[MassHistPres] granite Obelisks

[Dennis De Witt]

Can anyone shed any light on the mid-victorian practice of installing  
pairs of  granite Obelisks at the entrances to estates and  
subdivision roads.  Stylistically they seem Biedermeier/Empire.  How  
common are they?  Does anyone know when they begin to be used?  We  
have almost a dozen pair in one LHD — associated with houses built  
beginning in the 1820s and streets laid out in the 1850s thru the  
1870s a least.  (All typically about ± 5 ft. high but of varying  
cross sections and surface finishes -- mostly not tapered but with a  
pyramidal top and often w/o evidence of any gate or fence fitments  
although sometimes with a low guard stone to keep carriage wheels and  
hence projecting wheel hubs at bay.)

I assume they must have been available ready made.

Dennis De Witt
Brookline