The Soldiers and Sailors Monument is a tall

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

which stands in Penn Square in downtown

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...

. It was dedicated on July 4, 1874, at its present site on the Northeast intersection of King and Queen Streets. The monument's original intention was to pay tribute to Lancastrian Union soldiers killed during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. However, today the Soldiers and Sailors Monument also represents those who have served in subsequent American military conflicts. The 1744

Treaty of Lancaster The Six Nations land cessions were a series of land cessions by the Haudenosaunee and Lenape which ceded large amounts of land, including both recently conquered territories acquired from other indigenous peoples in the Beaver Wars and ancestral ...

between the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

was signed in the old Lancaster courthouse which stood on the site of the monument at the time. The Soldiers and Sailors Monument also stands on the exact spot where the

Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named "United Colonies" and in 1 ...

met during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

on September 27, 1777, in the old Lancaster Courthouse. The courthouse was built in 1739 but later burned down in 1784, rebuilt 1787 to serve as State House from 1799 to 1812 and reverting as Lancaster County Courthouse until 1852. The monument has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

since April 2, 1973.

Description

The Lancaster Soldiers and Sailors Monument features a tall

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

, rectangular

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

pillar topped with a statue of a robed woman on a pedestal known as the "Genius of Liberty". The Genius of Liberty holds a drawn sword and a shield. Her head is crowned with stars. She faces north which, according to legend, allows her to turn her back on the former

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

, which were defeated in the war. Statues of four men representing the four branches of the American armed services surround the granite shaft near its base. The four branches represented by the men are the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

and the

United States Cavalry The United States Cavalry, or U.S. Cavalry, was the designation of the mounted force of the United States Army by an act of Congress on 3 August 1861.Price (1883) p. 103, 104 This act converted the U.S. Army's two regiments of dragoons, one ...

. The names of several Civil War battles are carved on the monument's central granite pillar, as the memorial's original intent was to honor those killed in that particular war. The inscriptions include the

Battle of Antietam The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union G ...

, the

Battle of Chickamauga The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on September 19–20, 1863, between United States, U.S. and Confederate States of America, Confederate forces in the American Civil War, marked the end of a Union Army, Union offensive, the Chickamauga Campaign ...

, the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

, the

Battle of Malvern Hill The Battle of Malvern Hill, also known as the Battle of Poindexter's Farm, was fought on July 1, 1862, between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, led by Gen. Robert E. Lee, and the Union Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George B. Mc ...

, the

Battle of Petersburg The Richmond–Petersburg campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War. Although it is more popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg, it was not a cla ...

and the Battle of the Wilderness. Several

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

plaques have been added to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument since its construction, memorializing members of the American armed forces. One plaque specifically commemorates the role of African Americans in the military. Other separate plaques honor those killed in World War I, World War II, the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and the

Persian Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. The base of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument is carved with 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 Rebellion /1861–1865"

History

The idea for a memorial to Lancastrian Union soldiers killed during the American Civil War was conceived soon after the end of hostilities in 1865. The funding for the memorial was championed by a women's civic organization called the Patriot Daughters of Lancaster and its leader,

Rosina Hubley Rosina may refer to: * Rosina, Slovakia, a municipality in Slovakia * Rosina, Bulgaria, a village in Targovishte Municipality * Rosina, West Virginia * Rosina (given name), feminine given name *Rosina (surname) * Rosina (ship), list of ships with t ...

. The Patriot Daughters of Lancaster held a ladies fundraising fair sale in December 1867 at the nearby Fulton Hall, now called the Fulton Opera House, to help

finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

the construction of the proposed

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

. The event raised approximately US$3,500 the ultimate goal of $20,000. The remaining funds for the monument's construction were raised through either military taxes and funds released by the Lancaster County Treasury or through private donations. The total cost of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument is believed to be $26,000 at the time. Pennsq Lancaster City 1906

Centre Square, as the present-day Penn Square was called at the time, was chosen as the site of the new Soldiers and Sailors Monument. The monument was formally commissioned on November 4, 1872. It was formally unveiled and dedicated on July 4, 1874, and was originally surrounded by stockade fencing and dirt streets at the time.

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

sent his regrets for being unable to attend the ceremony. The large crowd which watched the dedication included Civil War veterans and a group of girls from the Mount Joy Soldiers Orphan Home. The Soldiers and Sailors Monument was officially dedicated at 1:00 pm while the girls from the orphanage sang ''My Father's Grave''. The Genius of Liberty on top of the monument was draped in an American flag. Rosina Hubley, who had led the efforts to construct the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, remarked on July 4, 1874, that she believed it would be a "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." An iron fence and granite wall enclosure were added to the monument in 1877, replacing the original picket fence. The monument was

sandblasted Sandblasting, sometimes known as abrasive blasting, is the operation of forcibly propelling a stream of abrasive material against a surface under high pressure to smooth a rough surface, roughen a smooth surface, shape a surface or remove su ...

and cleaned in both 1905 and 1924. A plaque containing the

Gettysburg Address The Gettysburg Address is a speech that U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered during the American Civil War at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery, now known as Gettysburg National Cemetery, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on the ...

and a picture of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

were added on June 8, 1931. New lights were placed on the monument in 1956, 1972 and again in the early 2000s. A proposal was floated during the 1950s to relocate the monument to an alternative site in a city park in order to ease

traffic congestion Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s. When traffic de ...

in downtown Lancaster. However, the relocation idea was abandoned and the memorial remained at its original location. Traffic passed around all four sides of the monument until the 1970s. A new traffic pattern was devised for Penn Square and the monument in 1972. A brick plaza was constructed in tandem with the expansion of the nearby

Fulton Bank Fulton Financial Corporation is a United States, U.S. regional financial services holding company, headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Fulton Financial Corp. has over $21 billion in assets, operating as Fulton Ban ...

building, closing off traffic on the monument's northeast corner and opening it to

pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...

s. The size of the monument's base was shrunk from its original down to as part of the reroute of traffic. The iron railing, added in 1877, was removed and new granite curbing was added to protect the monument from traffic collisions. On November 12, 1978, a woman committed suicide by crashing her car into the monument, causing damage to the sailor statue, which represents the United States Navy. The sailor statue's base and legs were repaired using cement. The new $170 million,

Lancaster County Convention Center The Lancaster County Convention Center (LCCC) is a publicly owned convention center in the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA. With initial site preparation in late 2006 and completion in the summer of 2009, the Lancaster County Convention Ce ...

and 300 room

Marriott Hotel Marriott Hotels & Resorts is Marriott International's brand of full-service hotels and resorts based in Bethesda, Maryland. As of June 30, 2020, there were 582 hotels and resorts with 205,053 rooms operating under the brand, in addition to 160 ...

opened directly across the street from the monument on April 21, 2009. The historic Lancaster Central Market, constructed in 1889, and the W. W. Griest Building stand just to the northwest. File:Lancast Monument 02.JPG, Artillery (NE corner) File:Lancaster Soldiers and Sailors Monument navy.jpg, Navy (SE corner) File:Lancast Monument army 03.JPG, Cavalry (SW corner) File:Lancast Monument army 01.JPG, Infantry (NW corner)

References

External links

National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form
* {{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania, state=collapsed Buildings and structures completed in 1874 Buildings and structures in Lancaster, Pennsylvania Gothic Revival architecture in Pennsylvania Monumental columns in the United States Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Lancaster, Pennsylvania Tourist attractions in Lancaster, Pennsylvania Union (American Civil War) monuments and memorials in Pennsylvania

Description

History

See also

References

External links