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Washington Monument (Baltimore)

Coordinates: 39°17′51″N 76°36′57″W / 39.29750°N 76.61583°W / 39.29750; -76.61583
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Washington Monument (Baltimore, Maryland)
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The Washington Monument in Baltimore
Map
LocationBaltimore, Maryland, United States
DesignerRobert Mills
Typedoric column
MaterialWhite marble
Height178 feet (54 m)
Beginning date1815
Completion date1829
Dedicated toGeorge Washington
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Washington Monument (Baltimore).

The Washington Monument in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, was the first architectural monument planned to honor George Washington.[1]

History

In 1815, a statue was designed by Robert Mills, who also designed the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. Construction began in 1815 and was completed by 1829. The 178 foot doric column holds a ground-floor museum offering information about Washington as well as construction of the monument. Climbing the 228 steps to the top provides an excellent view of the city from the historic neighborhood where it is located. Its neighbors include the Peabody Institute.

The glorification of Washington began long before his death in December 1799, and the dedication of a memorial in his honor seemed certain. A monument honoring Washington in Baltimore was first proposed in 1809, and a committee was formed to commission and fund the monument. In 1811, the first of six lotteries, authorized by the Maryland General Assembly, was held, eventually raising enough funds to construct a Washington monument in Baltimore. Mills's design was chosen in an architectural competition in 1815, and the cornerstone laid on July 4 of that year.[2]

Early designs included rich ornamentation, six iron galleries dividing the hollow shaft into seven sections, and a quadriga surmounting the column. The design of the completed column is very similar to the Colonne Vendôme, which ultimately derived from Trajan's Column and was adopted in this time of Neoclassicism in American architecture.

Baltimore's Washington Monument, 1890 (looking North)

The monument, which was constructed of white marble from Cockeysville,[3] rises 178 feet and consists of three main elements: a low, rectangular base containing a museum; a plain, unfluted column; and, atop the column, a standing figure of Washington. By the time of the monument's completion in 1829, financial constraints had forced a series of design compromises which simplified the monument.

William Rusk, in his book Art in Baltimore: Monuments and Memorials, tells the following story about the raising of Italian sculptor Enrico Causici's marble statue of Washington in 1829. "Tradition recalls a prodigy occurring when the statue was raised to the summit of the monument - a shooting star dashed across the sky and an eagle lit on the head of the settling general."

Before the Baltimore monument could be completed, the memorial in Washington Monument State Park (near Boonsboro, Maryland and the Appalachian Trail), was constructed in 1827, making the Boonsboro tower the first public monument to George Washington in the nation.[4]

The iron fence around the base was designed by Mills and added in 1838. It contains some of the symbolism that had been deleted from the column due to cost considerations.[5] A driver ran a 1997 Chrysler van through the southeast corner on October 30, 2010 and damaged roughly 15 feet of the fence.[6]

Lead paint in the interior of the monument was removed in 1985-92.[citation needed]

Baltimore's Washington Monument, 1900 (looking West)

Cultural references

The monument is referenced by Herman Melville (as Ishmael) in Chapter XXXV (The Mast-Head) of Moby-Dick, "Great Washington, too, stands high aloft on his towering main-mast in Baltimore, and like one of Hercules' pillars, his column marks that point of human grandeur beyond which few mortals will go."

  • In the show Ace of Cakes the star Duff does the ceremonial lighting of the Monument. He was quoted saying that Baltimore's monument was first, better, cooler, and lights up.
  • The film The Bedroom Window, directed by Curtis Hanson, is set largely in Mount Vernon and is about an attempted murder that takes place at the base of the monument.
  • In 1998, an opening scene to the movie Pecker was filmed in front of the Washington Monument. In audio commentary that accompanies the DVD, director John Waters states that the photo the film's titular character (played by Edward Furlong) takes of the monument is "the oldest dirty joke in Baltimore" due to the resemblance of Washington's extended arm to a large phallus when viewed from the angle at which the photo is taken.

Visitor information

NOTE: The monument was closed in June 2010 for safety reasons, according to articles in the "Baltimore Sun" and "Washington Post" newspapers. Missing mortar and rusted support brackets were among specific safety concerns. While reports initially indicated the closure would last three months, no updated information on opening was available as of August 2010. (It is still closed as of Spring 2013).

Historic designation

The Washington Monument is the centerpiece of the Mount Vernon Place National Historic Landmark District, Designated in 1971.[7] The historic district is in turn within the Baltimore National Heritage Area.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Monuments: Washington's perch in Baltimore's sky". The Baltimore Examiner. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
  2. ^ Dorsey, John & Dilts, James D., Guide to Baltimore Architecture (1997) p. 116. Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Maryland ISBN 0-87033-477-8
  3. ^ Dorsey, John & Dilts, James D., Guide to Baltimore Architecture (1997) p. 116. Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Maryland ISBN 0-87033-477-8
  4. ^ "Washington Monument State Park". State of Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  5. ^ Dorsey, John & Dilts, James D., Guide to Baltimore Architecture’(1997) p. 117. Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Maryland ISBN 0-87033-477-8
  6. ^ Washington Monument Baltimore | Van destroys section of Baltimore's Washington Monument fence - Baltimore Sun. Articles.baltimoresun.com (2010-10-30). Retrieved on 2013-07-15.
  7. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  8. ^ "Baltimore National Heritage Area Map" (PDF). City of Baltimore. Retrieved March 11, 2012.

39°17′51″N 76°36′57″W / 39.29750°N 76.61583°W / 39.29750; -76.61583

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