boston's revolutionary legacy.Bulfinch also played a prominent role in the transformation of Beacon Hill into an enclave for wealthy and powerful Bostonians, who became known as the Boston Brahmins. Bulfinch designed the Massachusetts State House, completed in 1798, which continues to serve as the seat of political power in the Commonwealth. He also joined with four other businessmen to form the Mount Vernon Proprietors. This real estate syndicate purchased land from the artist John Singleton Copley and began developing the southern slope of Beacon Hill, overlooking Boston Common, with lavish homes for Boston’s elite.The north and western slopes of Beacon Hill, on the other hand, served as the home of a working and middle class community, including many free African Americans. This area became a hotbed of abolitionist and Underground Railroad activity in the years leading up to the U.S. Civil War. Today, the Black Heritage Trail®, the Museum of African American History, and Boston African American National Historic Site commemorate this remarkable and often overlooked history of Beacon Hill.To fill in land around the city, Bostonians removed parts of the three hills that made up the original Tri-mountain, leaving the landscape we see today. Throughout its history, Beacon Hill has served as home for wealthy merchants and poor immigrants, industrialists and skilled artisans, social reformers and activists, political and religious leaders, writers, artists, and laborers. Its residents, their homes, and their gathering spaces played a transformational role in Boston's unique social, cultural, and political history.https://www.nps.gov/places/beacon-hill.htm
British Fortification
Beacon Hill Workshttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
British Fortification
Cambridge St Battery(Everything west was Charles River, this fortification looks like a 3 gun battery on the map.)https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
British Fortification
Pest Hill Batteryhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
British Fortification
Beacon Hill Workshttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
British Fortification
Boston Common Workshttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
British Fortification
Boston Common Workshttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
British Fortification
Boston Common Workshttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
British Fortification
Boston Common Workshttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
British Fortification - Boston Neck Lines - "Tied Island"
This ran along the west coast of the Shawmut Peninsula then across the isthmus to the east coast. Technically Boston was a "tied island" connected to land by a sandy spit called a "tombolo." These fortification lines ran down almost to Marginal Rd then across the middle of the block between Marginal and Oak St then up through Oak Terrace Appartments just shy of Maple Place. (see map for details and second link for more about how Boston filled in)https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htmhttps://www.wbur.org/news/2021/06/14/8-maps-that-explain-bostons-changing-shoreline
British Fortification
Block Honse - 7 Gun BatteryThis was the Advanced Lines on the mainland guarding the entrance to Boston. The area covered from Shawmut Ave sough to Brookline, east to the Harrison Archway. The only road on the narrow isthmus is now modern Washington Sthttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
British Fortification
Old WorksThis was a British Fortification on the thin land isthmus connecting Boston to the rest of Mass Bay colony. The narrowest land line where the fortification was - is approx where the crosswalk is cutting into the park and along the shortstop line of the baseball diamond.https://www.wbur.org/news/2021/06/14/8-maps-that-explain-bostons-changing-shorelinehttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
British Fortification
4 Gun Batteryhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
BF - Fort Independence - Castle William
Fort Independence, formerly known as Castle William, sits on top of Castle Island. Due to its strategic location on Boston Harbor, this site has served as the home to military fortifications for hundreds of years. It is considered the "oldest fortified military site in British North America."The first known fort at this site dates back to the 1630s, when Governor John Winthrop ordered the construction of a fort on Castle Island. The fort expanded in the 1640s and in the 1690s due to the constant fear of attacks by French naval forces. In 1701, the fort became officially known as Castle William, named after William II of England.Castle William's role shifted from protecting against potential attacks from European powers to providing a refuge for British soldiers facing colonial upheaval in Boston. After the Boston Massacre in 1770, Bostonians called for British troops stationed in the city to be removed to Castle William. British forces maintained their presence at Castle William for the next six years.In the beginning of March 1776, the Continental Army fortified nearby Dorchester Heights in the dead of night. British forces from Castle William witnessed this fortification and organized an attack. General William Howe, with 11,000 soldiers at his command, ordered an attack on Dorchester Heights. However, due to poor weather, British forces had to return to the safety of the fort.With George Washington's Continental Army surrounding Boston, General Howe and his troops prepared to leave the city. In one final act of aggression against the enemy, British forces fired upon the Continental Army as they constructed new fortifications on Dorchester Point. This attack proved unsuccessful, injuring British soldiers due to a misfired cannon. Documenting the events of the day in his diary, British Lieutenant General Archibald Robertson wrote,20th [March]… Between one and two found the Rebels had begun a new Work on Dorchester Point opposite Castle William. We fired at them from the Castle and by a Gun bursting had 7 men wounded.Hours later, British forces evacuated Boston and set Castle Island, including the fort, on fire. Robertson noted the General's order to load mines at the Castle and the following destruction:Accordingly at 8 o'clock 6 Companies Embark’d and the Boats lay off untill the mines were fired, which was done 1/2 an hour Afterwards and they had a very good Effect. The Barracks and other houses were then set on fire and at 9 ... we got all safe on board the Transports.After the smoke cleared, Continental forces quickly rebuilt the fortifications at Castle William into a star-shaped fort. Lieutenant Colonel Paul Revere led the troops stationed here.When the war ended, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts used the fort as a state prison. In the late 1790s, the federal government took command of the fort, repairing and expanding it. In 1799, President John Adams renamed Castle William to Fort Independence.When the country faced times of war, the US Military prepared Fort Independence for battle. During the War of 1812, and later from 1834 to 1851, the fort was repaired and expanded. Fort Independence served as an armory during the Civil War, with the Fourth Battalion of Massachusetts Infantry stationed here. The Fort also remained active during the World Wars in case of a coastal attack.Today, Fort Independence is part of a state park on Castle Island. Throughout the warmer months of the year, the Castle Island Association provides free tours of Fort Independence in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.https://www.nps.gov/places/fort-independence-castle-william.htm
Moon Island
Situated in the middle of Quincy Bay is the 54-acre peninsula Moon Island. One of the five peninsulas in the harbor, Moon Island has been connected to Squantum via a causeway since the 1870s. It boasts a single drumlin that has one of the highest elevations in the harbor at 98 feet above sea level. Sumac groves and meadow grasses can be found throughout the peninsula. Owned and managed by City of Boston, Moon Island serves as a training site for the Boston Fire Department and hosts a shooting range for the Boston Police Department. For these reasons, visitation to Moon Island is prohibited.Similar to many of the other islands in the harbor, local Indigenous peoples likely accessed Moon Island seasonally. After European colonization, settlers used the island as farmland. Colonial troops mustered in on the island during the Siege of Boston in the early years of the American Revolution.In 1878, the City of Boston acquired the island and began work on a massive sewerage project that drastically changed the topography of the island. By its completion in 1884, the project cost 6 million dollars, over 180 million in today’s dollars. The project focused on putting a drainage system at south end of the Charles River with an outlet that led to Moon Island. Moon Island had been selected after preliminary tests showed that the area had a “favorable ebb current.” Some sewers went directly to Moon Island, while other main sewers stopped first at pumping stations and then diverted to Moon Island.One of these pumping stations, called the Calf Pasture Pumping Station, began operating in 1884. It worked by screening wastewater and then pumping the sewage through a mile long tunnel under the Neponset River to Moon Island. On the island, a reservoir that stretched five acres held waste in four granite tanks until the tide got high enough for the waste to be released further out into the harbor. These efforts pushed the sewage far enough out into the harbor that the water quality in the inner harbor improved and made popular activities like swimming and yachting more enjoyable.Construction of a garbage reclamation plant took place in 1892, but the plant relocated to Spectacle Island in 1912. In 1951, the City of Boston completed the construction of a bridge that connected nearby Long Island to Moon Island. In the following years the Boston Fire Department installed their training facility on the island. The sewerage plant did not close until the 1970s. Since its closure, the main use of the island became the training facility that is still present on the island today.https://www.nps.gov/places/moon-island.htm
Long Island
Just five miles out from Boston sits the biggest of the Boston Harbor Islands, aptly named Long Island. At 225 acres, the island is composed of three drumlins and a freshwater marsh on the west side of the island. Today, Long Island is owned by the City of Boston and is not accessible by public ferry or private boat.Prior to European colonization, local indigenous communities accessed Long Island seasonally. When European encroachment of the region led to Metacom's Rebellion (also known as King Philip's War) from 1675-1676, colonists used Long Island as an incarceration site for "Christianized" Indigenous peoples whom colonists feared might join the rebellion. Many of those incarcerated here had been moved from Deer Island, an internment camp that had become overcrowded. Hundreds perished due to extreme conditions and starvation. A burial site remains on the island today.During the Siege of Boston in 1775, about 500 continental soldiers boarded the island from whale-boats and took all the sheep and cattle on the island, along with 17 British prisoners. The following year, continental soldiers occupied Long Island and placed several batteries here and on other islands in Boston Harbor. They destroyed a British cargo vessel carrying military supplies and reinforcements. The captain of the vessel and 36 others died with the ship. All were brought ashore and buried on Long Island.In 1818, The Boston Marine Society recommended a light be placed on Long Island. The light went into service in 1819 and stood 20 feet tall, with a keeper’s house connected to the light. By 1844, the lighthouse needed to be replaced in its entirety as a result of neglect. The new lighthouse became the first cast iron lighthouse in the country.By the 1800s, several mansions and hotels had been built on the island. The Long Island Company purchased the island in 1849, with plans to build hotels and summer residencies. The start of the Civil War brought troops to the island once again; it housed about 1,000 conscripts and several heavy artillery companies. The Long Island-House Hotel served as the headquarters for the island camp called Camp Wrightman. The author of the regimental history for the Ninth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry remembered his time on Long Island fondly, saying,The transference of the regiment from Faneuil Hall to Long Island was indeed, a great blessing to all parties interested. The freedom of the island, with its green fields, pure salt air and bright sky, infused new life in both officers and men...Around 1882, the City of Boston evicted a Portuguese fishing village from Long Island, forcing them to move to nearby Peddocks Island. The city then acquired the island’s biggest hotel and turned it into an almshouse.In 1899, Camp Wrightman formally received the name Fort Strong in honor of Major General George C. Strong, who died of wounds sustained at the Battle of Gettysburg. Replaced again in 1901, Long Island Head Light was moved further west on the island in order to avoid damage from gunfire at the expanding fort. Althought it had grown to eight batteries by 1906, Fort Strong saw minimal use during World War I and went into maintenance status in 1922.Returning to operation during World War II, Fort Strong controlled the northern minefields in the harbor. This lasted until 1943 when control was transferred to forts that had more modern equipment. Although operators at Fort Strong continued to perform maintenance on the mines, the fort went into standby status and all big guns on the island were removed.The military used Fort Strong in some capacity until 1948. Construction on the bridge that connected Long Island to Moon Island concluded in 1951, successfully joining Long Island Hospital to the mainland. At the time, Long Island Hospital focused on chronically ill patients. Since the placement of the almshouse in the 1880s, Long Island has served as the home to various social services, including a hospital, nursing school, mental health facility, and homeless shelter. The City of Boston removed the structurally unsound bridge in 2015, ending all programs on the island.https://www.nps.gov/places/long-island-boston.htm
Grape Island
Grape Island sits right off the coast of Weymouth, south of Boston. Its size varies depending on the tides: 54 acres at high tide, 101 acres at low tide. Grape Island is recognized as a wildlife haven, offering an abundance of wild berries for birds and other animals to enjoy. An island for the outdoor enthusiast, Grape Island features trails, beaches, picnic areas, and camp sites.Similar to many of the Boston Harbor Islands, Grape Island likely provided valuable resources for early inhabitants of the area. With the arrival of European settlers in the 1600s, several of the islands, including Grape, became converted into farmland. Throughout the 1600s and early 1700s, several farmers and farming families shared ownership of the island.At the time of the Revolutionary War, Elisha Leavitt, a Tory Loyalist, owned the island. As British forces searched for resources in the islands during the Siege of Boston, Leavitt gave British forces access his hay. In what became known as the Battle of Grape Island, townspeople of Weymouth and the local militia saw British soldiers taking hay on May 21, 1775. Sounding the alarm, local colonial forces initially fired upon the British before taking boats to the island and driving the British away. Abigail Adams, living in the area, recalled the event to her husband, John Adams:You inquire of me who were at the engagement at Grape Island. I may say with truth all of Weymouth, Braintree, Hingham, who were able to bear arms, and hundreds from other towns within twenty, thirty, and forty miles of Weymouth. Both your brothers were there; your younger brother, with his company, who gained honor by their good order that day. He was one of the first to venture on board a schooner, to land upon the island.Later caretakers of the small agricultural island include a Captain Smith in the late 1800s, Captain Billy McLeod and his wife from the early 1900s to the 1930s, and finally the Torresson family, who left the island around 1940.During the 1970s, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management designated 16 islands, including Grape Island, as part of the new Boston Harbor Islands State Park.https://www.nps.gov/places/grape-island.htm
Webb Memorial State Park
A peninsula that extends into Hingham Bay, Webb Memorial State Park offers visitors beautiful scenes of the Harbor, trails to enjoy, and picnic areas to gather.The peninsula provided an abundance of natural resources for original local Indigenous communities in the area. European occupation of the peninsula resulted in most of the area being converted into agricultural farmland.This peninsula played a role in the 1775 skirmish known as the Battle of Grape Island. During the Siege of Boston, British forces searched for resources in the islands, including Grape Island. From this location, townspeople of Weymouth and the local militia saw British soldiers taking hay from Grape Island on May 21, 1775. Sounding the alarm, local colonial forces initially fired upon the British before taking boats to the island and driving the British away. Abigail Adams, living in the area, recalled the event to her husband, John Adams: You inquire of me who were at the engagement at Grape Island. I may say with truth all of Weymouth, Braintree, Hingham, who were able to bear arms, and hundreds from other towns within twenty, thirty, and forty miles of Weymouth. Both your brothers were there; your younger brother, with his company, who gained honor by their good order that day. He was one of the first to venture on board a schooner, to land upon the island.A memorial in Webb Memorial State Park commemorates this event, reading:Grape Island Alarm: Sunday May 21, 1775From this Site Weymouth militiamen repulsed an attempt by the British to secure supplies from Grape Island for General Howe’s Beleaguered Army in BostonThe Bradley family owned most of the peninsula during the 1800s. In 1872, they converted a portion of their land into a manufacturing plant for the Bradley Fertilizer Company.In the mid-1950s, the US Army temporarily installed NIKE-Ajax missiles at the tip of the peninsula. The military then transferred land ownership to the State of Massachusetts in 1977. Webb Memorial State Park opened in 1980, named after former Weymouth police captain and selectman William K. Webb.https://www.nps.gov/places/webb-memorial.htm
Chelsea Creek
Less than a month into the Siege of Boston, General Artemas Ward, commander of the siege, directed Colonel John Nixon of Massachusetts and Colonel John Stark of New Hampshire and their militias to remove hay and farm animals off Noddle’s and Hog Islands in Boston Harbor and bring them to the mainland. Ward and the Massachusetts Committee of Safety wanted to deny these items to the 6,500 British Regulars in Boston.Since the British Regulars arrived in Boston in October of 1774, they had been relying on loyalists and other local people to supply them with food and supplies. Some islands in Boston Harbor, which had been turned into agricultural-use by colonists, provided some of this food. In the Siege of Boston, the Massachusetts leaders planned to stop British access to these islands.On May 27, 1775, colonial forces, known as Provincials, began burning down buildings on Noddle’s Island, inadvertently alerting the British Navy to their activity. British Admiral Samuel Graves had orders to sail to Noddle’s Island and stop the Provincials.The British Navy sent marines to pursue the Provincials on foot on Noddle’s Island and also sailed up a narrow tidal waterway called Chelsea Creek on the HMS Diana. A series of land and sea skirmishes occurred involving hundreds of men over two days; both sides fired small cannons and muskets in close proximity in a lethal cat-and-mouse game. The Diana ran aground and the Provincials ransacked and burned it. Casualties on both sides were light but higher on the British side. In the end, the colonial forces denied the British forces the supplies of Noddle’s and Hog Islands. These colonial forces also laid waste to Noddle’s Island and neither side used it for the rest of the siege.This skirmish that occurred May 27 and 28, 1775 became known as the “Battle of Chelsea Creek.” Like many Revolutionary War confrontations, Americans did not recognize its significance until after the 1820s, starting with the 50th anniversary of that battle.For some historians, the Provincial action at Chelsea Creek showed that the Provincials were looking to contain the British Army within Boston. Gaining experience from the French and Indian War, Provincial leaders like Colonels Stark and Nixon and General Putnam spared no time in responding to the Lexington Alarm and led the Chelsea Creek action. Provincials who wished to drive the British military from Boston saw that experienced Provincial officers and their men from three colonies could work cooperatively. Colonial forces would need that cooperation and experience in less than a month, at Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775.https://www.nps.gov/places/chelsea-creek.htm
Colonial Fortification
Plowed Hillhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
Winter Hill Out Workshttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
Winter Hill Outworkshttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
Winter Hill Forthttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htmFor more details of the intrenchmentshttps://www.thesomervilletimes.com/archives/57748
Colonial Fortification
Winter Hill Outworkshttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
Winter Hill Out Workshttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
Charlestown Redoubthttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
French Redoubthttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Prospect Hill Park
Originally part of the town of Charlestown, Massachusetts, Prospect Hill is now located in the nearby town of Somerville. As one of the hills closest to the city of Boston, it played a pivotal role in the line of defensive works constructed after the Battle of Bunker Hill.Located just 2 ½ miles from Bunker and Breeds Hill, General Israel Putnam led the retreating colonial troops to safety at Prospect Hill. Almost immediately, the men began to fortify the area with a redoubt like the one placed on Breed's Hill on June 17, 1775. Over the next nine months, the men stationed at Prospect Hill sustained multiple attacks from the British cannons stationed on the north and west sides of Boston.Communications between the Continental Army and British government were, at best, strained. By January 1, 1776, General George Washington received a copy of a speech King George III gave to Parliament on October 26, 1775. During the speech, the King urged a quick end to the "rebellion" in the colonies. Writing to Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Reed a few days later, Washington recalled:We gave great Joy to them (the red Coats I mean) without knowing or intending it, for on that day, the day which gave being to the New Army (but before the Proclamation came to hand) we had hoisted the Union Flag in compliment to the United Colonies...Initially intended to provide a moral boost to his soldiers, General Washington inadvertently caused some British soldiers to assume their enemies were surrendering. While there is some disagreement about what specific flag General Washington raised on Prospect Hill in 1776, most scholars believe that it was the Grand Union Flag. Containing thirteen alternating stripes of red and white with a Union Jack in the canton, or upper corner, this flag is also considered the First Navy Ensign. By June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress authorized a new flag to replace the Grand Union.Between November 1777 and October 1778, the Prospect Hill barracks served as a temporary prison for British prisoners-of-war captured after General John Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga, New York. Included in that group was Thomas Walker, a Black drummer with the 29th Regiment. Present at the skirmishes before the Boston Massacre seven years earlier, Walker remained one of only four men from the 29th Regiment still imprisoned. Thomas Walker would later die at the barracks in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on July 18, 1781.Though Prospect Hill played a significant role in the early months of the American Revolution, by the 1800s the land had multiple new uses. During the 1860s, Civil War regiments used the land as a training field and campsite. As Somerville grew in population, the land on Prospect Hill began to be subdivided into residential lots. By 1900, the city created a committee to build a monument to commemorate the actions that occurred on the hill during the 1770s. Designed in the style of an English castle and made of granite and surrounded by a public park, the completed structure opened to the public in October 1903 to great fanfare.Today, the city of Somerville continues the tradition began by General George Washington in 1776. Every January 1, the Grand Union Flag is once again hoisted to the top of Prospect Hill.https://www.nps.gov/places/prospect-hill-ma.htmhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
Millers Hill, Star Forthttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
Willis Creek Redoubthttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Lechmere Point
All the surrounding land was once Lechmere’s Farm right to the former coasline. Right at this spot was colonial fortifications and one of the areas where Washington first set up the cannons that Henry Knox retrieved from Fort Ticonderoga.https://boston1775.blogspot.com/2007/12/view-from-lechmere-point.htmlhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
Salt Meadow Baattery - 3 Gun Battery that tokk up this half of the blockhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification - Fort No 3
There was a series of fortifications that ran from this point up NE to Ebi Sushi/ Urban Axe (300 Somerville Ave, Somerville)https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
According to the map this line ran fro mthe corner of Harvard and Trowbridge St, down to halfway up Highland Ave.https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification - Fort No 2
Fort No 2 and Cambridge LinesAccording to the map this line extended north and east al lthe way to Maple Ave.https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification - Fort No 1
https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
3 Gun Batteryhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification - Fort Washington
Today known as Fort Washington Park, this location is home to the last remaining physical remnant of the many fortifications built around Boston by the Continental Army during the Revolution. During the Siege of Boston, the Continental Army was very fearful of attacks from the British, so shortly after Washington arrived in Cambridge in July of 1775, they began their mission of fortifying the area. Small earthwork fortifications, such as the one at the heart of Fort Washington Park, “were built to prevent the movement of British troops up the Charles River.”Since historical preservation was not a priority for the fledgling United States government following the Revolution, all but one of the fortifications the army had built were either plowed over by farmers or built over by developers. The three-gun battery that is the centerpiece of Fort Washington Park survived thanks to a local family’s efforts to carefully preserve it. In 1858, the location was restored by the collaborative efforts of the City of Cambridge and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Colonial Fortification
Brooklin Fort (Brookline)https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
4 Gun Batteryhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
Sewall's Farm Redoubthttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
3 Gun Batteryhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
Stoney Brook Redoubthttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
Meadow Line North https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
Meadow Line Southhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
Roxbury Redoubthttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification - Fort Hill
Fort Hill, a historic neighborhood in Roxbury, played an important role during the Siege of Boston. Several thousand Continental soldiers positioned themselves in the area and built a series of forts to guard Boston Neck, a thin strip of land that served as the only land route between Boston and Roxbury. As described in Francis S. Drake’s Town of Roxbury:Bunker’s Hill demonstrated the value of defensive works, and under the direction of Col. Rufus Putnam, aided by Henry Knox and Josiah Waters, the Roxbury lines, considered marvels of strength in those days, grew rapidly, until at length a complete series of redoubts and batteries protected every exposed point from Dorchester to Brookline. The American militia-men manifested a degree of skill and activity in constructing fieldworks that was a constant surprise to the veteran European soldiers of former wars.The High Fort, or Upper Fort, sat on the highest point in Roxbury, providing the colonists with an optimal vantage of the British army. According to Drake, it is believed to have been "regarded by Washington as the best and most eligibly situated of all the works." It is also said that the Fort Hill neighborhood is named for the High Fort.The fort itself no longer exists, and in that space now stands the Cochituate Standpipe, or Fort Hill Tower. Built in 1869 by Nathaniel Bradlee, the standpipe previously stored water from Lake Cochituate in Natick and helped modernize Roxbury’s water system. It is no longer used as a water tower and has gone through several renovations over the years.The Dillaway-Thomas House, which served as General John Thomas’s headquarters during the Siege of Boston, is also located in Fort Hill.https://www.nps.gov/places/fort-hill.htmhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Parsonage - Dillaway-Thomas House
Built in 1750, the Dillaway-Thomas House is said to be one of the oldest buildings in Roxbury. Reverend Oliver Peabody originally built the house as a parsonage for the First Church of Roxbury. His successor, Reverend Amos Adams, lived here with his family until 1775, when the American Revolutionary War broke out.Due to its prime location at the top of a hill, the house became the headquarters for General John Thomas of the Continental Army during the Siege of Boston. As stated in Francis S. Drake’s The Town of Roxbury:The headquarters having, as we know, been on Meeting-House Hill, this would naturally be a most eligible situation, as from its rear windows Boston, the British works on the Neck, and even the heights of Charlestown were in full view. The battle of Bunker’s Hill and the conflagration of Charlestown were witnessed from its upper windows by the general and his officers.General George Washington may have held a meeting with his officers at the house while General Thomas stayed there. Thomas is perhaps best known for his leadership during the fortification of Dorchester Heights. On the evening of March 4, 1776, he led 3,000 men from Roxbury to Dorchester Heights with pre-made fortifications and cannon brought by Colonel Henry Knox form Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York. They successfully fortified the area in a single night, an accomplishment that "compelled the evacuation of Boston by the enemy, terminating the siege" a couple weeks later.After the war, the house’s ownership transferred to Charles K. Dillaway, an esteemed educator who later served as the superintendent of Roxbury schools. He and his wife, Martha, used the house as a "women’s day school and home for international students."Almost demolished in 1927, the Roxbury Historical Society and local residents successfully fought to save and preserve the building. It became a museum in the 1930s and has undergone several renovations over the past century. In 1992, it became the headquarters for the Roxbury Heritage State Park. The Dillaway-Thomas House continues to serve as a space for exhibits and community meetings, many of which center on Black history and issues.https://www.nps.gov/places/dillaway-thomas-house.htm
Colonial Fortification
Roxbury Lines - Colonial School is where the Police Station now ishttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
These fortifications ran from Shawmut Ave along the curve of Mulnea Cass Blvd all the way to Mass ave with a section on Albany St and down Yeoman St.https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
Dorchester Lineshttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification - Nook Hill/ Foste Hill
(There should be a NPS plaque here at Bst and Athens St but it may be under construction. There were two colonial fortifications in this area, This site was the smaller one, and the major one where Dorchester Heights Monument is now. Anything North and East of this spot was all marshlands.) Known also as Nook's Hill, Newks, or Nuke's Hill, Foster's Hill rose a hundred or so feet into the air over the channel between Dorchester and Boston's Neck. While not the highest point of Dorchester Heights, Foster's Hill overlooked the Boston Neck and provided a direct view of the town’s wharves and shoreline. Due to that location, General George Washington ordered the top of the hill fortified on March 9, 1776.During the effort to fortify the hill, British soldiers in Boston saw light from a campfire set by the Continentals and unleashed their cannons upon the site. According to Sergeant Henry Bedinger, a rifleman from Virginia stationed at Dorchester Heights:About 2 hours after Dark the Enemy Began to fire on a part of our men who were throwing up a Breastwork on the Nearest point to Boston on Dorchester. They fired from a Small Vessel from Boston Neck, from the wharf, from Fort Hill, &c. Supposed they Fired 1000 Shott as it Lasted the whole Night. Our people Fired in Boston from Roxberry. The Firings Continued all Night. We had 1 Surgeon & Three men Kill'd.These four men stationed at the Heights, including the surgeon Dr. Enoch Dole of Lancaster, became the only casualties for General Washington in South Boston.It took another seven days for the battery to be completed. By March 17, the British troops began their evacuation, along with many loyalists from the Greater Boston area.Though parts of the fortifications remained visible until 1824, they were soon demolished and covered. Located in the path of the Old Colony line, Foster’s Hill disappears from area maps after 1807. It was not until 1899 that the Massachusetts Society Sons of the American Revolution marked the site of the hill with a brass plaque. Located on the side of the old Lawrence School building at B and Athens Streets, it commemorated "the seizing of Nooks Hill by a detachment of the forces under Gen. Washington." Today, the neighborhood of South Boston has grown up among the former hills of Dorchester Heights.https://www.nps.gov/places/foster-s-hill.htmhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htmhttps://www.bostonbasinhills.org/pages/boston-south-boston-hills.html
Colonial Fortification - Dorchester Heights
Due to its role during the Siege of Boston, Dorchester Heights serves as a landmark in our nation’s revolutionary landscape. Also known as Telegraph Hill or Thomas Park, Dorchester Heights has become a gathering space for the local community as well.Today, towering high above the neighborhood of South Boston, stands a marble monument atop the highest hill in the area. The monument is known as Dorchester Heights, and it marks the last surviving hill of a collection of hills that once commanded Boston and Boston Harbor.People have long inhabited Dorchester Heights and the neighboring areas. Local Indigenous people lived on this land, particularly on the southern coast of Dorchester Neck, which was known as Mattapannock. The first Europeans settled on Dorchester Neck in 1630 with the landing of the English ship Mary and John. These settlers gave the land the name "Dorchester" after Dorchester, England. For the following century, Dorchester Neck served as farmland and grazing pastures for cattle.When the Siege of Boston began in April 1775, residents on Dorchester Neck became nervous of their proximity to Castle William, a British military stronghold on Castle Island just off the coast of the peninsula. In the summer and fall of 1775, these residents moved inland to distance themselves from the fort. A few months later, on February 13, 1776, the British military sent a small force to Dorchester Heights to explore how to fortify the site, but they recognized it would be difficult to do so with the frozen ground. British Lieutenant-General Archibald Robertson documented that the soldiers "took 6 Rebel prisoners, burnt 6 or 8 Empty uninhabited houses and barns, and return’d about ½ after 6 o’clock."Meanwhile, George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, and his generals agreed to fortify Dorchester Heights in an attempt to finally dislodge the British from Boston. To fortify the Heights undetected, Washington planned a distraction. On the nights of March 2, 3, and 4, Washington ordered a large bombardment of Boston using additional artillery General Henry Knox recovered from Fort Ticonderoga. This attack diverted the attention of British forces to the west of town.Finally, on the night of March 4, 1776, Washington directed General John Thomas and Colonel Richard Gridley, the chief engineer of the army, to fortify Dorchester Heights. Over 1,200 soldiers and volunteers and 300 oxcarts transported tools and materials to the site as stealthily as possible. The dawn of March 5, 1776 – the 6-year anniversary of the Boston Massacre – revealed to everyone what the Continental forces achieved overnight. A fortification with cannon towered over Boston, as well as the only shipping routes out of the Harbor. British General William Howe commented, "My God, these fellows have done more work in one night than I could make my army do in three months."General Howe planned an attack on Dorchester Heights in response to this aggressive act by the colonial forces, yet a storm prevented an immediate response. Having been surrounded by Washington’s army, Howe recognized he was at a military disadvantage and determined to remove his troops from the city. On March 17, 1776, the British forces evacuated Boston, along with over a thousand colonial Loyalists.Shortly after the evacuation of the British, Chief Engineer and Colonel Richard Gridley reconstructed the fortification on Dorchester Heights into a star shape. This new structure would better defend against a future attack, which never came. Similarly, during the War of 1812, U.S. forces refortified the site, but British forces did not attack Boston. Over time, the fort degraded, leaving only remnants in the mid-1800s.In the late 1840s, the growing community in South Boston called upon the city to improve city services for local residents, which included better access to water and more public spaces. The city selected Telegraph Hill as a site to build both a reservoir and a park. The city of Boston constructed Thomas Park on Dorchester Heights between 1852 and 1854. This 5.43-acre park became one of the first public parks in the city. Its original elliptical-shaped plan still stands today.One hundred years after the fortification of Dorchester Heights and Evacuation Day, the community held a memorial to recognize this significant moment in the site’s history. Initially the community installed a granite Centennial Monument in 1877. However, in the 1890s local residents called for "a more substantial monument." This led to a design competition for a new monument. Boston architectural firm Peabody & Stearns won this contest and in 1901 constructed the 115-foot-tall marble commemorative tower. Dedicated on March 17, 1902, the Georgian Revival Style tower commemorates the fortification of Dorchester Heights during the Revolutionary War.Throughout the 1900s, Dorchester Heights continued to be a feature of the local community, leading to efforts to protect and preserve this site. In 1951, the Secretary of the Interior and the Mayor of Boston announced the designation of Dorchester Heights as a National Historic Site. Twenty-seven years later, in 1978, Dorchester Heights National Historic Site joined Boston National Historical Park, with the transfer of ownership occurring in 1980. Today, the National Parks of Boston continues to steward Dorchester Heights.To learn more about the history and legacy of this local and national site, explore the articles and digital content on the Dorchester Heights webpage.https://www.nps.gov/places/dorchester-heights.htmhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
3 Gun Battery on the coastal edge of Dorchesterhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
Colonial Fortification
3 Gun BatteryThis was the tip of the point of Dorchester at that time, with water to the north and east.https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/siege-of-boston-map.htm
