9. St. Paul’s Chapel is Home to the First Monument Ever Commissioned by the United States

There’s evidence to suggest that General Montgomery’s monument was actually already once restored in the early 1920s although there’s no official record of it.

On January 25, 1776, Congress approved and then shelled out 300 pounds ($45,000) for a monument to be made for General Richard Montgomery, who led the siege of Fort St. Jean and the capture of Montreal in 1775. According to an article in the archives of Trinity Church Wall Street, Montgomery — who died in action while marching on Quebec — was taken up as a martyr by the patriots and then used as a vessel to promote the revolution.

As Professor Sally Webster notes in her book, The Nation’s First Monument and the Origins of the American Memorial Traditionthis monument was not only the first commissioned by the United States, but also the first instance of public commemoration in North America.