Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial: Memorial Column and Plazas - Historic Structure Report, Administrative and Architectural Data
Newport DD. 1976. Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial: Memorial Column and Plazas - Historic Structure Report, Administrative and Architectural Data. Historic Structure Report. Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial, Ohio
September 10, 1813, a united States fleet under the conunand of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry sailed from Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island in Lake Erie and decisively defeated a British squadron under Captain Robert H. Barclay. The action had far-reaching effects on the War of 1812 and the future of the United States: it gave the Americans control of Lake Erie, enabling General William Henry Harrison's troops to sail from put-in-Bay in October and defeat the British at the Battle of the, Thames, resulting in the capture of Detroit. These successes enabled the United States to hold the Old Northwest ·upon the conclusion of peace by the Treaty of Ghent in 1814. Just three years later, the Rush-Bagot Agreement was signed, limiting the number of warships to be retained on the Great Lakes. It was the first step toward permanent disarmament of the 4,000- mile boundary between the United States and Canada. The park and its great Doric column thus not only commemorate the great naval victory; they also memorialize the principle of maintaining peace among nations by arbitration and disarmament, a principle long symbolized by the unfortified boundary between two great North American neighbors. The Memorial Column, culminating a commemorative effort begun' nearly a century before, was built 1912-15 during centennial activities honoring the naval victory and the principle of peace. The events leading to construction of the column and the actual construction are historically significant, and the column itself is an historic structure. Rising 352 feet above Lake Erie, the granite memorial is the most massive Doric column ever built, a shaft second in size only to the Washington Monument. The observation gallery at the top affords a spectacular view of the battle scene, the international boundary line and Put-in-Bay, as well as the shorelines of Ohio, Michigan and Canada.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Newport, Dalton
- Date of Issue
- 1976-12
- Units
- HIST , PEVI
- Keywords
- Administration, Architecture, column, Data, ehistory, History, man-made structures, Perry's Victory, Preservation
- Subjects
- CRIS-HS: 001211: Memorial Column & Plazas , CRIS-HS: 070010: Sidewalk/Circulation System