- City:
- Marietta, OH
- Site Type:
- Monuments and Memorials, Civic Facilities
- New Deal Agencies:
- Works Progress Administration (WPA), Work Relief Programs
- Started:
- 1936
- Completed:
- 1938
- Artist:
- Gutzon Borglum
- Designer:
- John Schooley
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Marked:
- Yes
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
Memorial in Muskingum Park, Marietta, Ohio commemorating the first permanent American settlement in the Northwest Territory in 1788. Memorial includes a statuary group created by Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore carved in local sandstone by WPA workers, landing esplanade on the Muskingum River built by WPA, and four pylons on Front Street topped with eagles also sculpted by Borglum at the North and South entrances to the park. Borglum did not attend the 1938 dedication because he (correctly, it turns out) disagreed with the decision to execute the sculpture in sandstone rather than bronze. Project is underway to restore the memorial with a bronze replica and conserve the sandstone original indoors.
Source notes
"Start Westward Memorial", Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Start_Westward_Memorial
Brochure, Start Westward Memorial Society, www.startwestward1787.com, Marietta, Ohio.
Site originally submitted by Doug Logan on June 7, 2023.
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