Shortly after the end of the Civil War in 1865, towns throughout the United States began to erect monuments to soldiers who had served and died for their country. Built in 1870, on the Greenfield Massachusetts town common, this monument is dedicated to the 500 men from town who served in the Civil War, with emphasis on the 50 who died while in service. It stands 27 feet tall and is topped by a large eagle, wings outstretched, which is pouncing on serpents invading its nest. Not coincidentally, the columnar shape and Egyptian Revival capital (decoration at the top of the column) resemble the graveyard statuary of its time. Monuments such as this, enclosed by wrought iron fences, were often used in 19th century New England cemeteries to mark family plots.
This monument stands across the street from the Second Congregational Church, also built in 1870. Patterns of settlement in New England towns can often be traced to splits in the local church, and Greenfield is no exception. In 1817, 48 members of the First Congregational Church, weary of the one and one-half mile trek to their place of worship, established their own church. Pictured is the second church building on the site.
