Dorchester Heights National Historic Site: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Boston National Historical Park
NPS Northeast Regional Office. 2025. Dorchester Heights National Historic Site: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Boston National Historical Park. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 650022. National Park Service. NPS Northeast Regional Office, Boston, Massachusetts / CRIS-CL Database
Located in the central portion of South Boston on the summit of Telegraph Hill, the westernmost of the twin hills that comprise Dorchester Heights, the 5.43-acre Dorchester Heights National Historic Site consists of the Dorchester Heights Monument and a parcel called Thomas Park. The site commemorates the fortification by General George Washington and his army that forced the British evacuation of the British troops from Boston. At the site’s summit is the Dorchester Heights Monument, a 100-foot tall white marble tower built in 1901 by Boston architects Peabody and Stearns to commemorate the American fortifications. The monument is the focal point of the elliptical-shaped Thomas Park, which is bound in more a less in a circular fashion on the north, west, and south by the street known as Thomas Park. The South Boston High School is adjacent to the park on the east side. Thomas Park was originally developed in the early 1850s and, in addition to the tower, is comprised of curvilinear walks, walls, and steps set amongst sloping lawns dotted with shade trees and other smaller monuments. The Dorchester Heights Monument and Thomas Park were designated Dorchester Heights National Historic Site in 1951, and in 1980 it became part of Boston National Historical Park. In 2001, the site also became part of the Dorchester Heights Historic District, a 40-acre residential neighborhood that surrounds Dorchester Heights National Historic Site.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- NPS Northeast Regional Office
- Date of Issue
- 2025
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- BOST , NER
- Keywords
- Architecture, Battery, Colonial Revival Style, Community Planning and Development, defense, Dorchester Heights, Fortification, George Washington, Georgian Revival Style, Henry Knox Monument, Historic Designed Landscape, Historic Preservation, historic site, John Stearns, Landscape architecture, Linden Park, Marker, Military, monument, Plaque, Recreation, Robert Peabody, Scenic Landscape, Telegraph Hill, The American Revolution, Thomas Park, Tower, Urban Park, Urban Planning in the Nineteenth Century, Vista, War in the North, War of 1812, Water Works