Solomon Willard was a carver and builder in Massachusetts who is remembered primarily for designing and overseeing the Bunker Hill Monument, the first monumental obelisk erected in the United States.
10 Facts About Solomon Willard
2.
Solomon Willard went to Boston in 1804, working during the day and reading books of architecture and drawing in the evenings.
3.
On November 2,1825, Solomon Willard was chosen architect and superintendent of Bunker Hill Monument, his design having been accepted by the building committee in the following year.
4.
Solomon Willard discovered satisfactory granite quarries for the stone at Quincy, and the granite for the monument came from there.
5.
Solomon Willard invented the machinery to cut and handle the slabs of stone in what became known as the Bunker Hill Quarry, which evolved into a major industry for the town.
6.
Solomon Willard was engaged in this work for seventeen years, being frequently interrupted by want of funds and by disagreements in the committee in charge, but on July 23,1842, the top stone of the monument was laid, and on the anniversary of the battle in 1843 its completion was celebrated in the presence of the president of the United States, his cabinet, and a large concourse of citizens from every part of the United States.
7.
Solomon Willard is credited with designing some of the first hot-air central heating in an American building.
8.
Solomon Willard supervised construction of the Captain Nathan Hale Monument in Coventry, Connecticut, which is a 45-foot obelisk.
9.
Detail of 1814 map Mason Street, Boston, where Solomon Willard kept his studio ca.
10.
Solomon Willard was a 3rd great-grandson of the Massachusetts colonist Simon Willard.