Adams · US

Veterans War Memorial Tower

Crowning the highest ground in Massachusetts, the Veterans War Memorial Tower rises 93 feet above the summit of Mount Greylock in Adams, a stylized shaft of pale Quincy granite that has served as the Commonwealth's official war memorial for nearly a century. Built between 1931 and 1932 and dedicated on June 30, 1933, it honors the courage and sacrifice of every man and woman from Massachusetts who has worn the uniform in war at home or abroad. What makes it so memorable to visitors is the combination of meaning and view. Inside, a circular staircase carries you to an observation level that opens onto a sweeping 360-degree panorama across New England and into eastern New York State—on a clear day the horizon runs 60 to 90 miles. At night a memorial beacon glows from the globe at the very top, so bright that people in the valleys below often mistake the whole tower for a mountaintop lighthouse.