James A. Garfield Memorial facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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James A. Garfield Memorial
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 Location in Cleveland
Location in Ohio
Location in the United States
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| Location | 12316 Euclid Ave. in Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio |
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| Area | 0.5 acres (0.20 ha) |
| Built | 1890 |
| Architect | George Keller; Caspar Buberl, sculptor |
| Architectural style | Gothic, Romanesque |
| NRHP reference No. | 73001411 |
| Added to NRHP | April 11, 1973 |
The James A. Garfield Memorial is a special building in Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio. It honors James A. Garfield, who was a President of the United States. He was sadly shot and died in 1881.
This memorial combines different old building styles like Byzantine, Gothic, and Romanesque. Building it started in 1885 and finished in 1890. President Garfield, his wife Lucretia, and two other family members are buried inside. The memorial was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
Contents
Choosing the Memorial Spot
President James A. Garfield lived in nearby Mentor, Ohio. He was shot on July 2, 1881, in Washington, D.C., and passed away on September 19, 1881.
President Garfield had said he wanted to be buried at Lake View Cemetery. The cemetery offered a place for his burial for free to his wife, Lucretia Garfield. She agreed to bury her husband there.
Even before his funeral, friends and fans of Garfield started planning a grand tomb. They wanted to build it on a high spot in the cemetery. In June 1883, the Garfield Memorial Committee chose the highest point for his final resting place. The cemetery also built roads and improved the land around the site.
Designing and Building the Memorial
The architect George Keller designed the memorial. He used a mix of Byzantine, Gothic, and Romanesque styles. All the stone for the monument came from local quarries in Cleveland. The detailed carvings on the outside, showing parts of Garfield's life, were made by Caspar Buberl.
The memorial cost $135,000, which was a lot of money back then. This money came from private donations. A cool fact is that many children across the country sent in pennies to help pay for it!
The memorial is a round tower. It is about 50 feet (15 meters) wide and 180 feet (55 meters) tall. Around the outside balcony, there are five clay panels. These panels have over 110 life-size figures showing scenes from Garfield's life and death.
Inside, you can see beautiful stained glass windows. Some of these windows show the original 13 colonies and the state of Ohio. There are also colorful mosaics and tall red granite columns. A 12-foot (3.7-meter) tall white marble statue of President Garfield, made by Alexander Doyle, stands inside. From an observation deck, you can see great views of downtown Cleveland and Lake Erie.
Construction of the memorial began on October 6, 1885. It was officially opened on May 30, 1890. President Garfield and his wife, Lucretia, are buried in a special room called a crypt below the memorial. Their daughter, Mary, and son-in-law, Joseph Stanley Brown, are also buried there. Lucretia Garfield passed away in 1918 and was laid to rest with her husband.
How the Memorial Has Been Used
For a while, the committee in charge of the Garfield Memorial charged a small fee to visit. This fee helped pay for its upkeep.
In 1923, the Garfield National Monument Association gave the memorial to Lake View Cemetery. Most of the original members of the association had passed away. After taking over, Lake View Cemetery stopped charging the admission fee right away. They also started cleaning and repairing the memorial.
In 2016 and 2017, Lake View Cemetery spent $5 million to fix and improve the memorial's structure. This included making the beams and columns stronger. In 2019, they started a big project to clean the outside of the memorial. They also fixed any damaged mortar between the stones. This was the first time the outside had ever been cleaned!
The memorial closes every winter on November 19, which is President Garfield's birthday. It reopens to visitors in April.
Images for kids
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The monument in 2013, prior to being cleaned
See also
In Spanish: Monumento conmemorativo a James A. Garfield para niños
