Description:
Located in Monument Square, Nantucket's Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument replaced the island's old "Liberty Pole' upon its 1874 erection; it was dedicated on May 29, 1875. The memorial is comprised of an obelisk, constructed by Quincy Marble Works and transported to Nantucket by schooner, atop a granite millstone from the local Old North Grist Mill. Owing to Nantucket's Quaker roots, the island had previously abstained from armed conflict, but sent a total of 339 soldiers, notably more than its quota, to fight for the Union cause. Upon the shaft of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument are inscribed the names of the 73 islanders who died in the Civil War.
