Franklin Delano Roosevelt - Cambridge, Maryland
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member flyingmoose
N 38° 34.540 W 076° 04.302
18S E 406646 N 4270234
An odd memorial located at the Northern end of High street and Long Wharf Park.
Waymark Code: WM139GE
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 10/19/2020
Published By:Groundspeak Regular Member Bernd das Brot Team
Views: 8

An odd memorial you wouldn't notice unless you knew it was there. Obscured by trees is a hidden smokestack and a stone with a plaque in front of it. The windows are a bit cloudy but you can see inside.

Plaque Text:
To the Memory
of
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
A Great American
President Roosevelt Visted Cambridge
On October 26, 1935 to participate in the
Dedication of the Emerson C Harrington
Bridge
This stack was recovered from the U.S.S.
Potomac, which carried him on numerous
historic occasions. It inclosed the elevator
which meant so much to his comfort.

------------------------------------------------------------ "FROM 1906 UNTIL 1977, ALL U.S. presidents had an official yacht. For Franklin D. Roosevelt, that seafaring vessel was the USS Potomac.
The steel-hulled Potomac was 165 feet long, with room for two Secret Service cabins, but the ship’s size and construction wasn’t the only consideration. Roosevelt also needed to be able to move, via wheelchair, from the lower to upper deck. With that in mind, one of the ship’s smokestacks was covertly converted to an elevator.
The disguised elevator is now kept in Long Wharf Park in Maryland as a monument honoring the former president, its once-secret purpose revealed.
The redevelopment of Long Wharf was one of Roosevelt’s first WPA projects. Completed in 1935, it included a bridge and a place to dock the presidential yacht. Roosevelt visited the site upon its completion to dedicate it, and the smokestack elevator monument commemorates that visit.
Although the elevator’s installation was necessary for Roosevelt’s mobility, its hand-pulley design didn’t make it an easy ride. “When the president used it, it was literally just a platform roped to a pulley,” explained Les Dropkin, of the Potomac Association. “He would pull himself up, or let himself down, arm over arm. Roosevelt was very strong, and always wanted to do things for himself.”
After the president’s death, the ship remained docked at the park from 1946 to 1960. Here the Potomac led its second life, used by the Maryland Tidewater Fisheries Commission and sometimes by the governor. The ship eventually began to deteriorate, and in 1960 it was sold and used a ferry in the Caribbean." - Atlas Obscura (https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/fdr-smokestack-memorial)

Note: The Atlas Obscura article did not capture the complete life of the U.S.S. Potomac, if you would like more, this site provides a better picture of the yachts life: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Potomac_(AG-25)

Relevent website: [Web Link]

List if there are any visiting hours:
24 hours


Sponsor(s): City of Cambridge

Entrance fees (if any): Not listed

Parking coordinates: Not Listed

Date dedicated: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please submit at least one photo taken by you of your visit to the location (non-copyrighted photos only). Photos of yourself are preferred, but GPS photos are also accepted with the location in the background. Old vacation photos are also allowed. If you are not able to provide a photo, then please describe your visit or give a story about the visit. Please list anything that has changed since the waymark was created.

When taking photos at the memorials in this category, please keep in mind the nature of the location and do not post "goofy" or disrespectful pictures.
Search for...
Geocaching.com Google Map
Google Maps
MapQuest
Bing Maps
Nearest Waymarks
Nearest Maritime Monuments and Memorials
Nearest Geocaches
Create a scavenger hunt using this waymark as the center point
Recent Visits/Logs:
Date Logged Log User Rating  
wildernessmama visited Franklin Delano Roosevelt - Cambridge, Maryland 11/08/2023 wildernessmama visited it
Don.Morfe visited Franklin Delano Roosevelt - Cambridge, Maryland 09/30/2022 Don.Morfe visited it
Searcher28 visited Franklin Delano Roosevelt - Cambridge, Maryland 03/21/2021 Searcher28 visited it

View all visits/logs