Battle of Point Pleasant Memorial obelisk

Point Pleasant, West Virginia, United States

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

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The Point Pleasant Battle Monument is an 84-foot granite obelisk topped by a statue of a frontier militiaman in Tu-Endie-Wei State Park, where the Kanawha meets the Ohio. It commemorates the frontiersmen who fought on October 10, 1774.

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Battle of Point Pleasant Memorial obelisk

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Site-level location · 38.8394° N, 82.1409° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Where the Kanawha River meets the Ohio, an 84-foot granite obelisk marks the site of a 1774 frontier battle that West Virginians have argued over for more than a century. Tu-Endie-Wei State Park, about four acres in downtown Point Pleasant, takes its name from a Wyandot term that Wonderful West Virginia magazine renders as the point between two waters.

The battle was fought on October 10, 1774, between Virginia militia under Colonel Andrew Lewis and Shawnee warriors led by Cornstalk, in what is known as Lord Dunmore's War. The obelisk, topped by a statue of a frontier-era militiaman, honors the frontiersmen who fought and died there. Congress provided for a monument in 1908 and, according to the magazine, the obelisk was dedicated in 1909.

What the battle meant is contested. Turn-of-the-century historian Livia Poffenbarger argued it was the first battle of the American Revolution, and the Daughters of the American Revolution formally recognize it that way. Most historians, the magazine says, regard it as the decisive engagement of Lord Dunmore's War, a colonial conflict rather than a revolutionary one.

The obelisk is not alone. The park also has monuments to Colonel Charles Lewis, who died in the battle, to Mad Anne Bailey, and to Cornstalk, whose monument was dedicated in 1954. According to the magazine, Cornstalk visited Fort Randolph on a diplomatic mission in 1777 and was taken hostage and killed there by soldiers. The log Mansion House, built in 1796, serves as the park's museum and opens seasonally.

West Virginia State Parks lists the park as open year-round, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

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WHAT TO EXPECT

Walk the four-acre grounds to see the obelisk and the monuments to Charles Lewis, Mad Anne Bailey and Cornstalk. The 1796 log Mansion House museum opens seasonally. State Parks lists the park open year-round, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. No fee is stated.

ACCESS

Tu-Endie-Wei State Park, #1 Main Street, Point Pleasant, WV 25550, where the Kanawha and Ohio rivers meet, a short walk from downtown. Park office 304-675-0869 (West Virginia State Parks).

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Mothman Statue

Point Pleasant, West Virginia

The Mothman Statue is a stainless-steel sculpture about 12 feet tall on Main Street in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, beside the Mothman Museum. Bob Roach made it, and it was unveiled in 2003 after the town commissioned it following the 2002 film The Mothman Prophecies.

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0.4 km away

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