The obelisk monument was built in accordance with a resolution of the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) adopted on November 30, 1949, with construction lasting from August 1952 to May 1958.

After the liberation of Beiping, in September 1949, the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference decided to build a monument to the martyrs.

The delegates who made the decision felt that the revolutionary tradition of the May Fourth Movement was present in front of Tiananmen Square, and that it would be convenient for people to come and pay their respects.

In the second day, the foundation stone laying ceremony for the monument was held in Tiananmen Square, with all the representatives of the first CPPCC present.

The foundation stone was laid by the People's Liberation Army Military Orchestra, which played the March of the Volunteers and Wind Chimes, after which Mao Zedong read the monument's inscription.

It was headed by Peng Zhen, with Zheng Zhenduo and Liang Sicheng as deputy directors, and Xue Zizheng as secretary-general.

The scheme consisted of nine panels, initially including Jinggang Mountains, Boxer Rebellion, Pingxingguan, Sanyuanli, Guerrilla Warfare, and the Long March, but the relevant themes were not finalized at this time.

Railroad department prepared from the small Fengman hydroelectric power station to transfer the train wagon can carry 90 tons.

[9] The Committee then changed the design of the monument from south to north to north-south in order to rationalize the layout of the site for subsequent events.

On March 6 and 7, 1955, the installation of the two monuments was completed, using two cranes with a total capacity of 30 tons in combination with a pulley block and a high boom.

After the army surveying and mapping department enlarged the handwritten characters of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai by taking photos, Liu Kaiqiu dealt with the burrs caused by the enlargement, and then gave them to the stonemasons to be traced and engraved on the center stone of the monument.

In 2014, in order to meet the 65th anniversary of the founding of the new China, the Monument to the People's Heroes was restored with a comprehensive cleaning and maintenance.