Vermont State Historic Sites are owned and administered by the U.S. state of Vermont's Division for Historic Preservation, a part of the Vermont Agency of Commerce & Community Development. Vermont State Historic Sites reflect the cultural heritage of the state, and chronicle the state's history from earliest human settlement, through Native American tribes, French colonial settlement, the period of the Revolutionary War and Vermont Republic, two presidential birthplaces, a shipwreck, and covered bridges.
The Bennington Battle Monument is a 301 or 306 ft (93 m) stone obelisk located at 15 Monument Circle, in Bennington, Vermont. The monument commemorates the Battle of Bennington during the Revolutionary War.
In that battle, on August 17, 1777, Brigadier General John Stark and 1,400 New Hampshire men, aided by Colonels Warner and Herrick of Vermont, Simonds of Massachusetts, and Moses Nichols of New Hampshire, defeated two detachments of General Burgoyne's British army, who were apparently seeking to capture a store of weapons and food maintained where the monument now stands. While the battle is termed the Battle of Bennington, it actually occurred about 10 miles (16 km) away, in New York; the Bennington Battlefield, a U.S. National Historic Landmark, is entirely within New York State.
In 1877 a local historical society began to plan a monument for the battle's centenary, and considered many designs. One which called for a slender stone column only 100 feet (30 m) tall was showcased during the battle's centennial celebration, which was attended by President Rutherford B. Hayes. The committee eventually accepted J. Phillip Rinn's design with some changes. The monument's cornerstone was laid in 1887, and it was completed in November 1889 at a total cost of $112,000 (including the site). It is constructed of Sandy Hill Dolomite from present day Hudson Falls, New York, a blue-gray magnesian limestone containing numerous fossils. Dedication ceremonies were delayed until 1891, when President Benjamin Harrison attended the ceremonies and held a reception at the nearby Walloomsac Inn. Today the Bennington Battle Monument is a Vermont State Historic Site.