Pilgrim Monument
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The Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, was built between 1907 and 1910 to commemorate the first landfall of the Pilgrims in 1620 and the signing of the Mayflower Compact in Provincetown Harbor. This
campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...
is the tallest all-
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structure in the United States and is part of the Provincetown Historic District.


History

In 1620, the Pilgrims spent five weeks exploring
Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...
before they sailed to
Plymouth, Massachusetts Plymouth ( ; historically also spelled as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in and the county seat of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklor ...
. After spending weeks at sea, the Pilgrims resolved not to set foot on land until the Mayflower Compact was written and signed. A contest was held to design a structure to commemorate the Pilgrims' landing, and over 150 entries were submitted. The winning design, by Boston architect Willard T. Sears, was based upon the
Torre del Mangia The Torre del Mangia is a tower in Siena, in the Tuscany region of Italy. Built in 1338–1348, it is located in the Piazza del Campo, Siena's main Piazza, square, next to the Palazzo Pubblico (Town Hall). When built it was one of the tallest s ...
in
Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...
,
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, designed by Agostino and Agnolo da Siena in 1309. In a ceremony on August 20, 1907, President
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
officiated at the laying of the cornerstone. After the monument's completion, President
William H. Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...
dedicated it at a ceremony held on August 5, 1910. The design was controversial because of its lack of any obvious relevance to the Pilgrim Fathers. One
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
architect derided it, saying "If all they want is an architectural curiosity, then why not select the
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and be done with it?""Call It Copy of Torre Del Mangia," ''The Boston Daily Globe,'' January 27, 1907, p. 7 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 March Wheelwright, is 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
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. However, ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' 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
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and on Portuguese Islands, and Provincetown, you know, is full of Portuguese." Tourists from around the world visit Provincetown to climb the monument and view the Provincetown Museum at its base. 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. Christmas lights are strung from the top of the monument to its base annually and are lit in November to much fanfare. 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,Carpenter, Edmund J., ''The Pilgrims and their Monument'' (Cambridge, MA: Privately printed, 1911), 265. .


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 Dallin


References


External links


Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum
{{Authority control 1910 establishments in Massachusetts Buildings and structures completed in 1910 Cummings and Sears buildings Landmarks in Barnstable County, Massachusetts Monuments and memorials in Massachusetts Monuments and memorials to the Pilgrims Museums in Barnstable County, Massachusetts Provincetown, Massachusetts Towers in Massachusetts