Additions of other lesser visited Washington places: Titanic Memorial, Congressional Cemetery, Frozen Menagerie, Braddock's Rock
January 8, 2007
Aluminum Gulls on the George Washington Memorial Parkway
Memorializing What?
Across the Potomac from the river side parking the for the memorials is the George Washington Memorial Parkway with parks and memorials of its own. One, between the Potomac and Parkway, with a wonderful view of the monumental opposite bank is one I've loved since my first visit in the middle of the 20th Century.
It is silver gray, all rounded in the shape of the sea and a breaking wave with a truly wonderful arrangement of flying gulls in aluminum. I was first struck by the form of the monument itself. Then I was puzzled. How could monumental birds seem to be in such natural flight? Those rather sizable metal gulls form the background of this page. In photographs and even close inspection they seem to soar, barely touching wing tips.
This is probably my favorite memorial sculpture in the Washington area. I pass it often and always take a glance. It is an old friend in summer surrounded in blood red flowers and in winter when all about is ice and snow. I've even passed it on bright moonlit nights when the ordinarily dull gray color of wave and gulls seem to glisten with silver highlights.
I have not stopped and visited it in a decade. Parking is very limited. Traffic is a problem unless one is northbound on the Parkway that has become a commuter artery with traffic way too fast for the intent of a "parkway." One can park on the opposite side and walk a short distance. Then there is that traffic to cross. I've been content to admire my friend from a distance for some time.
On September 11, 2004 I was driving north and saw a parking spot so I pulled in to take some photographs. It was fairly late, but also interesting light. The sign on the Parkway is simply "Navy - Marine Memorial" with an arrow into the tiny lot. When I first knew this memorial it was commonly called the "Navy and Merchant Marine Memorial" and I've always thought of it that way. According to CAPT John Bruce, USCG (Ret.) in a piece on the memorial in "A 'Monumental' Task" dealing with Coast Guard memorials it was "referred to as the Coast Guard monument."
As I've passed the memorial in recent years I've sometimes thought that many probably think "Navy - Marine Memorial" refers to the U. S. Navy and U. S. Marine Corps when they pass. After all, "Navy" and "Marine" closely linked is almost always USN/USMC.
Most people pass. There are no large numbers of people visiting. Many know this beautiful sculpture only in passing and the "Navy - Marine Memorial" sign. A few biking the adjacent bike trail stop to gaze. Few seem to take time to really read about what this thing might be.
My time there confirmed my suspicion. First, the sign explaining the memorial's intent is some distance off the steps leading up to the piece itself. Then the dedication in the sculpture is in the back. Of the dozen or so visitors during my stay only two read the information. From two others I heard "Marine Corps." Most seem to think they are seeing another Navy and Marine Corps memorial.
Memorializing What?
The informational plaque at the memorial reads:
Navy and Marine Memorial
Dedicated to Americans Lost at Sea
In war and in peace, in commerce and in travel, in rescue and in discovery, in fisheries and in research, this nation has forged a bond with and a dependence on the sea. This monument of waves and gulls memorializes our national life at sea. It is dedicated to the thousands of Americans who have perished in the sea and to those whose destiny still is linked with our naval and maritime services. The reliefs on the sides of the pedestal of the memorial illustrate, by direct or symbolic representation, all these activities.
Plaque presented by the United States Coast Guard in 1990 on the occasion of its Bicentennial
Here is the original 1934 dedication on the back of the memorial:
Those "In the Navy the Merchant Marine and other paths of activity upon the waters of the world have given life"
Certainly those Marines of the USMC who have given their lives at sea are included, but this memorial is not just to those in the Navy and Marine Corps. The Coast Guard plaque helps define those to whom this memorial is dedicated. This memorial is for those that "In war and in peace, in commerce and in travel, in rescue and in discovery, in fisheries and in research" have given their lives at sea and are still risking their lives at sea. I think it is one of the most beautiful memorials in the area even if it is rarely visited and its purpose largely unknown.
The memorial was dedicated October 18, 1934. The sculpture is by Ernesto Begni del Piatta. The architect Harvey Corbett designed the memorial.
An Obscure Memorial to the "brave men" of the Titanic
From the memorial above, just slightly south of due east, across the Potomac, across the spit of land with East Potomac Park and across the Washington Channel lies one of the most obscure maritime memorials in the city.
Maine Avenue and the parallel service street, Water Street, run along the eastern bank of the Washington Channel. Up toward the Jefferson Memorial, under the I-395 bridge, is the fish market. Down from that are seafood restaurants on shore and the marina in the channel. Below those is where the Potomac cruise boats depart, the D.C. marine police and fire station where Water Street ends at the level of N Street. Two blocks beyond, through a park lying between the river and apartments, at the level of P Street the park ends. Right at the foot of the park, where Fort Lesley J. McNair begins, is this memorial.
The wall behind and to the left of the figure is for Fort McNair with "General's Row" across the water and behind the trees to the right of the figure. Just to the right of the photo is the rail bordering Washington Channel with a view over to East Potomac Park.
This memorial has moved over the years. The original location was in a little niche between the riverside parkway and river where that street intersected with New Hampshire Avenue and E Street. This would be along the river front almost exactly centered on the Kennedy Center. That building's construction displaced the little memorial and it apparently spent some time in exile at Fort Washington down the river in Maryland. I have also seen one photo at its present location with the back of the memorial against the Potomac, not Fort McNair. That indicates this memorial was rotated roughly ninety degrees in about its current location.
Not many residents seem to know of this memorial and few tourists seem to venture much beyond the piers for the big river cruise vessels.
Where Congress Used to Bury its Dead
Monument of Peter Pitchlynn in Congressional Cemetery
Congressional Cemetery is another seldom visited historical and rather haunting spot. For information see The Historic Congressional Cemetery web site. The site includes a map with "camera" links to views.
The angel above ". . . is the monument of Peter Pitchlynn, principle chief of the Choctaw nation (1860 - 1861) and thereafter representative in Washington up to the time of his death. Dickens met him on a steamboat traveling up the Mississippi and wrote of him '... as stately and complete a gentleman of nature's making as ever I beheld.'" The photo was taken on a mid October evening after one of those wonderful slightly crisp days with the first real color touching branches of still green trees.
Henry Clay, "A Senator of the United States from the state of Kentucky" is noted on one of the simple cenotaphs designed by Benjamin Latrobe. It is under the big tree to the left at the top of the entrance drive. Clay's remains were apparently relocated to Kentucky. John C. Calhoun's cenotaph is nearby. Among the notables actually buried here are John Philip Sousa and Mathew Brady.
Tombstone of James Gillespie (1746-1805)
Many from Congress are represented only by the Latrobe cenotaphs. They are not actually buried here. One of the members who is buried here is an ancestor, James Gillespie of North Carolina. This tombstone is one of two identical markers to the left of the entrance drive very close to the gate house. His cenotaph is some distance almost directly behind the tomb. Gillespie died January 11, 1805 and was originally buried in Georgetown Presbyterian Cemetery.
"When James Gillespie died, he was originally buried in Presbyterian Cemetery in Georgetown and a cenotaph was erected at Range 31, Site 58. He was later reinterred at Congressional in Range 60, Site 58, making him the only Member of Congress to have two monuments." [History of the Congressional Cemetery]
The Dentzel Carousel at Glen Echo Park, November 5, 2005
I looked through the windows of the closed Dentzel carousel at Glen Echo Park, Glen Echo, Maryland and was struck by the effect of the low November sun on the animals. I found that by shielding my camera from reflections I could get reasonable photographs of the quiet menagerie.
Gustav Dentzel was a true artist in wood, yet many of his works were broken up and sold piecemeal. This one was saved by public efforts. The carousel was beautifully restored over a decade, from 1983 to 2003. It comes alive in May and operates weekends until September. Then it is "frozen" for the winter. It was beautiful, lonely and a bit spooky.
The Dentzel Carousel is covered on some very nice web pages of the National Park Service. Those include a page from which selections may be played from the Wurlitzer band organ, one of only eleven known to exist. Glen Echo's extended web page has links to other features, including the restored Spanish Ballroom. The park is a favorite for many locals with its many artistic and children's activities. It is not so often visited by tourists.
This historic spot is ignored by nearly all passing on the access ramp from Constitution Avenue to the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge on their way to Virginia. At one time it was the reference point for the land surveys of this area and thus called the Key of Keys. The name Braddock's Rock was given after General Braddock crossed the river and landed his army on the rock April 14, 1755 while on his way to the ambush that ended his life near Fort Duquesne.
The actual rock lies about twenty feet down under the fill of the access ramps. It had been used as a quarry for years while it was part of the Potomac shore. The outcrop provided foundations for the White House and Capitol before being covered in fill as the Potomac gave way to parkland and highway accesses.
The indexed Google Image above shows the original location of the Titanic Memorial and the location of the shaft down to Braddock's Rock. The high area immediately north of the shaft was the first location of the Naval Observatory, moved after fogs and disease rising from Foggy Bottom demonstrated it to be less than suitable for astronomical observations. It then became part of the Navy medical establishment.
If you imagine a line around the base of that high ground, somewhere through Kennedy Center, with the rock as part of a shoreline to the Lock Keeper's House and down to connect to the eastern shore of the Tidal Basin and Washington Channel you have the old Potomac shoreline. The Lock Keeper's House marks an important junction. The C&O Canal terminated here and also the Washington City Canal met the Potomac here. The Washington City Canal followed the route now defined by Constitution Avenue up to and around Capitol Hill to connect with the Anacostia.
Copyright © 2004, 2005 by Ramon Jackson
All images are greatly reduced versions of my originals.