Grand Army Plaza (originally known as The Plaza, or Prospect Park Plaza) was conceived by its designers, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, simply as a grand entrance to the Park. It was meant as a gateway, to separate the noisy city from the calm nature of the Park. Olmsted and Vaux's design included only a single-spout fountain surrounded by berms (earth embankments) covered in heavy plantings. Instead, though, the 1867 design ended up being much more elaborate and one of the finest formal civic design projects in the United States. The inner ring was originally intended to be a circle, but it actually was arranged as a main street – Flatbush Avenue – with eight connecting radial roads. Instead it consists of concentric rings arranged as streets, with the outer ring being named Plaza Street.
John H. Duncan, designer of Grant's Tomb in Manhattan, designed the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch in a classical style similar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and patterned after Roan imperial arches. The Civil War memorial arch, the winning entry in a competition, began in 1889. William Tecumseh Sherman laid the cornerstone on October 30, 1889. President Grover Cleveland presided over the unveiling on October 21, 1892.
The Arch gained its monumental statues nine years later. They were first suggested by Stanford White of McKim, Mead and White as part of a plan to formalize the plaza in the spirit of the City Beautiful movement. The Park Commissioner, Frank Squire, liked the ideas, and engaged Frederick MacMonnies in 1894 to design three sculptural groupings for the Arch. The first was installed in 40 separate pieces towering over seven stories above the plaza. Known as the Quadriga, the piece includes the lady Columbia, an allegorical representation of the United States, riding in a chariot accompanied by horses and two winged Victory figures trumpeting her arrival. The other two groupings were installed upon each pedestal of the Arch; the left one was entitled The Spirit of the Army, the right entitled The Spirit of the Navy. Both depict frenzied scenes of soldiers amid unwavering officers charging through the chaos.
A pair of bronze relief panels depicting Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant on horseback (the horses were cast by Thomas Eakins and the figures by William O'Donovan) and carved spandrel figures by Philip Martiny were also added.
The Soldiers' and Sailor's Memorial Arch was designated a landmark by the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1973.
Tags: NYC New York City Prospect Heights Grand Army Plaza Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch arch The Plaza memorial arch classical style Quadriga The Spirit of the Army The Spirit of the Navy Lady Columbia Calvert Vaux Frederick Law Olmsted Olmsted Vaux war memorial NYCLPC john h. duncan john duncan stanford white Prospect Park Plaza McKim, Mead and White McKim, Mead & White landmark ny New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission memorial New York frederick macmonnies Frederick W. MacMonnies Frederick William MaMonnies National Register of Historic Places kings county NRHP U.S. National Register of Historic Places Brooklyn
Grand Army Plaza (originally known as The Plaza, or Prospect Park Plaza) was conceived by its designers, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, simply as a grand entrance to the Park. It was meant as a gateway, to separate the noisy city from the calm nature of the Park. Olmsted and Vaux's design included only a single-spout fountain surrounded by berms (earth embankments) covered in heavy plantings. Instead, though, the 1867 design ended up being much more elaborate and one of the finest formal civic design projects in the United States. The inner ring was originally intended to be a circle, but it actually was arranged as a main street – Flatbush Avenue – with eight connecting radial roads. Instead it consists of concentric rings arranged as streets, with the outer ring being named Plaza Street.
John H. Duncan, designer of Grant's Tomb in Manhattan, designed the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch in a classical style similar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and patterned after Roan imperial arches. The Civil War memorial arch, the winning entry in a competition, began in 1889. William Tecumseh Sherman laid the cornerstone on October 30, 1889. President Grover Cleveland presided over the unveiling on October 21, 1892.
The Arch gained its monumental statues nine years later. They were first suggested by Stanford White of McKim, Mead and White as part of a plan to formalize the plaza in the spirit of the City Beautiful movement. The Park Commissioner, Frank Squire, liked the ideas, and engaged Frederick MacMonnies in 1894 to design three sculptural groupings for the Arch. The first was installed in 40 separate pieces towering over seven stories above the plaza. Known as the Quadriga, the piece includes the lady Columbia, an allegorical representation of the United States, riding in a chariot accompanied by horses and two winged Victory figures trumpeting her arrival. The other two groupings were installed upon each pedestal of the Arch; the left one was entitled The Spirit of the Army, the right entitled The Spirit of the Navy. Both depict frenzied scenes of soldiers amid unwavering officers charging through the chaos.
A pair of bronze relief panels depicting Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant on horseback (the horses were cast by Thomas Eakins and the figures by William O'Donovan) and carved spandrel figures by Philip Martiny were also added.
The Soldiers' and Sailor's Memorial Arch was designated a landmark by the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1973.
Tags: NYC New York City Prospect Heights Grand Army Plaza Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch arch The Plaza memorial arch classical style Quadriga The Spirit of the Navy Lady Columbia Calvert Vaux Frederick Law Olmsted Olmsted Vaux war memorial NYCLPC john h. duncan john duncan stanford white Prospect Park Plaza McKim, Mead and White McKim, Mead & White landmark ny New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission memorial New York frederick macmonnies Frederick W. MacMonnies Frederick William MaMonnies National Register of Historic Places kings county NRHP U.S. National Register of Historic Places Brooklyn
Frederick W. MacMonnies' statue of General Henry Warner Slocum, located in Grand Army Plaza at the top of a small hill at Plaza Street East, was unveiled on Memorial Day, 1905. The bronze monument depicts the Civil War hero atop his horse with a raised saber in his right hand. MacMonnies worked with Stanford Whtie on the piece, which was originally located on Eastern Parkway at Bedford Avenue, and moved to its present location in the late 1920s. Architect White’s pedestal is adorned with a relief eagle on front and four medallions, two on each side. President Theodore Roosevelt was the keynote speaker at the monument’s unveiling.
Henry Warner Slocum (1827–1894) was born in Delphi, New York in 1827. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, he was subsequently trained as a lawyer and admitted to the Bar in 1858. In 1859 he became a member of the New York State Assembly and served in 1860 as treasurer of Onondaga County in upstate New York. When the Civil War began, Slocum volunteered but was severely wounded at the battle of Bull Run (1861); Slocum returned to action later that year, rising to the rank of General. He commanded the extreme right line of the Union Army at Gettysburg and was one of the first Union soldiers to enter Atlanta in September 1864. After the war, Slocum returned to upstate New York and was nominated as the Democratic candidate for Secretary of State of New York, but lost the election. In 1866 he moved to Brooklyn and was elected to U.S. Congress in 1868 and 1870. Slocum served as Commissioner of Public Works in Brooklyn before returning to Congress in 1882.
Frederick MacMonnies (1863–1937) is well represented in the City’s parks, with more than a dozen pieces exhibited. His contributions are particularly noticeable in Grand Army Plaza and Prospect Park. MacMonnies’s Horse Tamers (1899), the Army and Navy groups (1901 and 1902) and www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/479428098 and Four Eagles (1898), and the bronze depiction of James S.T. Stranhan (1891), the father of Prospect Park, are major features of the adjoining sites. He worked with architect Stanford White on all of these pieces, and collaborated with him on Nathan Hale (1890) as well, which can be seen in Manhattan’s City Hall Park. Civic Virtue (1922), perhaps MacMonnies’s most controversial work, is located beside Queens Borough Hall. Depicting a scantily clad man standing on two nymphs, Civic Virtue stood in front of City Hall until Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia had it banished to Queens because he felt it too obscene.
Tags: NYC New York City Henry Warner Slocum statue memorial General Henry Warner Slocum General Slocum Civil War General Civil War Prospect Heights Park Slope Prospect Park Grand Army Plaza Calvert Vaux Frederick Law Olmsted Olmsted Vaux sculpture ny landmark New York stanford white Frederick macmonnies frederick w. macmonnies National Register of Historic Places kings county NRHP U.S. National Register of Historic Places Brooklyn
The Bailey Fountain, a popular gathering spot and backdrop for wedding photos, was built in 1932 by architect Edgerton Swarthout and sculptor Eugene Savage. Named after Brooklyn-based financier and philanthropist Frank Bailey (1865-1953), this elaborate sculptural waterwork is one of several which have occupied a central place in Brooklyn Grand Army Plaza. The central bronze sculptures include male and female figures atop the prow of a ship, representing Wisdom and Felicity, surrounded by Neptune, his attendant Triton, and a boy holding a cornucopia. The base is made of large stones imbedded in the foundation, and additional decorative elements with sea motifs adorn the pedestal.
Between 1865 and 1866, British-born architect Calvert Vaux designed the oval Grand Army Plaza as a transitional element between the confluence of major streets and Prospect Park. He positioned a fountain at its center, which functioned by the early 1870s. The thrilling spectacle of numerous water jets illuminated at night by gas lamps attracted many viewers. In 1897, five years after the erection in 1892 of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in the plaza, the original fountain--eroded and often inoperative--was removed, and a new “electric” fountain designed by F.W. Darlington was installed. However, the replacement fountain was dismantled in 1915 to allow for the construction of the subway lines beneath the plaza.
In the late 1920s, Frank and his wife, Marie Louise Bailey gave $125,000 for construction of a new fountain, whose designers were selected through a design competition. Work on the fountain began in 1929 and was completed in 1932. In 1974, several sculptural elements were stolen, and others were subsequently salvaged in storage for safekeeping. The fountain basin also exhibits evidence of extensive subsidence. A restoration in 2002 of the fountain, its mechanical works, and the sculpture was funded through a $2,000,000 capital project with allocated dollars by Council Member Kenneth Fisher.
Born in Chatham, New York, Frank Bailey graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York, and served as the college treasurer for 51 years. He began his professional career as a clerk at Title Guarantee and Trust Company, within five years became vice president of its Brooklyn office, and later served as company president until 1924. An avid horticulturalist, Bailey was also chairman of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, a founder and trustee of the Museum of the City of New York, and a trustee of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. In 1945, he published his autobiography, titled It Can’t Happen Here Again. He died on August 26, 1953 at his country estate in Locust Valley, New York.
Tags: NYC New York City Prospect Heights Park Slope Prospect Park Grand Army Plaza Bailey Fountain fountain Calvert Vaux Vaux sculpture ny b New York Edgerton Swarthout Eugene Savage wisdom felicity kings county Brooklyn
The Bailey Fountain, a popular gathering spot and backdrop for wedding photos, was built in 1932 by architect Edgerton Swarthout and sculptor Eugene Savage. Named after Brooklyn-based financier and philanthropist Frank Bailey (1865-1953), this elaborate sculptural waterwork is one of several which have occupied a central place in Brooklyn Grand Army Plaza. The central bronze sculptures include male and female figures atop the prow of a ship, representing Wisdom and Felicity, surrounded by Neptune, his attendant Triton, and a boy holding a cornucopia. The base is made of large stones imbedded in the foundation, and additional decorative elements with sea motifs adorn the pedestal.
Between 1865 and 1866, British-born architect Calvert Vaux designed the oval Grand Army Plaza as a transitional element between the confluence of major streets and Prospect Park. He positioned a fountain at its center, which functioned by the early 1870s. The thrilling spectacle of numerous water jets illuminated at night by gas lamps attracted many viewers. In 1897, five years after the erection in 1892 of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in the plaza, the original fountain--eroded and often inoperative--was removed, and a new “electric” fountain designed by F.W. Darlington was installed. However, the replacement fountain was dismantled in 1915 to allow for the construction of the subway lines beneath the plaza.
In the late 1920s, Frank and his wife, Marie Louise Bailey gave $125,000 for construction of a new fountain, whose designers were selected through a design competition. Work on the fountain began in 1929 and was completed in 1932. In 1974, several sculptural elements were stolen, and others were subsequently salvaged in storage for safekeeping. The fountain basin also exhibits evidence of extensive subsidence. A restoration in 2002 of the fountain, its mechanical works, and the sculpture was funded through a $2,000,000 capital project with allocated dollars by Council Member Kenneth Fisher.
Born in Chatham, New York, Frank Bailey graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York, and served as the college treasurer for 51 years. He began his professional career as a clerk at Title Guarantee and Trust Company, within five years became vice president of its Brooklyn office, and later served as company president until 1924. An avid horticulturalist, Bailey was also chairman of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, a founder and trustee of the Museum of the City of New York, and a trustee of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. In 1945, he published his autobiography, titled It Can’t Happen Here Again. He died on August 26, 1953 at his country estate in Locust Valley, New York.
Tags: NYC New York City Prospect Heights Park Slope Prospect Park Grand Army Plaza Bailey Fountain fountain Calvert Vaux Vaux ny greek mythology mythology New York Edgerton Swarthout Eugene Savage wisdom felicity kings county Brooklyn