Washington Monument, Union Square

The George Washington Monument at Union Square, New York City, looking northwest toward the park, about the 1860s. Photographer and publisher: George Stacy, 691 Broadway. Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The monument was located at the southeast corner of Union Square, as shown in this photo. By 1930 it was moved to the southern part of the park. The equestrian statue, on a granite pedestal, was sculpted by Henry Kirke Brown (1814-1886). Since 1833, the City of New York was officially trying to erect a monument to Washington. Initially mega-monuments were intended, like the one proposed in the City Hall Park in 1844. The monument in Union Square was eventually dedicated in 1856.

See also the proposed Gothic Washington Monument by Calvin Pollard and the proposed neoclassical Washington Monument to be erected at City Hall Park.