McLean County Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument - Bloomington, IL
Posted by: 
adgorn
N 40° 28.238 W 089° 00.094
16T E 330320 N 4481918
A large pillar (5-6 stories tall) topped with a Union soldier in bronze bearing the flag of the Republic.
Waymark Code: WM9HJQ
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 08/23/2010
Views: 2
Continued from the other waymarks for this site:
"Upon the four footed pedestal facing east stands a bronze Union infantry soldier with rifle, facing west opposite stands a bronze Union cavalry soldier with field glasses and saber. Allegorical eagles face north and south. Pedestal is open and bronze plates identifying the names of more than 6,000 McLean County servicemen who participated in military conflicts spanning the Revolutionary War to the Spanish-American War of 1898. Four Civil War era cannon on concrete stands sit on the south portion of the monument grounds. Several cannon bear foundry markings, no dates."
"This monument was mostly for veterans of the American Civil War, but names are also listed for enlistments in the Blackhawk War, the Mexican War, and the Spanish-American War. Also, names veterans buried in McLean County from the Revolution and the War of 1812 are listed."
From the Smithsonian database
Dimensions: Figures: approx. life-size; Base: approx. 50 x 30 x 30 ft.
Inscription: McLEAN COUNTY/IN LOVING AND GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF VALOROUS DEEDS ON/BATTLEFIELD AND SEA DEDICATES THIS MONUMENT AS A LASTING/MEMORIAL TO HER SONS AND CITIZENS WHO FREELY BARED/THEIR BREASTS AND SHED THEIR LIFE-BLOOD THAT LIBERTY/AND THE NATION MIGHT ENDURE THAT OPPRESSION SHOULD/FALL AND THAT HUMAN PROGRESS MIGHT ADVANCE. (Inscription continues, transcription illegible).
Description: An ornamental arch with a shaft rising out of its roof. The arch has two doorways with a walk-through tunnel. Above each doorway is the figure of a soldier; one apparently a Civil War soldier and one apparently a Spanish-American War soldier. The other two sides of the arch are each topped with an eagle. Another soldier stands atop the shaft.
Remarks: The statue was designed to replace a Civil War Monument erected in Franklin Park in 1868-1869, which was determined unsafe in 1914 due to the deterioration of its marble. The names from that earlier monument were incorporated into the plaques on this new memorial, which honors soldiers from the Civil, Black Hawk, Spanish-American, Revolutionary Wars and the War of 1812.
I came to Miller Park to waymark the caboose on display and was happy to find so many other interesting historical displays and monuments to investigate.
TITLE: McLean County Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument
ARTIST(S): Hibbard, Frederick Cleveland, 1881-1950, sculptor. Frink, Dwight Earl, designer. Winslow Bros. Company, founder.
DATE: Dedicated May 30, 1913.
MEDIUM: Sculpture: bronze; Base: light grey granite.
CONTROL NUMBER: IAS IL000141
Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link]
PHYSICAL LOCATION:
in Miller Park, Near Summit & Wood, Bloomington, Illinois
DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH:
none
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