Dedication on Dorchester Heights, 4 June

On Saturday, 4 June, the National Parks of Boston will dedicate a new feature of its Dorchester Heights site: a replica of an eighteen-pounder cannon of the sort likely installed there in early March of 1776.

The park’s announcement explains:

The replica British 18 pounder (shot weight), of the Armstrong-Frederick pattern of 1760, is just over ten feet in length and almost twenty inches in diameter at its largest point. The artillery piece will be on permanent display at Dorchester Heights on a granite base mount that evokes the wooden carriage that would have originally held the cannon.

As part of the dedication, Prof. Robert Allison of Suffolk University will give brief historical remarks (10 minutes), and I’ll give even briefer historical remarks (5 minutes). And after the ceremony the real fun begins:

National Park Service rangers will conduct a hands-on archaeology program where visitors can dig through boxes of material to simulate the work that was done on the site in the 1990s, when a 200-foot-wide star-shaped earthwork was uncovered. Chalk outlines will show the location of the star-shaped earthwork on the site.

There also will be activities for kids, including art making and face-painting, free snacks, and ranger talks about the historical significance of the site.

The formal program will begin at 11:00 A.M., and the activities will fill the afternoon. The day is free and open to the public.