After the battles of Lexington and Concord, Revolutionary sentiment within New England reached a new high, and thousands of militiamen from the Northern colonies converged on Boston, pushing the British back within what were then relatively narrow city limits.

In June 1775 British soldiers under General William Howe attacked and seized Bunker Hill, but in the process sustained many losses.

During restoration work in the 1990s, archaeologists uncovered evidence of the Revolutionary War fortifications, previously thought to have been destroyed by the park's construction.

[2] The Dorchester Heights Monument, located at the center of Thomas Park, was completed in 1902 to designs by Boston architects Peabody and Stearns.

[2] It is 115 feet (35m) tall, built of Georgia white marble capped with octagonal cupola and weather vane, and is generally reminiscent of a church steeple in the Federal style.