Monument City » Mount Vernon

Military Courage Statue (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:45:26 +0000

Location

Cathedral Street & W Mount Vernon Place (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 50.82″ N 76° 37′ 1.01″ W

History

A replica of Paul Dubois‘ Military Courage statue stands at the west end of Mount Vernon Place, facing Cathedral Street. A gift of William Walters, the famous Baltimore art collector, the cast was installed at the historic park in 1885. Strongly influenced by the Italian Renaissance, Dubois modeled Military Courage after Michaelangelo’s statue at the tomb of Lorenzo de’ Medici in Florence. Three other statues were sculpted along with Courage, entitled Faith, Meditation and Charity, the set serving as pillars for the tomb of General Jucault de Lamoricière in Nantes Cathedral, France.

Notes

Looking south from the statue you’ll find the Garrett House, the former residence of Robert Garrett, once a prominent President of the B & O Railroad. The forty room mansion spans multiple row-houses and is the work of acclaimed architect Stanford White. Contracted by Garrett and his wife, in 1884, to remodel and combine the homes the couple had recently purchased, White spent the next nine years creating the lavish residence. Since 1961, the Engineer’s Society of Baltimore has owned and maintained the property.

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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

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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John Eager Howard Bayonet Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:55:50 +0000

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Location

W Centre Street & N Howard Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 47.46″ N 76° 37′ 13.49″ W

History

Just west of the Centre Street light rail stop on Howard Street, which was named after him, this 1985 monument is by artist David Gerlach and is one of two monuments to the Revolutionary War hero and statesman John Eager Howard. The other more classical equestrian monument to Howard lies at the north end of the park above the Washington Monument in Mount Vernon. Howard became recognized for his gallantry at the Battle of Cowpens on January 17, 1781 with a bayonet charge which helped secure the American victory. The sculpture was installed as part of the Market Center Redevelopment.

Notes

The park this memorial sits in was once part of Howard’s expansive 260-acre Baltimore estate, which he split up and gifted to various civic causes, religious groups, Lexington Market and even the land for the Mount Vernon Washington Monument. The monument consists of three stylized figures, two of whom are pointing rifles which once had bayonets affixed to them. The figure of Howard points off to the distance, as if ordering the men to charge. At one time his pointing hand held something, presumably a sword or pistol by the way the hand is sculpted. In addition to the missing elements, the figures are also scrawled with graffiti. Howard is buried in Old St. Paul’s Cemetery, which is not far away.

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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.

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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.”

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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

George Peabody Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:12:04 +0000

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Location

East Mount Vernon Place (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 51.18″ N 76° 36′ 54.33″ W

History

Born in 1795 in the town of South Danvers, Massachusetts (later renamed Peabody, MA), George Peabody was an entrepeneur and philanthropist who moved to Baltimore in 1816, where he lived for twenty years overseeing the dry-goods mercantile business he co-founded, Peabody, Riggs, and Company. In the 1850’s, while in London, Peabody became involved in banking, forming a prominent partnership with Junius Spencer Morgan, father of financier JP Morgan. A number of large financial institutions, including Morgan Grenfell, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley, can trace their roots directly back to Peabody’s handiwork. For this reason, a statue of Peabody quite similar to Baltimore’s was unveiled before his death beside the Royal Exchange in London. Peabody is also considered to be father of modern philanthropy. In 1857, Peabody founded the first music conservatory in the United States in Baltimore, the Peabody Institute (now a part of Johns Hopkins University). In 1862, he set up the Peabody Trust in London to provide housing for the city’s deserving poor. After the American Civil War, he established the Peabody Education Fund to educate children from the Southern States, and is known to have donated some $8 million dollars to charitable trusts and organizations during his lifetime. His philanthropic acts served as a model for others, including Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller and Bill Gates.

Notes

Peabody’s Baltimore monument rests in the park just east of the Washington Monument in Mount Vernon. Immediately to his south is the historic Peabody Institute building, with the Mount Vernon Place Methodist Church to the north.

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Marquis de Lafayette Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:30:17 +0000

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Location

Washington Place & Mt Vernon Place (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 49.86″ N 76° 36′ 56.48″ W

History

Lafayette was a wildly-popular French military hero of the American Revolution whose full name most Americans have probably never heard: Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de la Fayette. Lafayette served in the Continental Army under General George Washington, hence the proximity of his monument (just south) to Washington’s memorial in the heart of the beautiful neighborhood of Mount Vernon. Lafayette’s involvement in the American Revolution, though it went against the orders of the King of France, was instrumental in solidifying bonds of friendship and military alliance between the fledgling United States and France, along with such diplomatic contemporaries as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. After rising through the ranks of both the American and French armies, Lafayette ultimately returned to France as a special advisor to the king in 1788, and presented in council session a draft of a document fundamental to the French Revolution, The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. But as the French Revolution mounted in intensity, Lafayette as commander of the French National Guard worked to maintain order, for which he was persecuted and eventually imprisoned by the more radical elements of the Revolution. In 1824-25, President James Monroe invited Lafayette to tour the United States. Lafayette was given a hero’s welcome wherever he went. He visited all twenty-four states and traveled some 6,000 miles. Huge crowds gathered to salute the man, towns were named after him, memorials were erected in his honor and he was even granted honorary United States citizenship by a direct act of Congress – one of only six individuals to have been given this civic honor (an honor which was rededicated to him again in 2002). One hundred years later on September 6, 1924, Baltimore dedicated its own monument to this great general, with sculpture by Andrew O’Connor and landscape architecture by Thomas Hastings. Lafayette was buried in France under American soil from Bunker Hill.

Notes

Baltimore’s Washington Monument looms atop a spire directly north of Lafayette, who sits upon his horse facing south down the hill towards the Inner Harbor. Washington’s huge arm is outstretched, so that it seems almost like he’s commanding Lafayette to ride off into the distance. Apparently the Oneida tribe, whom Lafayette recruited to the American cause, referred to him as Kayewla (“fearsome horseman”). Lafayette’s monument sits directly between the Peabody Conservatory, part of Johns Hopkins University, and the Walters Art Gallery, which houses a fabulous collection of cultural and artistic treasures from around the world and is open to the public for free.

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Sea Urchin Statue at Mount Vernon Place (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:29:16 +0000

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Location

N Charles Street & E Centre Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 48.41″ N 76° 36′ 56.33″ W

History

Edward Berge was one of Baltimore’s prominent sculptors. An attendee of the William Rinehart School of Sculpture, Berge continued his education in Paris under Auguste Rodin. He created numerous monuments throughout the city and generally works in a realist style. He is, however, most well known for his carefree and playful garden figures. The original Sea Urchin, now located at Johns Hopkins University, was created by Berge in 1924, and installed at Mount Vernon Place in a fountain in front of the Washington Monument. For over thirty years it stood in the south park, until 1961, when is was moved to JHU’s main campus and replaced with an enlarged version. Frederick Huber wished to memorialize the local sculptor by having a larger more monumental Sea Urchin cast, one that would fit in better with its grand surroundings. Chosen to execute the reproduction was Edward’s son, Henry Berge.

Notes

The enlarged Sea Urchin was the subject of consistent vandalism for years after its installation. On various occasions the statue was moved during the night, only to be found in some strange area of the city the following day. Sometimes the memorial would be dressed in people’s clothing, confronting residents and tourists with a ghostly air. Eventually the pranks ended and the Urchin was granted the peace it deserved. The sculpture resides in Charm City’s oldest wishing well, standing guard over the town’s hopes and dreams.

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Links

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

Edgar Allan Poe Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:08:33 +0000

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Location

W Mount Royal Avenue & Maryland Avenue (Street View)

GPS: 39° 18′ 20.33″ N 76° 37′ 2.39″ W

History

The Poe monument was dedicated on October 20, 1921 and is by artist Moses J. Ezekiel. It’s original location was in Wyman Park at the corner of 29th Street. Interestingly, the first model for this monument was destroyed in a custom house fire, the second was destroyed in an earthquake and the third was delayed many years during WWI from being shipped across the Atlantic. The original base too, now lost, also has a strange history. It contained two misspellings in its dedication quote, one of which was eventually corrected by a vigilante-fan using a chisel in 1930 who was arrested but not charged. Poe’s monument was moved from Wyman Park to its current location in the Law Center Plaza in 1983 outside the University of Baltimore on Mount Royal Ave.

Notes

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, MA in 1809 to actor and actress David Poe, Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe. Poe’s father abandoned the family in 1810, and a year later his mother died. He was taken in as a foster child by John Allan, a prominent businessman in Richmond, VA. Though he was only an occasional resident of the City of Baltimore, Poe was found in the street quite unwell and wearing someone else’s clothes on October 3, 1849 and died several days later. The precise cause and circumstances surrounding his death remain a mystery, though several prominent theoretical explanations have been put forward. He was laid to rest at Westminster Hall and Burying Ground in Baltimore, MD on Fayette Street. The controversy over his demise is perhaps not surprising since much of his work dealt with the vicissitudes of death. Another curiosity connected to Poe’s final moments is a ritual undertaken annually by a mysterious figure known as the “Poe Toaster” who every year on January 19 makes a toast of cognac and leaves three roses at the site of Poe’s grave monument. According to Wikipedia, “Members of the Edgar Allan Poe Society in Baltimore have helped in protecting this tradition for decades.” Though not originally from Baltimore, Poe has become something of a patron saint of the city. The NFL football team, the Baltimore Ravens are named after his famous poem, “The Raven,” and an anthropomorphized raven character named “Poe” is the team’s official mascot.

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