USS Maine National Monument - New York, NY - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

Taken from Wikipedia, "The USS Maine National Monument is an outdoor monument, located in Central Park in Manhattan, New York. It was cast on September 1, 1912 and dedicated on May 30, 1913 to the men killed aboard USS Maine (ACR-1) when the ship exploded in Havana harbor.

In 1913, a USS Maine Monument designed by Harold Van Buren Magonigle was completed and dedicated in New York City. Located at the southwest corner of Central Park at the Merchants' Gate entrance to the park, the monument consists of a pylon with a fountain at its base and sculptures by Attilio Piccirilli surrounding it. A sculpture group of gilded bronze figures atop the pylon represent Columbia Triumphant, her seashell chariot being drawn by three hippocampi. The bronze for this group reportedly came from metal recovered from the guns of the Maine. On the park side of the monument is fixed a memorial plaque that was cast in metal salvaged from the ship. It is not known how many of these plaques by sculptor Charles Keck were produced, but they can be found in many locations across the United States. They were cast by the Jno Bronze Foundry and widely publicized."

"The Merchant's Gate to Central Park is an imposing pylon of marble, set between two roadways flanked by smaller pylons. The center pylon serves as a background for the heroic bronze and marble of the Main Memorial, unveiled in 1912 in honor of those who lost their lives on the battleship Main. In the basin, where neighborhood children duck for pennies in the summer, figures grouped on the prow of wooden battleship symbolize Courage awaiting the Flight of Peace, the Feeble supported by Fortitude, and the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts. The whole is robed by a robed figure of Columbia Triumphant, riding in a shell drown by three sea horses. Members of the City Art Commission were forced to come to the defense of Attilio Piccirilli's sculptural group when a high wind ripped the burlap off before the official unveiling and artists living near by questioned its artistic merit." -- New York City, 1939

Book: New York City Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 181 Year Originally Published: 1939

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