The War Memorial Tower is the official memorial for those from Massachusetts who were killed in war.
The Tower is located at the top of Mount Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts at 3,891 feet.
Dedicated in 1933, the tower itself is 93 feet tall. It was built from slabs of Quincy granite that weigh 8 tons. The Commonwealth rebuilt the entire tower again in 1974.
The ground level features a memorial area with a detailed gold leaf and tile ceiling.
From there, a winding spiral staircase takes you up several levels to an enclosed observation deck with windows every few feet.
On clear days you can see for 90 miles into the Adirondacks of New York, Green Mountains of Vermont and the peaks of the New Hampshire Monadnock region.
Other towers preceded the memorial tower on top of Mount Greylock. In 1831, students from Williams College built a weather observatory.
A few years later, the tower was modified. By 1885, a third observation tower made of iron welcomes visitors who paid 10 cents to climb it.
Sources:
Informational plaques at the site