Soldiers and Sailors Monument (Lancaster)
| Soldiers and Sailors Monument | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| National Register of Historic Places | |||
 The Soldiers and Sailors Monument with the Lancaster County Convention Center under construction in the background, 2008 |
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| location | Penn Square, Lancaster , Pennsylvania , USA | ||
| Coordinates | 40 ° 2 ′ 16.6 " N , 76 ° 18 ′ 20.5" W. | ||
| Built | 1874 | ||
| architect | Lewis Haldy | ||
| Architectural style | Neo-Gothic | ||
| NRHP number | 73001635 | ||
| The NRHP added | 2nd April 1973 | ||
The Soldiers and Sailors Monument is a 13-meter-high Gothic Revival monument in Penn Square in central Lancaster , Pennsylvania . It was unveiled on July 4, 1874 in its current location at the intersection of King Street and Queen Street. The monument was originally intended to pay tribute to the Lancaster Union Army soldiers who were killed during the Civil War . Today the Soldiers and Sailors Monument commemorates all of the American soldiers who died in the city. The architect of the monument was Lewis Haldy.
The monument stands in the exact same spot where the Second Continental Congress met on September 27, 1777 in the old courthouse during the War of Independence . This structure was burned down in 1784. The memorial was inscribed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 2, 1973 .
description
The Lancaster Soldiers and Sailors Monument is a square pillar made of granite from Rhode Island with a statue of a woman in a robe on top. This is known as "The Genius of Liberty" . She is holding a drawn sword and a shield . Your head is crowned with stars. She looks to the north and thus turns her back on the tradition of the Confederate States of America , which were defeated in the Civil War. The figures of four men, who symbolize the armed forces ( United States Navy , Army , Artillery and Calvary ) are located on each of the four sides around the column.
The names of various civil war battles are carved into the granite of the pillar, as the original intention when the monument was erected was to honor the Lancaster soldiers killed in this conflict. These are the battles of Antietam , Chickamauga , Gettysburg , Malvern Hill , Petersburg and the Battle of the Wilderness . Various bronze plaques have been added since the monument was completed. They commemorate the members of the Lancaster armed forces who have been killed in other conflicts since then. There are panels for the First and Second World War , the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Second Gulf War . A custom plaque commemorates the role of African Americans in United States military history .
The foundation of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument bears the inscription "Erected by the people of Lancaster County / To the memory of their fellow citizens who fell / in defense of the Union / in the War of the / 1861–1865" .
history
The idea for a memorial to commemorate the Lancaster soldiers who died in the Civil War was conceived shortly after the end of hostilities in 1865. Funding was pushed through a community initiative by women called the Patriot Daughters of Lancaster and its leader Rosina Hubley. Proceeds from a women's sale at nearby Fulton Hall to fund the proposed monument raised approximately US $ 3,500, with a total estimated US $ 20,000 for construction. The remainder was raised through Lancaster County's taxes and finance or private donations. The total cost of the monument is believed to be US $ 26,000 at the time.
Center Square, as today's Penn Square was called at the time, was chosen as the location for the new monument. It was commissioned on November 4, 1872 and publicly unveiled on July 4, 1874. Originally it was surrounded by a picket fence and unpaved paths. The then US President Grant expressed his regret that he would not be able to attend the ceremony. The crowd that saw the monument unveil included civil war veterans and a group of girls from the Mount Joy Soldier Orphanage . The Soldiers and Sailors Monument was unveiled at 1:00 pm and the orphans sang the song "My Father's Grave" . "The Genius of Liberty" on the column was wrapped in the Stars and Stripes .
Rosina Hubley, who led the efforts to build the monument, remarked on July 4, 1874 that she believed it would be an “eternal reminder to all the people of the country who come together in the marketplace week after week to exchange and to bargain that there is something higher and better than the self, products, financial statements or banknotes ”.
An iron fence and granite border wall were added in 1877, replacing the original picket fence. The memorial was cleaned with a sandblasting fan in 1905 and 1924 . A plaque with the Gettysburg Address and a picture of Lincoln were added on June 8, 1931. New lighting was installed in 1956 and 1972, and again at the beginning of the 21st century.
In the 1950s, a proposal was made to move the memorial to another location in a city park to ease traffic congestion in central Lancaster. This idea was then abandoned and the monument remained in its original location.
Until the 1970s, traffic passed the monument on all four sides. A new traffic route on the square was introduced in 1972. A paved square was created when the nearby Fulton Bank building was expanded. This excluded vehicle traffic from the northeast corner and made it an area reserved exclusively for pedestrians. The area around the monument was roughly halved from its original size of 35 feet (10.7 m). The iron fence that was added in 1877 was removed and a new granite border was erected to protect the monument from damage in traffic accidents. On November 12, 1978, a woman committed suicide by crashing her car into the memorial. She damaged the statue that represents the United States Navy. The base and legs of the statue were repaired with cement.
The new 18,500 m² Lancaster County Convention Center with the 300-room Marriott Hotel , which was built for 170 million US dollars and will open in April 2009, is opposite. The historic Central Market and the WW Griest Building are directly northwest.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Stephen Kopfinger: Monumental recognition, Soldiers and Sailors edifice honors those who have served . In: Lancaster Sunday News , Lancaster Newspapers, Inc , November 9, 2008. Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2008.
- ↑ Soldiers and Sailors Monument (English) . In: The Historical Marker Database . Retrieved December 5, 2008.
- ↑ a b c d e Soldiers and Sailors Monument, (sculpture) . In: Smithsonian American Art Museum SIRIS . Retrieved December 5, 2008.
- ^ The Historical Marker Database. Quote: perpetual reminder to all people of the country as they gather week-to-week to barter and chaffer in the market place, that there is something higher and better than self or produce, bargains or bank notes .
- ^ Dave Pidgeon: City center to open in April . In: Intelligencer Journal , November 20, 2008. Archived from the original on January 6, 2009. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
Web links
- Smithsonian American Art Museum (SIRIS): Soldiers and Sailors Monument, (sculpture) (English)
Coordinates: 40 ° 2 ′ 16.6 ″ N , 76 ° 18 ′ 20.5 ″ W.