Early Designs for the 

Bennington Monument
     A group wishing to commemorate the Battle of Bennington decided a monument should be erected at the storage site of the military supplies which had been the objective of the battle. In 1876, the Vermont General Assembly passed an act establishing the Bennington Battle Monument Association as an outgrowth of the Bennington Historical Society. Even earlier, in 1854 (77 years following the Battle) the Legislature of Vermont had established and founded an Association to erect a monument; but because of difficulties in raising the needed additional money, the group disbanded after two years. This new organization, with the Nation's Centennial celebration behind them and with the approach of Vermont's Centennial in 1891, aggressively worked towards the erection of a suitable memorial. The State of Vermont appropriated $15,000; New Hampshire $5,000; Massachusetts $10,000; the Congress of the United States $40,000; and with approximately $32,000 raised through private contributions, the amount of $102,000 was obtained to construct the memorial. In 1886, the Vermont Legislature authorized an additional $10,000 to purchase the property where the monument was to be erected. Meanwhile, the debate raged as to whether a sculptural or architectural monument should be constructed. After reviewing various proposals, the committee decided on the design submitted by John Phillipp Rinn, an architect from Boston. The contractor was William Ward of Lowell, Massachusetts.

Thank you to the....

Friends of the Bennington Battle Monument
     The Bennington Battle Monument is 306 feet 4 and 1/2 inches tall; the cornerstone was laid in 1887, and the monument completed and dedicated in 1891. These are the early designs.

     Drawing in brown ink on cream paper of large stone obelisk monument; smaller attached obelisks at corners of main obelisk; base has large oval pass through and small projecting attached structures with pitched rooflines; a few figures at pathway and in oval pass through; plain background. Identified as an early design for the Bennington Battle Monument.
     Architectural drawing of proposed design of Bennington Monument. Large medieval tower with cross at top. Signature with address          "..Rinn Arch" "144 Washington St. Boston Mass." bottom right.

     Three sheets of sketches made by Olin Warner as suggestions for modifying Rinn's "big tower"--a phase of the evolution of the design. Pencil sketches on tracing paper; one has three monument designs, the other two have two each.
     Plan for Bennington Battle Monument, watercolor on paper, primarily blues and greens. Monument depicted mostly as it was built, except a little bit flared out at the bottom. Inscription in pen upper right corner "Approved by direction of the President [illg.]" Inscription in lower right corner, "Approved January 29 A.D. 1887 Ebeneezer J. Ormsbee Governor of Vermont / Approved January 31, 1887 Oliver Ames Governor of Massachusetts / Approved January 31, 1887 Moody Currier Governor of New Hampshire".
     Scale drawing of monument with one soldier standing guard at each side of entrance and spiraling tower shape capped by standing figure with "Stark" printed over entrance. Proposal of General Stark Monument for the Bennington Battle Monument site. Handwritten in lower right corner: "rouch sketch Designed for the Stark monument Scale 1/4 inch to the foot R M Chalmers Architect 100 feet hight 77 feet pedestal 23 foot statue." Black ink on brown paper.

     Plan for Bennington Battle Monument, watercolor on paper, primarily blues and greens. Monument depicted with small squat domed building at base, row of windows near top, plaques around bottom. Figure in lower left holding stick, pointing toward monument. Signed lower right corner, "Vo I / J.P. Rinn". Mounted on plywood, hanging D rings on back. Thin blonde wood frame.

     Mounted sepia tone photograph of drawing of an early design for the Bennington Battle Monument. Small building at base of monument with stylized top. Mounted on light cardboard matte.
     Drawing of one plan for Bennington Battle Monument. Depicted with one rectangular window near the top, and a pointed top, more similar to the Washington Monument. Colored in a bluish-gray for color of stone. Trees and people sketched simply at base. On a long piece of thick cream paper.

     Plan for the Bennington Battle Monument. Large architectural drawing on thick cream paper with cloth backing. Shows exterior and interior of monument, showing staircases inside. Drawn at scale of 4 feet to 1 inch by J. P. Rinn of Boston, Massachusetts.

All the above images from the Bennington Museum Collection.
Plaster model of the Bennington Battle Monument. 
An early design with small round museum building at base. 
Railroad tracks and cars in background.
     This is a pen and ink drawing from the 1890's or early 20th century. 
Notice the horse and wagon going toward the monument and the dog behind it.