Navy Yard Urns | |
Location | Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C. |
---|---|
Coordinates | 38°53′56.93″N77°2′11.08″W / 38.8991472°N 77.0364111°W |
Built | 1872 |
Architect | Unknown Washington Navy Yard (founder) |
Part of | Lafayette Square Historic District L'Enfant Plan |
NRHP reference No. | 70000833 [1] (Lafayette Square Historic District) 97000332 [2] (L'Enfant Plan) |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | August 29, 1970 (Lafayette Square Historic District) April 24, 1997 (L'Enfant Plan) |
Designated DCIHS | January 19, 1971 (L'Enfant Plan) June 19, 1973 (Lafayette Square Historic District) |
The Navy Yard Urns are two decorative bronze urns located in Lafayette Square, a small park across the street from the White House, in Washington, D.C. They were originally planned to be installed in the 1850s, but due to the Civil War and other events, they were not erected until 1872. Secretary of the Navy George M. Robeson had ordered the urns be made at the Washington Navy Yard using melted cannons from the Civil War.
The urns have been moved a few times during their history, most recently in 1969. They originally stood on the east and west side of the equestrian statue of President Andrew Jackson that is the centerpiece of Lafayette Square. The urns are contributing properties to the Lafayette Square Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, and the L'Enfant Plan. Both the district and plan are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites.
Lafayette Square, a 7-acre (2.8 ha) park on the north side of the White House in Washington, D.C., was originally planned by Pierre Charles L'Enfant in 1791. [3] [4] The square, part of President's Park, was redesigned by Andrew Jackson Downing in 1851–1852. [4] Amongst the changes in Downing's plans were the installation of urns in the square. Due to delays by the Civil War and other events, most of Downing's plans were not carried out until the late-19th century and 20th-century. [3]
The first changes were made in 1853, with the installation of the equestrian statue of President Andrew Jackson. More substantial changes took place from 1872 to 1873, which is the time period when the urns were installed. [3] [4] [5] On the order of Secretary of the Navy George M. Robeson, the Washington Navy Yard melted cannons from the Civil War to create two decorative urns. [6] [7] They were based on the design of vases brought from Paris by William Wilson Corcoran, but it is unclear who the original designer was. [8] According to the Smithsonian Institution Research Information System, they may have been designed by Downing or Calvert Vaux. [6] The furnaces at the Navy Yard where the urns were cast were designed by Adolph Cluss and had previously been used to produce cannons during the Civil War. [9]
The urns, measuring 5-feet tall (1.5 m) and 4-feet wide (1.2 m), are made of bronze and are similar in design to ones found at the Palace of Versailles. [6] [9] They feature a classical figure motif and each urn is inscribed "Ordnance Department, U.S. Navy Yard, Washington D.C. 1872". [9] They originally stood on the east and west sides of the Jackson statue, resting on granites bases set amongst flower beds. [6] [9] Robeson described them as "extremely good examples of the work of government mechanics and workshops." [9] Although each urn contains a decorative motif, they are different than the designs found on the Andrew Jackson Downing Urn. That urn was created in 1856 and is located in the Enid A. Haupt Garden. [9]
Flowers were placed in the urns in 1879, but were later removed. [6] In 1919, during the fight for women's suffrage in the United States, a group of women protesters were in front of the White House where they burned printed speeches by President Woodrow Wilson. Instead of a metal tub that was used as a firepit, at least one protester started another fire inside one of the urns. It was extinguished by other protesters and security personnel. [10]
During an improvement project of the square by the Works Progress Administration in 1936, the urns were moved to the center of each side of the park, near Jackson Place and Madison Place, small streets on either side of Lafayette Square. [4] [7] The last time the urns were moved occurred in 1969. They stand on granite pedestals near the south entrance to the square. [7] [9]
The urns are contributing properties to the Lafayette Square Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on August 29, 1970, and the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites (DCIHS) on June 19, 1973. They are also contributing properties to the L'Enfant Plan, listed on the NRHP on April 24, 1997, and the DCIHS on January 19, 1971. [4] [5]
Judiciary Square is a neighborhood in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., the vast majority of which is occupied by various federal and municipal courthouses and office buildings. Judiciary Square is located roughly between Pennsylvania Avenue to the south, H Street to the north, 6th Street to the west, and 3rd Street to the east. The center of the neighborhood is an actual plaza named Judiciary Square. The Square itself is bounded by 4th Street to the east, 5th Street to the west, D Street and Indiana Avenue to the south, and F Street to the north. The neighborhood is served by the Judiciary Square station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro, in addition to Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority bus stops.
President's Park, located in Downtown Washington, D.C., encompasses the White House and includes the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the Treasury Building, and grounds; the White House Visitor Center; Lafayette Square; and The Ellipse. President's Park was the original name of Lafayette Square.
Thomas Circle is a traffic circle in Northwest Washington, D.C., United States. It is located at the intersection of 14th Street, M Street, Massachusetts Avenue, and Vermont Avenue NW. A portion of Massachusetts Avenue travels through a tunnel underneath the circle. The interior of the circle includes the equestrian statue of George Henry Thomas, a Union Army general in the Civil War.
The James A. Garfield Monument stands on the grounds of the United States Capitol in the traffic circle at First Street and Maryland Avenue SW in Washington, D.C. It is a memorial to U.S. President James A. Garfield, who was elected in 1880 and assassinated in 1881 after serving only four months of his term. The perpetrator was an attorney and disgruntled office-seeker named Charles J. Guiteau. Garfield lived for several weeks after the shooting, but eventually succumbed to his injuries. The monument is part of a three-part sculptural group near the Capitol Reflecting Pool, including the Peace Monument and the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial in Union Square. The monument is also a contributing property to the National Mall and L'Enfant Plan, both of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites. The bronze statue rests on a granite pedestal that features three sculptures, each one representing a time period in Garfield's life.
The Peace Monument, also known as the Navy Monument, Naval Monument or Navy-Peace Monument, stands on the western edge of the United States Capitol Complex in Washington, D.C. It is in the middle of Peace Circle, where First Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW intersect. The surrounding area is Union Square, which the monument shares with the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial, James A. Garfield Monument, and the Capitol Reflecting Pool. The front of the monument faces west towards the National Mall while the east side faces the United States Capitol.
The Lafayette Square Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District in Washington, D.C., encompassing a portion of the original L'Enfant Plan for the city's core. It includes the 7-acre (2.8 ha) Lafayette Square portion of President's Park, all of the buildings facing it except the White House, and the buildings flanking the White House to the east and west. The district was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970.
Lafayette Square is a seven-acre public park located within President's Park in Washington, D.C., directly north of the White House on H Street, bounded by Jackson Place on the west, Madison Place on the east and Pennsylvania Avenue on the south. It is named for the general, the Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat, and hero of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and includes several statues of revolutionary heroes from Europe, including Lafayette, while at its center is a famous statue of early 19th century U.S. president and general Andrew Jackson on horseback with both of the horse's front hooves raised.
Admiral David G. Farragut is a statue in Washington, D.C., honoring David Farragut, a career military officer who served as the first admiral in the United States Navy. The monument is sited in the center of Farragut Square, a city square in downtown Washington, D.C. The statue was sculpted by female artist Vinnie Ream, whose best-known works include a statue of Abraham Lincoln and several statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection. The monument was dedicated in 1881 in an extravagant ceremony attended by President James A. Garfield, members of his cabinet, and thousands of spectators. It was the first monument erected in Washington, D.C., in honor of a naval war hero.
The Luther Monument is a public artwork located in front of Luther Place Memorial Church in Washington, D.C., United States. The monument to Martin Luther, the theologian and Protestant Reformer, is a bronze, full-length portrait. It is a copy of the statue created by Ernst Friedrich August Rietschel as part of the 1868 Luther Monument in Worms, Germany. The version in Washington, D.C., inspired the installation of many other castings across the U.S. The statue is a contributing property to the Luther Place Memorial Church's listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites (DCIHS). It is also a contributing property to the Greater Fourteenth Street Historic District, which is also listed on the NRHP and DCIHS.
Edmund Burke is a bronze, full-length statue of British statesman, author, orator, political theorist, and philosopher Edmund Burke by British artist James Havard Thomas. The original statue is in Bristol, England, with a second cast in Washington, D.C. The statue in Washington, D.C., stands in Burke Park, at the intersection of 11th Street, L Street, and Massachusetts Avenue NW, on the southern border of the Shaw neighborhood. The statue was a gift from the Charles Wakefield, 1st Viscount Wakefield, on behalf of the Sulgrave Institution, an organization that wanted to celebrate United Kingdom–United States relations. One way the group did this was by exchanging statues and busts between the two countries.
Lieutenant General George Washington is an 1860 equestrian statue of George Washington, at Washington Circle, at the edge of the George Washington University's campus, in Washington, D.C. The statue was sculpted by Clark Mills, who also created the equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson in front of the White House. The traffic circle where the statue is located was one of the original city designs by Pierre Charles L'Enfant. The statue and surrounding park are in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood at the intersection of 23rd Street, New Hampshire Avenue, and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The K Street NW underpass runs beneath the circle.
Andrew Jackson is a bronze equestrian statue by Clark Mills mounted on a white marble base in the center of Lafayette Square within President's Park in Washington, D.C., just to the north of the White House. Jackson is depicted dressed in military uniform, raising his hat with his right hand, while controlling the reins with his left hand as his horse rises on its rear legs.
Major General Marquis Gilbert de Lafayette is a statue in the southeast corner of Lafayette Square, in Washington, D.C., near the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Madison Place, across the street from the White House. The statue was erected in 1891 to honor Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, and his contributions in the American Revolutionary War. The square, originally part of the President's Park, was named in honor of the Marquis in 1824 during a visit he made to the U.S. The statuary was made by Alexandre Falguière and Antonin Mercié, and the architect who designed the marble pedestal was Paul Pujol. The monument comprises a bronze statue of the Marquis de Lafayette about 11 ft (3.4 m) high, standing on a French marble pedestal with four faces decorated with classical mouldings, accompanied by seven additional bronze statues, all larger than life size.
Brigadier General Thaddeus Kościuszko is a bronze statue honoring Polish military figure and engineer Tadeusz Kościuszko. The sculpture was dedicated in 1910, the third of four statues in Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C., to honor foreign-born heroes of the American Revolutionary War. Born in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1746, Kościuszko later received education at a Jesuit school before attending the Corps of Cadets in Warsaw. He later traveled to France where he studied in military academy libraries and adopted views of human liberty during the Age of Enlightenment. He moved to the Thirteen Colonies in 1776, where the war with the Kingdom of Great Britain had already begun. Kościuszko served as an engineer in the Continental Army, earning the praise of his superiors, including General George Washington.
Major General Comte Jean de Rochambeau is a bronze statue honoring Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, a French nobleman and general who played a major role in helping the Thirteen Colonies win independence during the American Revolutionary War. Rochambeau joined the French military as a teenager, participating in the War of Austrian Succession, after which he was promoted to colonel, and the Seven Years' War. During the war in America, Louis XVI asked Rochambeau to lead a force of 5,500 French soldiers to assist the fight against the Kingdom of Great Britain. He and George Washington later worked together in the successful siege of Yorktown. He led the Army of the North during the French Revolutionary Wars, but was arrested and almost executed during the Reign of Terror. His military rank was restored by Napoleon and Rochambeau died a few years later in 1807.
Major General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben is a bronze statue of Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, a Prussian soldier who assisted the Thirteen Colonies during the American Revolutionary War. Steuben had fought in previous wars, earning promotions until he assisted in the courts of Frederick the Great and later Josef Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. After meeting with Benjamin Franklin, and fearing for his safety in Europe after alleged homosexual behavior, Steuben and his associates arrived to help the Continental Army.
Major General Nathanael Greene is a bronze equestrian statue honoring Nathanael Greene, a military leader during the American Revolutionary War. Greene was from modern-day Rhode Island and after laws passed by the Kingdom of Great Britain, along with the burning of one of his ships, Greene formed a state militia. He was later promoted to brigadier general in the Continental Army where he became a trusted adviser to Commander-in-Chief General George Washington. Greene played an active role during the war, participating in battles, sieges, and campaigns from New England to the Southern Colonies. For his service to the war, Greene was offered free land and settled in Georgia with his family. He died a few years later from a heatstroke.
American Revolution Statuary is a group of fourteen statues in Washington, D.C., which honor men whose actions assisted the Thirteen Colonies in their fight against the Kingdom of Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War. They are spread throughout the city, except for the four statues in Lafayette Square, across from the White House, that honor some of the foreign heroes from the war. Some of the statues are located in prominent places, while others are in small parks or stand alone in front of buildings. All of the statues are owned and maintained by the National Park Service, an agency of the United States Department of the Interior. The statuary was collectively listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1978 and the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites the following year. In addition, most are also contributing properties to historic districts listed on the NRHP.
Rawlins Park is a rectangular public park in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C., two blocks west of the White House grounds and two blocks north of the National Mall. The boundaries of the park are 18th Street NW to the east, E Street NW to the south and north, and 19th Street NW to the west. The park was an undeveloped open space for many years, until plans were made to install the statue of John Aaron Rawlins in 1874. Various improvements were made, but the area surrounding the park remained mostly undeveloped. This changed in the 1890s when the area was cleared of marshes, and houses were built on the park's southern border.
The Freedman's Bank Building, previously known as the Treasury Annex, is a historic office building located on the corner of Madison Place and Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. It sits on the east side of Lafayette Square, a public park on the north side of the White House, and across from the Treasury Building. The adjoining properties include the Howard T. Markey National Courts Building to the north and the former Riggs National Bank to the east.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)