In the 1880s, Congressman Andrew G. Curtin, who had served as Pennsylvania's governor during the Civil War, advocated for a "Pennsylvania Memorial Hall" to be built atop Little Round Top.[5] The 60 ft (18 m)-square hall would display "a treasury of trophies and mementos of all the Pennsylvania regiments that fought at Gettysburg."[6] The proposed building was included in an 1889 state appropriations bill, that was vetoed by Governor James A. Beaver.[7]
Eighteen years later, the Pennsylvania Legislature appropriated $150,000 for construction of a state memorial, and the current site was announced in February 1909.[8] The design competition for the commission was won by the entry of New York architect W. Liance Cottrell and Philadelphia sculptor Samuel Murray.[2] The building was to be completed by July 1, 1910.[9]
Humphreys Avenue, along the east side of the memorial, was not surveyed until 1911, so materials were delivered by railroad, via the Round Top Branch to nearby Hancock Station.[10]
The memorial was unfinished when it was dedicated on September 27, 1910, and the project was out of money. An additional state appropriation of $40,000 was approved in 1911.[10] The new completion date was set for July 1, 1913 – the 50th anniversary of the battle. The portrait statues were installed in April 1913,[1]: 69 and the memorial was rededicated on July 4, 1913. A bronze tablet listing the names of 945 additional Pennsylvania veterans completed the memorial in 1914.[4]
Description
The memorial features a square, granite pedestal (terrace) – 100 feet on each side – with bronze tablets on its exterior face that list the names of the 34,530 Pennsylvania soldiers who fought in the battle.[1] Set upon the pedestal is the granite pavilion, which consists of 4 corner towers linked by arches that form an arcus quadrifrons, or 4-sided triumphal arch.[1]: 38 Engaged Ionic columns at the corners and flanking the arches form niches for the 8 portrait statues.[4] The pavilion is topped by a granite dome. Between the parapet and the dome's base is an observation deck, accessed by a spiral staircase in the northwest corner tower. Under the pavilion is an undercroft or vaulted cellar.[4] The memorial's entrance is on the west (Hancock Avenue) side, where a wide flight of steps rises to the pedestal's terrace. Half-flights rise beneath each arch into the pavilion's central hall.[11]
A bronze Nike figure, the Goddess of Victory and Peace, crowns the podium atop the dome. She holds a sword in one hand and a palm branch, a symbol of victory through peace, in the other. In a gesture to the Biblical passage "they shall beat their swords into plowshares," the bronze used to cast the Nike came from melted-down cannons.[12] Above the arches are spandrelbas-reliefs of winged goddesses, and above the cornice is a parapet with a bas-relief panel on each side that depicts the Artillery, Cavalry, Infantry and Signal Corps. Larger-than-life bronze statues of President Abraham Lincoln and other prominent Civil War figures flank the arches. Above them are bas-relief shields and laurel wreaths. The names of important figures in the battle are inscribed across the pavilion's frieze and on its interior.
Sculpture
Goddess of Victory and Peace by Samuel Murray.
Goddess of Victory and Peace (1909–10) by Samuel Murray, atop the monument's dome. Height: 21 ft (6.4 m). Weight: 7,500 lb (3,402 kg).[13]
Artillery (1909–10) by Samuel Murray, north parapet.
Cavalry (1909–10) by Samuel Murray, south parapet.
Infantry (1909–10) by Samuel Murray, west parapet. Pennsylvania Bucktails of Stone's Brigade at the McPherson Farm.[14]
Signal Corps (1909–10) by Samuel Murray, east parapet.
Attendants to Victory, 8 white marble bas-relief goddess figures (1909–10) by Samuel Murray, a pair in the spandrels above each arch.
8 white marble Shield & Laurel Wreath bas-reliefs (1909–10) by Samuel Murray, one in the niche above each portrait statue.
Artillery
Cavalry
Infantry
Signal Corps
Attendants to Victory (reclining goddesses above arch), north side
Regimental memorials
The perimeter wall features 75 bronze plaques memorializing Pennsylvania units during the war.
Gettysburg Address
11th Infantry Regiment
23rd Infantry Regiment
26th Infantry Regiment
26th Emergency Infantry Regiment
26th Emergency Infantry Regiment
27th Infantry Regiment
28th Infantry Regiment
29th Infantry Regiment
30th Infantry Regiment
31st Infantry Regiment
34th Infantry Regiment
35th Infantry Regiment
38th Infantry Regiment
39th Infantry Regiment
40th Infantry Regiment
41st Infantry Regiment
42nd Infantry Regiment
46th Infantry Regiment
49th Infantry Regiment
53rd Infantry Regiment
56th Infantry Regiment
57th Infantry Regiment
61st Infantry Regiment
62nd Infantry Regiment
63rd Infantry Regiment
68th Infantry Regiment
69th Infantry Regiment
71st Infantry Regiment
72nd Infantry Regiment
73rd Infantry Regiment
74th Infantry Regiment
75th Infantry Regiment
81st Infantry Regiment
82nd Infantry Regiment
83rd Infantry Regiment
84th Infantry Regiment
88th Infantry Regiment
90th Infantry Regiment
91st Infantry Regiment
93rd Infantry Regiment
95th Infantry Regiment
96th Infantry Regiment
98th Infantry Regiment
99th Infantry Regiment
102nd Infantry Regiment
105th Infantry Regiment
106th Infantry Regiment
107th Infantry Regiment
109th Infantry Regiment
110th Infantry Regiment
111th Infantry Regiment
114th Infantry Regiment
115th Infantry Regiment
116th Infantry Regiment
118th Infantry Regiment
119th Infantry Regiment
121st Infantry Regiment
139th Infantry Regiment
140th Infantry Regiment
141st Infantry Regiment
142nd Infantry Regiment
143rd Infantry Regiment
145th Infantry Regiment
147th Infantry Regiment
148th Infantry Regiment
149th Infantry Regiment
150th Infantry Regiment
151st Infantry Regiment
153rd Infantry Regiment
153rd Infantry Regiment
155th Infantry Regiment
1st and 3rd Pennsylvania Artillery
Pennsylvania Light Artillery Batteries
Pennsylvania General Officers
Maintenance
In 1921, the dome was lined with steel and sealed by William D. Gilbert and James Weikert [2] and in 1929, the monument's copper was relined and defective woodwork was replaced.[10]: '30 The nearby comfort station was completed in 1933 as the first "Gettysburg Parkitecture" structure[15] using Gettysburg granite as in native colonial structures. A 1941 memorial bench[3] of marble in front of the monument was broken by "unknown culprits" in 1952,[4] and a marble bench was smashed in 1994.[5]
^ ab"The Pennsylvania State Memorial". List of Classified Structures: GETT p. 20. National Park Service. Retrieved 2011-02-03. Monument is a four-sided raised granite pedestal with bronze tablets listing Pennsylvania soldiers and set on a 100 foot square base. It has arched central passages to the domed interior. … Double bronze statues are located in niches on all four sides. Four oversized granite reliefs adorn the upper observation deck parapet walls.{{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
^"Touring the Battlefield"(PDF) (Map). Plan Your Visit. Cartography by NPS.gov. Retrieved 2011-02-03. Union artillery held the line alone [near the site of the Pennsylvania Memorial] on Cemetery Ridge late in the [2nd] day as Meade called for infantry from Culp's Hill and other areas to strengthen and hold the center of the Union position.
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