1614 Monument Dedicated to John Smith

More than 150 people attended the dedication of the 1614 Monument at Rye Harbor State Park last week, according to Shelly Angers, the public information officer of the New Hampshire Department of Cultural Resources.

The obelisk, made from New Hampshire granite, commemorates the 400th anniversary of Capt. John Smith’s expedition to and mapping of New England.

Smith created the first nautically accurate map of the region and his book “A Description of New England,” influenced the settlement of New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts.

Legislators, state agency staff, construction crews and donors who contributed to the construction of the monument posed for this picture.

Officials included state Rep. David Campbell, the 1614 Commission chairman; state Rep. Tom Sherman; state Sen. Martha Fuller Clark; state Sen. Nancy Stiles, 1614 Commission vice chair; Dept. of Cultural Resources Commissioner Van McLeod; state Rep. Tracy Emerick; and Dept. of Resources and Economic Development Commissioner Jeffrey Rose.

Photo credit: Budd Perry of Memories Studio.