Located in the city's Lincoln Park, the monument was installed in 1952, having been completed several years prior in 1939.

The monument honoring Alexander Hamilton was proposed by philanthropist Kate Sturges Buckingham before her death in 1937.

[1] Buckingham felt that Hamilton was an underappreciated figure in the creation of the United States,[2] and before her death, she commissioned sculptor John Angel to design a statue of Hamilton and architect Eliel Saarinen to create an 80-foot (24 m) column that the statue would rest on.

[1] Following this, the statue would remain in storage for over 12 years due to bronze shortages during World War II.

The monument was dedicated in Lincoln Park in 1952, accompanied by a large plinth behind it made of limestone and granite designed by Samuel A. Marx.