The Beach Monument marks the resting place of a prominent Hartford family. Sixty-eight people are buried in the large lot, including leading financiers, industrialists, philanthropists, and even a Confederate soldier.
New York architect Richard M. Upjohn designed the monument. Upjohn is best known as the architect of the Connecticut State Capitol, which he undertook after completing the Beach Monument.
The Gothic memorial consists of a pedestal surmounted by four corner columns and an elaborate peaked roof. There are four relief sculptures, one on each face of the pedestal.
Other decorative elements include pilaster reliefs of foliage, fleur de lis on the points of the canopy’s arches, and a cross at the top. A center sculpture was never installed.
The relief sculptures, which grace each face of the pedestal, illustrate The Passion of the Christ. They are the work of British sculptor John Moffitt. Moffitt also sculpted the Civil War monument of General Griffin Stedman at Cedar Hill.