James Cook - Legacy - Memorials

Memorials

A US coin, the 1928 Hawaiian Sesquicentennial half dollar bears an image of Cook. Minted during the celebration marking the 150th anniversary of his discovery of the islands, its low mintage (10,008) has made this example of Early United States commemorative coins both scarce and expensive. The site where he was killed in Hawaii is marked by a white obelisk, built in 1874, and about 25 square feet (2.3 m2) of land around it is chained off. This land, though in Hawaii, has been given to the United Kingdom. A nearby town is named Captain Cook, Hawaii as well as several businesses. The Apollo 15 Command/Service Module Endeavour was named after Cook's ship, HMS Endeavour, as is the space shuttle Endeavour. Another shuttle, Discovery, is named after Cook's HMS Discovery.

The first tertiary education institution in North Queensland, Australia was named after him, with James Cook University opening in Townsville in 1970. In Australian rhyming slang the expression "Captain Cook" means "look". Numerous institutions, landmarks and place names reflect the importance of Cook's contribution to knowledge of geography. These include the Cook Islands, the Cook Strait, Cook Inlet, and the Cook crater on the Moon. Aoraki/Mount Cook, the highest summit in New Zealand, is named for him. Another Mount Cook is on the border between the US state of Alaska and the Canadian Yukon Territory, and is designated Boundary Peak 182 as one of the official Boundary Peaks of the Hay–Herbert Treaty.

One of the earliest monuments to Cook in the United Kingdom is located at The Vache, where it was erected in 1780 by Admiral Hugh Palliser, a contemporary of Cook and one time owner of the estate. A huge obelisk was built in 1827 as a monument to Cook on Easby Moor overlooking his boyhood village of Great Ayton. In 1978, on the 250th anniversary of Cook's birth, at the site of his birthplace in Marton, the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, which is located within Stewart Park, was opened. A granite vase just to the south of the museum marks the approximate spot where he was born. Tributes also abound in post-industrial Middlesbrough, and include a primary school, shopping square and the Bottle 'O Notes a public artwork by Claes Oldenburg erected in the town's Central Gardens in 1993. Also named after Cook is the James Cook University Hospital, a major teaching hospital opened in 2003.

The Royal Research Ship RRS James Cook was built in 2006 to replace the RRS Charles Darwin in the UK's Royal Research Fleet and Stepney Historical Trust has placed a plaque on Free Trade Wharf in the Highway, Shadwell to commemorate his life in the East End of London.