Now within the boundaries of Minute Man National Historical Park, local citizen Reverend Ezra Ripley donated a segment of the original North Bridge Battleground to the Town of Concord in the 1830s to use to commemorate the fighting on April 19, 1775. Although the famed North Bridge was long gone, the parcel included the original roadbed leading to the bridge site, and the grave of two British soldiers killed during the battle.

After acquiring the land, a town committee worked with Solomon Willard, construction supervisor of the Bunker Hill Monument, to design the obelisk, and artisan James Wilkins to construct the monument. Construction of the monument began in 1836 and concluded with a dedication ceremony on July 4, 1837. The event also unveiled Ralph Waldo Emerson’s famed poem “The Concord Hymn,” and coined the title “The Shot Heard Round The World.”

The twenty-five-foot obelisk consists of four pieces of white granite cut from a single boulder placed on top of a granite foundation. Inset into the east face of the obelisk is a white marble slab inscribed with a brief account of the battle at the North Bridge.