George Rogers Clark Memorial and Grounds: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, George Rogers Clark National Historical Park

Regions 3, 4, & 5 Park Cultural Landscapes Program

Inventory Unit Description: Constructed in 1933, the George Rogers Clark Memorial and Memorial Grounds were designated as National Historic Park in 1966 by Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 23, 1966. The designed landscape commemorates the heroic deeds of Lt. Col. George Rogers Clark and his Kentucky Frontiersmen, who captured Fort Sackville from British Lt. Governor Henry Hamilton and his soldiers. The location of Fort Sackville coincides with the location of the present day Memorial Building. According to the 2012 National Register Nomination created by Laura L. Knott of John Milner Associates, the boundaries of the Memorial Grounds are defined as the area buffered, " by the Wabash River and its river retaining wall to the west, Main Street to the north, Patrick Henry Drive and Lower Second Street to the east, and a narrow sidewalk extending west from the Visitor Center on the south." This boundary excludes the lot inhabited by the Old Cathedral, and its ancillary structures east of the Memorial Building. The site has national significance regarding the design of the grounds, memorial architecture, art, landscape architecture, sculpture and its association with military history. The George Rogers Clark National Historical Park consists of two distinct character areas: The Memorial Grounds and the Visitor/ Maintenance area. The Memorial Grounds character area is a highly designed Beaux Arts style landscape consisting of formal paths extending outward at right angles from the central Memorial Building to a series of monuments and statuary strategically placed in the landscape. A central mall extends out from the Memorial Building, terminating at a terrace. This terrace, along with the matching terrace on the opposite side of Vigo Street, creates a grand approach to the Lincoln Memorial Bridge. Features include a seawall, granite benches, paved circulation routes and plazas, memorials and sculpture, street lamps, flagpole, mowed lawn and ornamental vegetation that encompass within the original memorial grounds and land formally belonging to the city of Vincennes, IN. This character retains a high level of integrity from the time of construction in the 1930s. The second character area of the George Rogers Clark National Historic Park is the Visitor/ Maintenance area. This character is located southwest of the Memorial building. The defining landscape features of this character area are the visitor center, parking lot, and the maintenance building. The two buildings are constructed of red brick and date to the era of National Park Service of the site. These two structures do not contribute to the overall landscape of the Memorial Grounds.

George Rogers Clark Memorial and Grounds: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, George Rogers Clark National Historical Park

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