Pilgrim Monument Overview & FAQ
The Pilgrim Monument was founded in 1892 as the Cape Cod Pilgrim Memorial Association—Cape Cod’s oldest not-for-profit organization. Its purpose is to commemorate the Mayflower Pilgrims’ first landing in the New World in Provincetown, in November 1620. Here the Pilgrims spent 5 weeks exploring the tip of Cape Cod, before they sailed on to Plymouth. They also drew up and signed the Mayflower Compact, which established the rule of law for the new land.
The Cape Cod Pilgrim Memorial Association built the Pilgrim Monument to honor the Pilgrims’ first landing in Provincetown. President Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone in 1907. In 1910, President William Howard Taft dedicated the finished 252-foot tower. In 1910, the Cape’s first building built to house a museum opened at the base of the monument, to educate the public about Provincetown’s role in Pilgrim history and American history.
Today, Millions of visitors and generations of local residents have admired and climbed the 252 foot granite Pilgrim Monument for almost 100 years.
Some interesting facts:
- The Pilgrim Monument was built between 1907 and 1910 to commemorate the first landing of the Mayflower Pilgrims in Provincetown on November 21, 1620.
- The tower is 252 feet, 7.5 inches (77 meters) tall and rises 350 feet above sea level!
- The heart-healthy walk to the top on 116 steps and 60 ramps only takes about 10 minutes at a leisurely pace.
- The Pilgrim Monument is the tallest all-granite structure in the United States. The granite came from Stonington, Maine, and each stone is the thickness of the wall. The design is patterned after the Torre Del Mangia in Siena, Italy.
- Architect Willard Thomas Sears, a prominent architect in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, designed the tower. Sears’ other noteworthy commissions include the Old South Church, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the Cyclorama in Boston and Campobello Park in New Brunswick, Canada.
- During your climb, you’ll see many interior stones that were donated by cities, towns and organizations from all of the United States. See if your city or town is here.
- President Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone on August 20, 1907.
- President William H. Taft led the dedication ceremony after the Pilgrim Monument’s completion on August 5, 1910.
- The Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum is Cape Cod’s oldest non-profit and cultural institution.