War Correspondents Arch, Crampton's Gap: Historic Structures Report, Part I, Antietam National Battlefield
Lagemann RL. 1961. War Correspondents Arch, Crampton's Gap: Historic Structures Report, Part I, Antietam National Battlefield. Historic Structure Report. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Antietam National Battlefield
This report documents the War Correspondents Memorial Arch, Crampton's Gap, in Antietam National Military Park. It was erected as a memorial to the correspondents who covered the battles of the Civil War. The arch stands on an area of the land once owned by writer and journalist George Alfred Townsend. When he purchased the land in 1875 to build his writer's retreat, Townsend was writing under the pen name "Gath." Townsend attained success as a newspaper writer and had started his career as a Civil War Correspondent. In the 1890s, he decided to sponsor a lasting memorial to Civil War journalists. He provided the land and initiated the fundraising effort. This report supplies the historical and architectural data of that memorial, the War Correspondents Memorial Arch. When the memorial was turned over to the U.S. Government in 1904, it was with the provision that the tribute to Civil War correspondents would be maintained as a public monument. The War Department was assigned this responsibility and placed it under the administration of Antietam National Battlefield Site. The property was transferred to the National Park Service in 1933.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Lagemann, Robert
- Date of Issue
- 1961-05-18
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- ANTI , NCR
- Keywords
- author, Gapland, Gath, Gathland, George Alfred Townsend, journalist, limestone, monument, New York Herald, South Mountain, state park, stone, stone arch, stone wall, War Department, weathervane, writer
- Subjects
- CRIS-HS: 045102: War Correspondents' Memorial Arch