Duxbury Dedicates Standish Monument

October 7, 1872

Myles Standish Monument

Crescent St., Duxbury
call Pilgrim Memorial State Park

(508) 747-5360

High atop Captain's Hill, 200 feet above sea level, stands the Myles Standish Monument, a 116-foot granite shaft crowned by a 14-foot statue of Captain Myles Standish, military leader of Plymouth Colony. Begun in 1872, completed in 1898, and refurbished in 1988, the monument offers a panoramic view of the South Shore-church spires, several 19th-century lighthouses, the five-mile-long Duxbury Beach, Plymouth Harbor, and the Blue Hills off to the northwest.

When the building is open, visitors can climb 125 steps to a small viewing area at the top, but even from the base of the monument the view is spectacular. Once cleared of trees and underbrush for farming, most of the park is now a lovely pine grove crisscrossed by walking paths. Picnic tables are available in the summer.

Group tours can be requested (for the months of June, July, and August only) by calling (508) 208-0675. 

Park Directions
Myles Standish Monument State Reservation is located in southeastern Massachusetts.

From Boston: Take exit 10 off Rte. 3 to Rte. 3A north, then the second intersection to S. Duxbury Center. Continue straight along Standish St. to Crescent St., follow signs to Myles Standish Monument.

From the south: Take Rte. 24 north to Rte. 44 east. Continue on 44 east to Rte. 3 north. Take exit 10 off Rte. 3 to Rte. 3A north, then the second intersection to S. Duxbury Center. Continue straight along Standish St. to Crescent St., follow signs to Myles Standish Monument.