Historic Structures Report: Part I - Building No. 2, Memorial Shaft
Lessig CW. 1959. Historic Structures Report: Part I - Building No. 2, Memorial Shaft. Historic Structure Report. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
A brief description and report on the Memorial shaft at Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial.The Monument was started in 1912 and dedicated in 1913. The first visitors were taken to the top in June 1915_ The Memorial commemorates Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's victory over the British in the Battle of Lake Erie September 10, 1813. It also symbolizes the century of peace between this country and Britain, which has lasted nearly 150 years. The great Doric column is 352 feet high and 45 feet in diameter at its base. It is built of 78 courses of pink granite from Massachusetts. Its capitol serves as an observation platform 1.280 sq. ft. in extent. An elevator inside the shaft carries visitors to the top from which on a clear day there is an uninterrupted view of 50 miles or more in an arc of 360 degrees. The penthouse above the platform Is surmounted by a gigantic bronze urn 20 feet in diameter and 23 feet high from which a beam of light is directed upward at night. The Rotunda is made of Italian marble, Ten .. Tennessee marble. Indiana limestone and granite. The doors are of bronze. On the walls are carved the names of Perry's ships and of the men who were killed or wounded in the battle. In three of the four entry ways are bronze tablets with statements by Presidents Taft, Wilson and one by Henry Watterson and two others carrying the names or the members of the Perry's Victory Memorial Commission and those of the Committee in charge of the construction. Another carries the text or·the Rush-Bagot Agreement or 1817. Beneath the floor in a steel crypt and marked by a simple statement in brass letters countersunk in the floor are remains or three American and three British officers killed in the battle, Rehabilitation of the structure, reconditioning of the plazas, and heating of the Monument have been approved as a part of the MISSION 66 program for the area.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Lessig, Charles
- Date of Issue
- 1959-06
- Units
- HIST , PEVI
- Keywords
- Administration, Administrative, Data, ehistory, History, man-made structures, Photographs, Structures