The Little-Known Story of the First Washington Monument

On the morning of July 4, 1827, residents of Boonsboro, Maryland, gathered in their town square before ascending nearby South Mountain. Their “patriotic purpose,” wrote one William Bell for the local Torch Light newspaper, was “erecting a monument to the memory” of a national hero: George Washington.

Fueled by “a spirit of zeal and ardor,” according to Bell, Boonsboro’s citizens built most of the monument in a single day, returning to the site in September to complete its construction.