View source for Pilgrim Monument

{{Short description|Monument in Provincetown, Massachusetts, USA}}
{{About|a monument in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where the Pilgrims first landed|the monument in Plymouth, Massachusetts that once shared the same name|National Monument to the Forefathers}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox monument
| name          = Pilgrim Monument
| native_name   = 
| image         = PilgrimMonumentbasrelief.jpg|
| caption       = View of the Pilgrim Monument with the [[Signing of the Mayflower Compact]] by [[Cyrus Dallin]] below, as seen from Bradford Street.
| location = High Pole Hill Road, [[Provincetown, MA|Provincetown, Massachusetts]] 
| designer      = [[Willard T. Sears]]
| type          = [[Campanile]]
| material      = [[Granite]]
| length        = 
| width         = 
| height        = {{convert|252|ft|7+1/2|in|m|abbr=out|0}};<br />Rises {{convert|350|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} above [[sea level]]
| begin         = June 20, 1907
| complete      = 
| open          = {{start date|1910|8|5}}
| dedicated_to  = The first landfall of the [[Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)|Pilgrims]] in 1620, and the signing in [[Provincetown Harbor]] of the [[Mayflower Compact]].
| map_name     = Cape Cod#Massachusetts
| map_text      = 
| map_width     = 
| relief        = 
| coordinates   = {{Coord|42.052226|-70.1892015|display=inline,title|type:landmark_scale:500_dim:100_region:US-MA}}
| website       ={{URL|http://www.pilgrim-monument.org/}}
| extra         = This is the tallest all-granite structure in the [[United States]].  
}}
The '''Pilgrim Monument''' in [[Provincetown, Massachusetts|Provincetown]], [[Massachusetts]], was built between 1907 and 1910 to commemorate the first landfall of the [[Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)|Pilgrims]] in 1620 and the signing of the [[Mayflower Compact]] in [[Provincetown Harbor]].<ref name=FAQ/> This {{convert|252|ft|7+1/2|in|m|adj=mid|-tall|1}} [[campanile]] is the tallest all-[[granite]] structure in the United States<ref name="about">{{Cite web|url=https://www.pilgrim-monument.org/pilgrim-monument/|title=About the Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown Massachusetts|website=Pilgrim Monument & Provincetown Museum|language=en-US|access-date=September 19, 2018}}</ref> and is part of the [[Provincetown Historic District]].

==History==
In 1620, the Pilgrims spent five weeks exploring [[Cape Cod]] before they sailed to [[Plymouth, Massachusetts]]. After spending weeks at sea, the Pilgrims resolved not to set foot on land until the [[Mayflower Compact]] was written and signed.{{Citation needed|date=March 2018}} A contest was held to design a structure to commemorate the Pilgrims' landing, and over 150 entries were submitted.<ref name="twins"/> The winning design, by Boston architect [[Willard T. Sears]], was based upon the [[Torre del Mangia]] in [[Siena]], [[Italy]], designed by [[Agostino da Siena|Agostino and Agnolo da Siena]] in 1309.

[[File:1907 Theodore Roosevelt Lays Cornerstone of Pilgrim Monument.jpg|thumb|left|On August 20, 1907, Theodore Roosevelt lays the cornerstone of the Pilgrim Monument.]]
In a ceremony on August 20, 1907, President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] officiated at the laying of the cornerstone. After the monument's completion, President [[William H. Taft]] dedicated it at a ceremony held on August 5, 1910.<ref name="FAQ">{{cite web|title=Pilgrim Monument Overview & FAQ|url=http://www.pilgrim-monument.org/overview-faq|publisher=Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum|access-date=April 28, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905171548/http://www.pilgrim-monument.org/overview-faq|archive-date=September 5, 2015}}</ref>

The design was controversial because of its lack of any obvious relevance to the Pilgrim Fathers.<ref name="twins">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/property/2014/11/13/throwback-thursday-mini-pilgrim-monument-south-end/|title=Throwback Thursday: How Two Massachusetts Towers Became Twins|last=Bilis|first=Madeline|date=November 13, 2014|work=Boston Magazine|access-date=September 19, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> One [[Boston]] architect derided it, saying "If all they want is an architectural curiosity, then why not select the [[Leaning Tower of Pisa]] and be done with it?"<ref name=globe1>"Call It Copy of Torre Del Mangia," ''The Boston Daily Globe,'' January 27, 1907, p. 7</ref> It was also noted that Boston itself already had a copy of the same tower: Boston's fire tower. The fire tower is made of brick like the Italian original, was built in 1892 by [[Edmund M. Wheelwright|Edmund March Wheelwright]], is {{convert|156|ft}} tall, was originally designed as part of the central fire station and used as a fire lookout, and later became part of the [[Pine Street Inn]], a shelter for Boston's [[Homelessness|homeless]].<ref name="twins"/><ref>Ralli, Tania (2005), "And Now A Word From Our Shelter: Ads Atop Pine Street Inn Help Pay To Restore It, But Some Ask Where It Will End", ''The Boston Globe,'' October 9, 2005, p. 1</ref><ref>[http://wikimapia.org/12650498/Pine-Street-Inn Pine Street Inn (Boston)] - Wikimapia</ref>

However, ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' noted that "The people of Provincetown are not at all enthusiastic about the design, but are glad enough to get almost any sort of monument," and quoted "an old sea captain" as saying: "I don't sympathize with all the kicking about the monument. It's good enough, and it has this in its favor, that it resembles many lighthouses on the coast of [[Portugal]] and on Portuguese Islands, and Provincetown, you know, is full of [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]]."<ref>"Most Imposing Monument On The Atlantic Coast," ''The Boston Globe,'' August 18, 1907, p. SM12</ref>

Tourists from around the world visit Provincetown to climb the monument and view the Provincetown Museum at its base.<ref name="about"/> The monument commemorates the Pilgrims, and the museum pays tribute to Provincetown's vibrant and historic maritime past. Provincetown residents take great pride in the structure.<ref name="about"/> Christmas lights are strung from the top of the monument to its base annually and are lit in November to much fanfare.<ref>{{Cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920001709/https://ptownevents.com/event/provincetown-pilgrim-monument-lighting/ |url=https://ptownevents.com/event/provincetown-pilgrim-monument-lighting/ |url-status=live |title=Provincetown Pilgrim Monument Lighting, Celebrating the Pilgrims Landing|date=September 20, 2018|archive-date=September 20, 2018|access-date=September 20, 2018}}</ref>  It remains lit nightly into January.

According to Edmund J. Carpenter in his book ''The Pilgrims and their Monument'' (self-published in 1911), the total expenditures in the planning and construction of the monument were $91,252.82,<ref>Carpenter, Edmund J., ''The Pilgrims and their Monument'' (Cambridge, MA: Privately printed, 1911), 265.</ref> {{Inflation|US|91252|1910|r=-3|fmt=eq}}.{{Inflation-fn|US}}

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Pilgrim Monument (intérieur).jpg|alt=|Interior of the monument showing the ramps used to reach the top
File:Pilgrim Monument.png|alt=|Monument in 1910
File:Provincetown - PM Mural 1.jpg|View of structure housing Signing of the Mayflower Compact
File:MayflowerCompactBasrelief.jpg|Signing of the [[Mayflower Compact]] by [[Cyrus Edwin Dallin|Cyrus Dallin]]
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.pilgrim-monument.org Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum]

{{Provincetown, Massachusetts}}
{{Mayflower passengers and related topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1910 establishments in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1910]]
[[Category:Cummings and Sears buildings]]
[[Category:Landmarks in Barnstable County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials to the Pilgrims]]
[[Category:Museums in Barnstable County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Provincetown, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Towers in Massachusetts]]