Monument City » Government

William Donald Schaefer Statue (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:21:30 +0000

Location

Light Street & E Conway Street at the Inner Harbor (Street View – approximate)

GPS: 39° 17′ 3.69″ N 76° 36′ 43.70″ W

History

Mayor of Baltimore from 1971 to 1987, William Donald Schaefer was central to the redevelopment of our city. The Inner Harbor, Oriole Park at Camden Yards and countless historical preservation projects dominate his political legacy. After nearly two decades as mayor, Schaefer became Governor of Maryland, serving the maximum two terms. In 1998 he became Comptroller of Maryland, a post he held until January of 2007. The often controversial Schaefer was never far from criticism, and his numerous remarks on immigration and women constantly sparked sharp responses from press and political rivals. However, his intense passion for Baltimore (and Maryland) have cast a positive light on the man, his work outliving his words.

Notes

The William Donald Schaefer statue stands in Bicentennial Plaza, next to the Visitor’s Center, serenely surveying the Inner Harbor. The left hand is raised and waving while the right hand holds a “Mayor’s Action Memorandum.” Dedicated on Scheafer’s 88th birthday, the bronze likeness actually depicts the politician in 1980, midway through his term as Baltimore’s chief administrator. With Schaefer’s declining health making posing difficult, sculptor Rodney Carroll used old photographs, video and borrowed family items to create the ideal monument. The result is a powerful representation of one of Charm City’s most important (and unique) public servants. The statue was unveiled on November 2, 2009, with Willy Don attending the ceremony.

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George Washington Monument in Mount Vernon (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Sun, 31 May 2009 17:41:56 +0000

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Location

Mount Vernon Place & Washington Place (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 50.80″ N 76° 36′ 56.40″ W

History

Begun in 1815, Baltimore’s Washington Monument was the first monument planned to our nation’s first president. However, it was not the first completed. The stonework monument in Washington County, MD at Washington Monument State Park was finished in 1827, two years before Baltimore’s elegant spire – which is modeled after the Place Vendôme Column (in turn modeled after Trajan’s Column). The cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1815 and the statue by artist Enrico Causici was dedicated November 11, 1829. Legend holds that a prodigy or omen was observed upon the raising of the statue to the top of the 178 foot doric column, “…a shooting star dashed across the sky and an eagle lit on the head of the settling general.” The Baltimore monument was designed by architect Robert Mills, who also designed the Washington Monument in Washington, DC. The original statue design featured Washington dressed in Roman military garb riding a chariot. As project finances tightened, the statue theme was modified to that of Washington resigning his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in Annapolis. The original site for this massive monument was down by the old Court House, on Calvert between Lexington and Fayette, by the Battle Monument. Area residents, however, feared that the monument would either topple on their homes or attract lightning. Colonel John Eager Howard, who served under Washington, donated a portion of his estate, Howard’s Woods, to the project. The hill upon which this monument stands was, at the time, well north of the city proper. $100,000 was raised by lottery for the monument’s construction through the authorized sale of 35,000 tickets. The monument actually ended up costing $200,000. The statue and monument are made of marble from Cockeysville, just north of the city.

Notes

Over the coming decades after the monument’s completion, the parks running north and south (in the shape of a Greek cross) became filled with other outdoor sculptures, including monuments to Taney, Lafayette, John Eager Howard, Severn Teackle Wallis and George Peabody, along with the Sea Urchin statue, several ornate fountains, a proud regal lion by Barye, Military Courage, and four corner pieces around the great circle of the Washington Monument depicting allegorically the figures of War, Peace, Force and Order. Freedom & Equality were also constructed for this area, but were broken and discarded in the casting process. As the Washington Monument project wore on, the original design for the column was simplified – some of the details of which were later re-invested into the ornate fencing surrounding the base of the column. During the warmer months, visitors to the Washington Monument can enter through the base (which contains a small museum) and pay a dollar to climb 228 stairs all the way to the top, which affords an excellent vantage point of the city.

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Links

George Washington on Wikipedia
History of the Washington Monument and Mount Vernon and Washington Places
On Flickr & Panoramio
List of monuments dedicated to George Washington
Baltimore’s Washington Monument on Wikipedia
Entry on the Smithsonian outdoor sculpture index

War Memorial Building (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Sat, 30 May 2009 22:36:03 +0000

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Location

N Gay Street & E Fayette Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 26.85″ N 76° 36′ 31.96″ W

History

Construction on the War Memorial Building at 101 North Gay Street began in 1921, and was completed four years later. The massive monument to Maryland’s soldiers that died in World War I is the work of Laurence Hall Fowler, a local architect who’s design won a competition held by officials for the commission. Directly across from Baltimore’s City Hall, the lot was chosen as part of the 1910 Olmstead plan to focus the city’s more important buildings into a civic plaza. Flanking the Neoclassical edifice are two aquatic war horse sculptures created by by Edmond R. Amateis that are said to depict “the might of America crossing the sea to come to the aid of the Allies.” Made of Indiana limestone, the horses, when viewed up-close, display fossils of marine organisms. Along the sides and back of the building are German cannons confiscated during WWI. In 1977, the memorial was rededicated to honor the state’s lost from both World Wars, the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Notes

Inside the building is an impressive banquet hall occupying the top floor. With high ceilings and room for hundreds of people, the vast open space is used for various events. Usually occupied by veteran’s groups and city or state politicians (the memorial is owned jointly between Baltimore and Maryland), the location has recently been used for fashion shows and movie sets. A gigantic mural depicting the “sacrifice to patriotism”, painted by Charm City artist R. McGill Mackall, covers the back wall. Throughout the auditorium are the names of the 1752 Maryland fatalities of WWI.

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John Eager Howard Equestrian Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Sat, 30 May 2009 02:07:57 +0000

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Location

Madison Street & Washington Place / N Charles Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 54.32″ N 76° 36′ 56.75″ W

History

Dedicated on January 16, 1904, this lively equestrian statue of Maryland’s own John Eager Howard was executed by artist Emmanuel Fremiet. It was a gift of the Municipal Art Society of Baltimore City and stands on land once part of Howard’s estate. Fremiet, a renowned animal sculptore of the time, is also well known for his equestrian statue of Joan of Arc in the Place des Pyramides of Paris. Howard served under General George Washington as a colonel in the Continental Army, hence his placement just north of Washington’s spire in the historic Mount Vernon neighborhood. Howard distinguished himself militarily at the Battle of Cowpens, where he lead a bayonet charge that turned the tide of battle. That act of valor is commemorated at another monument to Eager nearby on Centre Street. Howard County, Maryland, is named after him, as are Howard & Eager Streets in Baltimore City. Howard sat as a member of the Continental Congress in 1788, served as governor of Maryland for three consecutive one-year terms, was state senator, United States congressman and United States senator and lost the vice-presidential election in 1816.

Notes

On the back of the monument is a replica of the medal granted Howard by Congress for valor at the Battle of Cowpens, along with a panel showing a Continental officer riding down a British soldier.

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George Washington Statue at Druid Hill Park (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Thu, 28 May 2009 18:53:43 +0000

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Location

Hanlon Drive & Mansion House Drive (Street View)

GPS: 39° 19′ 3.00″ N 76° 38′ 33.60″ W

History

This statue was constructed in 1857 in Rome by the American artist Edward Sheffield Bartholomew at the behest of Noah Walker, a Baltimore businessman. Walker had the statue installed in a niche within the facade of his West Baltimore Street clothing business, at what came to be known as the Washington Building. The statue was originally installed on the second floor and was lit at night by a circle of gaslights. An 1871 sketch of its original appearance can be found here. When Walker died the statue was donated by his family to the city and was moved to Druid Hill Park. A new niche for it needed to be constructed as the statue had no back. Enoch Pratt, the philanthropist after whom Baltimore’s library system is named, donated the pedestal upon which it now stands.

Notes

Bartholomew’s Washington statue is one of many monuments dedicated to America’s first president. Aside from the Washington Monument in Mount Vernon, there is also a Washington Bicentennial marker near the Basilica. And compatriots of Washington’s like Lafayette and Pulaski are also memorialized in Baltimore City.

Nearby

Links

On Flickr & Panoramio
Images of Baltimore Parks & Squares from the Maryland Historical Society
Smithsonian sculpture entry
Ghosts of Druid Hill Park

Mayor Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Mon, 25 May 2009 21:15:07 +0000

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Location

N Broadway & E Baltimore Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 30.13″ N 76° 35′ 37.96″ W

History

Dedicated on June 1, 1914 and rededicated on June 11, 1997, this monument to Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe is by artists Edward Berge and J. Maxwell Miller. Baltimore-born Ferdinand Latrobe (1833-1911) served seven non-consecutive terms as mayor of Baltimore, between 1875-1877, 1878-1881, 1883-1885, 1887-1889, and finally again in 1891-1895. Along with Thomas D’Alesandro, Sam Smith and William Donald Schaefer, Latrobe is one of four Baltimore mayors who have been immortalized in outdoor monumental form. Clayton Colman Hall writes in his book, Baltimore, “To write a personal history of General Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe is in effect to write the history of the most important events concerning the growth and improvement of the city of Baltimore for more than half a century.” Responsible for a slew of civic works and improvement projects, Colman explains that “It is not flattery to say that he was acknowledged to be the most prominent and popular citizen of Baltimore, and in his private as well as in his official capacity did more for the advancement and improvement of the city of Baltimore than any other one man.” Latrobe also was responsible for the re-organization of the Maryland militia under the Act of 1868, which he authored. Ferdinand Latrobe was the son of John Hazelhurst Boneval Latrobe and grandson of Benjamin Henry Latrobe, figures of no small import in Baltimore, as well as national, history. Latrobe is quoted as having said, in 1894, about the first incarnation of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team, “We have always had the most beautiful women and the finest oysters in the world, and now we have the best baseball club.” Latrobe is also known to have been an avid breeder of Chesapeake Bay Retrievers.

Notes

Latrobe’s memorial stands at the southern-most end of a row of monuments which stretches north along Broadway, next in line being Thomas Wildey, and Jose Marti. A few short blocks to the east is the western entrance of Patterson Park, in which resides several other city monuments.

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Severn Teackle Wallis Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 14:16:50 +0000

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Location

Saint Paul Street & E Monument Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 51.29″ N 76° 36′ 50.95″ W

History

The Severn Teackle Wallis monument at Mount Vernon Place stands dignified as it looks east down Monument Street. Directly west is George Peabody with Washington and the rest of his monumental friends looming behind the two. Wallis stands with his right hand on a pedestal covered with some of his papers, and is depicted with his trademark mustache and long sideburns. One of the premiere lawyers of his generation, Severn Teackle was elected to the Maryland Legislature in 1861, where he proceeded to lead a faction of politicians opposed to the Civil War. The Federal Government, under the direction of Lincoln, swooped in on a September evening that year and imprisoned Mr. Wallis for his apparent transgressions. He was thrown in jail for fourteen months at various Union fortresses, yet he was never informed of the crime he committed. Upon his release he wrote a lengthy correspondence to Senator John Sherman explaining his displeasure with the situation, continuing his crusade for civil liberties.

Wallis was also a writer, penning literature throughout his long and storied life. His Glimpses of Spain and Discourse on the Life and Character of George Peabody are his most famous works and are still in print today. He wrote poetry as well and is highly regarded for his careful use of language and positive sentiment. Two of his most well-known poems are The Last of Hours and The Blessed Hand. Wallis was also an avid collector of literature and owned one of the first editions of Don Quixote in the United States. In 1877, he donated the volume to the Peabody Library.

Notes

On the fourth floor of the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse is another memorial to Mr. Wallis. The memorial consists of a bronze bust, a copy of William Rinehart’s work, atop a marble structure with a young woman reaching upwards with a laurel branch. The pair of Wallis monuments, along with various streets and locations bearing his name, create an important historical reference to one of Maryland’s great men. The Mount Vernon Place monument, dedicated in 1906, is by artist is Laurent Honore Marqueste.

Nearby

Links

On Panoramio & Flickr
Wallis on Wikipedia

Roger B. Taney Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Fri, 15 May 2009 18:47:42 +0000

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Location

North Mount Vernon Place (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 52.60″ N 76° 36′ 56.62″ W

History

Roger Brooke Taney was the fifth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America, and is most historically noted for authoring the Dred Scott Decision (Dred Scott v. Sanford), which ruled that “…slaves could not win freedom by escaping to a free state and that no black person could be a U.S. citizen,” and which is considered an indirect cause of the Civil War. Taney was, presumably, operating under a conceptual framework of dual federalism, in which individual states were seen as sovereign and separate from the federal government. Before being appointed to the Supreme Court under Andrew Jackson, Taney also served as Attorney General for his home state of Maryland and was the twelfth Attorney General of the United States. He also notably kept a home in Frederick, MD where he practiced law with his partner Francis Scott Key, who authored the National Anthem. Taney died during the final months of the Civil War on the same day that Maryland abolished slavery. President Lincoln made no public statement regarding Taney’s death or career. In 1865, controversy raged over the creation of a memorial bust of Taney to be displayed along with the four other chief justices who preceded him. Congress rejected the proposal and Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner proposed that a vacant spot be left in Taney’s space. In 1873 when Taney’s successor, Salmon Chase, died, Congress finally appropriated funds for both busts to be displayed in the Capitol. A statue of Justice Taney resides outside the Maryland State House, and Baltimore’s exquisite monument to this complicated figure is a re-cast of that 1871 sculpture by William Henry Rinehart. It was donated to the city by the Walters family in 1887.

Notes

Taney is situated just north of the Washington Monument proper, in a sunny location. He faces south and to his left you can see the elegantly beautiful spire of Mount Vernon Place Methodist Church, a building “…named by the American Institute of Architects as the most significant in the city of Baltimore.”

Nearby

Links

On Panoramio & Flickr
Taney on Wikipedia
Taney on Findagrave
Taney monument on Smithsonian sculpture index
City Paper article on Baltimore monuments, with info on Taney

The Repeal Statue (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:19:26 +0000

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Location

Madison Avenue & Cloverdale Road (Street View)

GPS: 39° 18′ 54.75″ N 76° 38′ 26.71″ W

History

Once placed high in the wall of the Old Post Office, this Baltimore artifact was purchased by William H Parker when the building was razed in 1930. The relief statue was one of twenty created by English artist John Monroe just after he finished working on the Albert Memorial in London. Monroe was paid $28,523 for his services by Charm City’s government. The stone panel depicts cherubs operating a distillery in unison with the creation of art. Parker donated the sculpture to The Board of Park Commissioners, in 1932, to be erected when the country repealed the 18th amendment. They, in turn , installed it near the main entrance to Druid Hill Park a year later, marking the return of beer to the city. The monument is said to be the only one in the country marking the end of Prohibition.

Notes

Hidden behind the bushes of an under-maintained garden between the Parks and Recreations building and the park’s main entryway, the Repeal Statue is hardly noticeable during spring and summer. Enough moss has formed on the stone that it tends to blend in with its surroundings. A plaque is placed at the foot of the statue.

Nearby

Links

Passage in Maryland: A Guide to the Old Line State
On Flickr & Panoramio

Captain John O’Donnell Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:55:44 +0000

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Location

O’Donnell Street & S Curley Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 16′ 48.74″ N 76° 34′ 29.60″ W

History

In August of 1785, Baltimore began trade with China when Captain John O’Donnell arrived at the harbor in a ship loaded with goods from the Asian country. Known as “The Father of the Potomac Canal”, O’Donnell purchased a large piece of waterfront land east of Fells Point. Already a successful merchant, the Irish-born Captain established an economic foundation in Canton that sustained through the Great Depression. A member of the East India Trading Company when he arrived on Maryland’s shores, O’Donnell wore many hats, and his various business interests made him one of the richest men in the country during his lifetime. The monument was created by artist Tylden Streett, a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art, who also sculpted the Fireman’s Memorial at Zion Church

Notes

Inside a fence in Canton Square, the memorial stands in a well-maintained garden. A plaque reads: “Captain John O’Donnell, the founder of the Canton Community was man of great vision and accomplishment. He initiated trade between Canton, China and Baltimore in 1785 operating his own merchant sailing vessels. This public square, once the site of Canton Market, is dedicated in his honor.” The monument was surveyed in 1993 and is in excellent condition.

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