On state 223 is (R) the National Memorial Arch, 4.6 m., a huge granite memorial of classic design. About 10 feet thick, it consists of four columns supporting an entablature. The frieze is made up of seven cartouches separated by panels. One face of the arch bears the inscription: "naked and starving as they are, we cannot enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of the soldiery - Washington at Valley Forge, February 16, 1778." The arch stands in the center of a hedge-bordered circle approached by four driveways.
The Memorial Arch is at the junction with the Outer Line Drive, which parallels the first line of defense established during the encampment... --- Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Keystone State, 1940; page 410
The monument is located at the top of a hill at the intersection of Gulph Road and Outer Line Drive. Parking is plentiful. This is one of the highlights of the park and there is a lot to see and much room to walk about while admiring not only the arch but others sites located here as well such as smaller monuments, intricate pavers, dedicated benches, interpretives and other surprises. I first visited this monument on Saturday, March 19, 2011 @ 224 PM EDT (the clocks having just been set forward a week earlier) & @ an altitude of 224 feet, ASL. I revisited this arch however one more time to get my matching picture just right. That visit was on Saturday, April 6, 2013 late afternoon, approximately 5ish PM, EDT.
The arch is an enormous granite sculpture erected as a memorial to the Continental Army. At the top of the archway, on both the front and the back, is a keystone adorned with a tiny figure of Athena carrying a shield. Filling the corners above the archway, on both the front and the back, are reliefs of two angels. The angel on the left blows a trumpet and the angel on the right carries a shield. Framing the sides of the archway on both the front and back are two columns. The coffering (decorative sunken panels) on the inside ceiling of the archway is adorned with small rosettes which look like stars. A bronze seal and a bronze-lettered inscription appear on each of the inner sides of the archway. There are lots of attributable quotations and inscriptions. Looks closely too and you will see some Masonic emblems, most expressive.
The Arch was erected in 1910 by an act of the 61st Congress and installed June 25, 1910. Initially, in 1908, it was proposed to erect two memorial arches in the park, but the bill was amended to create a single arch to save money. The monument is a tribute to George Washington and his army who endured the winter encampment at Valley Forge in 1777 – 1778. The arch is approximately 45 x 60 x 38 ft. It was designed by Paul Phillipe Cret (1876-1945), a prominent Philadelphia architect and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. The arch was dedicated on June 19, 1917 in a ceremony attended by a number of U.S. Congressmen. Paul Cret did not attend as he was then en route to France where he served as an interpreter for the U.S. Army. Although it had stood for nearly 80 years as a symbol of the triumph achieved by Washington, by the mid 1990’s the Arch was in need of major structural repairs. It was cordoned off and closed to the public for safety reasons. During 1996 – 1997, the Freemasons of Pennsylvania contributed more than one million five hundred thousand dollars necessary to preserve the Arch to its original grandeur.
There are attributable quotes and inscriptions literally all over this thing.
front of arch, top panel
To the Officers and Private Soldiers
Of the Continental Army
December 19, 1777 - June 19, 1778
front of arch, around edge of archway
Erected by the authority of the Act of Congress June 25, 1910
back of arch, top panel
Naked and Starving as They Are
We Cannot Enough Admire
The Incomparable Patience and Fidelity
Of the Soldiery
Washington at Valley Forge, February 16, 1776
back of arch, around edge of archway
They Shall Hunger No More Neither Thirst Any More (unsigned)
Inside arch, bronze lettering, southeast side
p>
(Bronze seal of the United States)
And Here
In This Place
Of Sacrifice
In This Vale of Humiliation
In This Valley of the Shadow
Of That Death Out of Which
The Life of America Rose
Regenerate and Free
Let Us Believe
With an Abiding Faith
That to Them
Union Will Seem as Dear
And Liberty as Sweet
And Progress as Glorious
As They Were to Our Fathers
And Are to You and Me
And That the Institutions
Which Have Made us Happy
Preserved by The
Virtue of Our Children
Shall Bless
The Remotest Generation
Of The Time to Come
Henry Armitt Brown
inside arch, bronze lettering, northwest side
(missing the bronze seal)
Commander in Chief
George Washington
Major Generals
De Kalb
Mifflin
Greene
Steuben
Lafayette
Stirling
Lee
Sullivan
Brigadier Generals
Armstrong Patterson
Du Portail
Poor
Glover Scott
Huntington Smallwood
Know Varnum
Learned Wayne
Mcintosh
Weedon
Maxwell Woodford
Muhlenberg Pulaski
The National Arch meets criterion A for its association with American Revolution and Criterion B for its association with George Washington and the impact of the encampment on his military career. PA SHPO concurrence 9/16/2004 to 2000 CLI that resource contributes to the national significance of Valley Forge NHP. The monument is inventoried as structure number 409
From the Nomination Form:
Simplified design of Triumphal Arch of Titus in Rome, Arch was designed by Paul Philippe Cret, authorized by Congress in 1910 to serve as a national tribute to George Washington & his army. Listed as contributing in CLI, with SHPO concurrence on 09/16/2004.
Short Physical Description:
Single arch 49'x18', 60' high, consisting of base, shaft and attic story w/ central segment being projected beyond face of main mass. Inscriptions & ornamentation on face, inner walls, attic storey & entabliture.
Long Physical Description:
N/A
My Sources
1.
NRHP Nomination Form
2.
SIRIS
3.
American Guide Series
4.
Wikipedia
5.
National Park Service
6.
Historical Marker Database