Liberty Square Monument

In June 1949, "Colonel" Edward Fletcher and his wife visited Littleton, Massachusetts where he had been born in 1872. While Fletcher, a noted San Diego businessman, land developer, civic leader, and California State Senator, made his fortune in the West, he retained family ties and a deep affection for his hometown.

While on a tour of the town’s parks with his cousin, Ethel Prouty Conant, Fletcher noticed there were no memorials honoring those who fought in the American Revolution. He decided to remedy this by funding a monument to dedicate Liberty Park, formerly known as Liberty Square Training Grounds, to commemorate the brave men from Littleton who fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

As noted by Fletcher in his memoir, published by Pioneer Printers in 1952, he reached out to the town’s selectmen who graciously accepted his offer. A monument honoring Fletcher’s great-great-grandfather, Captain Eleazer Fletcher, was erected in 1949 and dedicated the following spring.

Its inscription reads:

LIBERTY SQUARE

DEDICATED MARCH 1775
BY
CAPT. ELEAZER FLETCHER
AND HIS COMPANY OF MILITIA, WHO DEDICATED
THIS SQUARE AND LATER FOUGHT
IN THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL

ERECTED 1949 BY
ED FLETCHER
GREAT GRANDSON OF ELEAZER FLETCHER

The monument erroneously refers to Fletcher as the great grandson of Captain Eleazer Fletcher when in fact he was Captain Fletcher's great-great grandson. A second monument nearby correctly denotes their relationship.