The Pennsylvania State Memorial

For the World War I memorial in France, see Pennsylvania Memorial.
The Pennsylvania State Memorial
Pennsylvania Monument[1]:69
historic district contributing structure[2]
Westward view of the memorial which commemorates Union leaders with larger-than-life bronze statues:
Country United States
State Pennsylvania
County Adams
NPS unit Gettysburg National Military Park
Landform Cemetery Ridge [3]
Parts •crowning bronze statue
     on bronze sphere & granite podium
•pavilion with dome, observation
     deck, & 4 supporting towers
•pedestal with plaza & stairway
•lawn terrace[1]:38 with perimeter
     walkway for viewing tablets
•undercroft[4]
Location triangle of Hancock, Sedgwick,
& Pleasonton avenues
Highest point tip of sword
 - location top of crowning statue
 - elevation 21 ft (6.4 m) over dome's podium
110 ft (34 m) over lawn
 - coordinates 39°48′27″N 77°14′07″W / 39.807588°N 77.235153°W
Weight 3,840 lb (1,742 kg) [4]
Designer W. Liance Cottrell [2]
Style Beaux-Arts[4] double triumphal arch
Superstructure[3]
Substructure[3]
Cost
Contractor 		bronze & North Carolina granite
iron-reinforced concrete & granite
$240,000[3] ($5,726,870 as of 2015)
Harrison Granite Company
Appropriations
Dedicated[3] 		1905[5]
September 27, 1910
Entrance pedestal stairway
on SW (Hancock Av) side
Historic District
Ent'd-Doc'd
GNMP structure 		75000155
01/24/2004
MN260 [2]
In 1909-10, Samuel Murray created "The Goddess of Victory and Peace" (Athena)[6] from melted-down cannons.[7]

The Pennsylvania State Memorial[2] is a Gettysburg Battlefield monument commemorating the 34,530 Pennsylvania soldiers "who fought at Gettysburg" (listed on the 100-foot-square pedestal's bronze tablets).[1] The pavilion is the largest monument on the Gettysburg Battlefield,[4] and the 4 corner towers are architectural piers linked by arches. Stairs beneath each arch rise from the pedestal into the central memorial hall, and a spiral staircase in the northwest tower leads to an observation deck around the base of the dome. Flanking the arches are spandrel bas-reliefs of goddesses, and the arches support parapet panels with bas-relief sculptures.

History

The Union battle lines now marked with monuments near the memorial were occupied on the Battle of Gettysburg, Second Day, by artillery and reinforced late in the day with infantry.[8] Previously-placed Gettysburg monuments commemorating commonwealth units include the 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry Monuments of 1883 and 1891 at The Angle.

Civil War governor Andrew G. Curtin's idea for a "Pennsylvania Memorial Hall" by the "Gettysburg Memorial Hall Association of the Pennsylvania Reserves Volunteer Corps" was in an 1889 bill vetoed by Governor James A. Beaver.[9] The hall was to be was to be 60 ft (18 m) across[10] on Little Round Top and display "a treasury of trophies and mementos of all the Pennsylvania regiments that fought at Gettysburg"[11] Instead, the site for the "Pennsylvania Park" was selected in 1909, and the PA memorial was planned for completion along with a peace memorial for the 1913 50th battle anniversary.[7] After the PA memorial structure was completed in 1910 with Round Top Branch transport of materials to the nearby Hancock Station, Humphreys Avenue on the east side was surveyed in 1911.[5]

Niche statues
The engaged Ionic columns on the towers form niches for the statues contracted in 1911.[4] Most were installed April 23, 1913,[5] for the rededication at the 1913 Gettysburg reunion's National Day (Red Cross rest station no. 8 was at the memorial).[1]:69 An additional 1914 tablet was added with 945 names,[4] and the Geary, Hays, and Humphreys statues were dedicated October 3, 1918.[5]

In 1921, the dome was lined with steel and sealed by William D. Gilbert and James Weikert and in 1929, the monument's copper was relined and defective woodwork was replaced.[5]:'30 The nearby comfort station was completed in 1933 as the first Gettysburg Parkitecture structure[12] using Gettysburg granite as in native colonial structures. A 1941 memorial bench of marble in front of the monument was broken by "unknown culprits" in 1952, and a marble bench was smashed in 1994.

The "Pennsylvania Bucktails of Stone's Brigade at the McPherson Farm" (1910) is the bas-relief on the southwest parapet panel. Samuel Murray's 4 panels depict the Artillery, Cavalry, Infantry, and Signal Corps.
External images
Photograph during construction
Postcard image without niche statues
1913 image with cannon
May 17, 1913, image of steps & Lincoln statue
Model w/ swag on dome in 1913 reunion tent
Google Maps overhead view
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pennsylvania Memorial, Gettysburg.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Beitler, Lewis Eugene (editor and compiler) (December 31, 1913). Fiftieth Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg: Report of the Pennsylvania Commission (Google Books) (Report). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Wm. Stanley Bay (state printer). p. 173. Retrieved 2012-04-06. "The Name of Every Pennsylvania Soldier Who Fought at Gettysburg is Recorded on These Bronze Tablets Adorning Her Memorial Monument. (p. 22b)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "The Pennsylvania State Memorial". List of Classified Structures: GETT p. 20. National Park Service. Retrieved 2011-02-03. Monument is a four-sided raised granite pedestal with bronze tablets listing Pennsylvania soldiers and set on a 100 foot square base. It has arched central passages to the domed interior. … Double bronze statues are located in niches on all four sides. Four oversized granite reliefs adorn the upper observation deck parapet walls.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Pennsylvania Honors Her Sons at Gettysburg". Cemetery Ridge. NPS.gov. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 "Pennsylvania Memorial" (west-facing of 4 interpretive panels [HMdb.org transcription]). Gettysburg interpretive panels. FriendsofGettysburg.org. after "1998". Retrieved 2012-04-05. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "The Gettysburg Commission Reports" (weblist with transcribed versions: 1893-1921, 1927-1933). Gettysburg Discussion Group. Retrieved 2010-02-04. (original formats: 1895, '96, '97, '98, 1901-4, '09, '13, '18)
  6. ↑ Geldard, Richard G. The Traveler's Key to Ancient Greece:a Guide to Sacred Places (Google Books). Retrieved 2011-02-05. Athena is always pictured as armed, the defender of Athens, goddess of victory and peace.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Loski, Diana. "The Pennsylvania Memorial: A Centennial". GettysburgExperience.com. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
  8. ↑ "Touring the Battlefield" (Map). Plan Your Visit. Cartography by NPS.gov. Retrieved 2011-02-03. Union artillery held the line alone [near the site of the Pennsylvania Memorial] on Cemetery Ridge late in the [2nd] day as Meade called for infantry from Culp's Hill and other areas to strengthen and hold the center of the Union position.
  9. ↑ "Pennsylvania Day: Great Crowds & Miserable Weather" (Google News Archive). The Star and Sentinel. September 17, 1889. Retrieved 2012-04-05. One of the most interesting reunions was that of the Pennsylvania Reserves in the pavilion at Round Top Park.
  10. ↑ "Pennsylvania Monument" (Google News Archive). Gettysburg Compiler. August 17, 1910. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
  11. ↑ Nicholson, John Page (1904). Pennsylvania at Gettysburg (Google Books). pp. 87, 90. Retrieved 2011-03-12.
  12. ↑ "New Comfort Station to be Built on Field" (Google News Archive). Gettysburg Times. May 5, 1933. Retrieved 2011-04-11.