The Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Monument is a public monument in
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...
's
West End. Located on the corner of State and
Congress Street, it honors poet
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...
, who was born in Portland in 1807. The intersection built around the monument is known as Longfellow Square.
Description
The Henry Wadsworth Longellow Monument occupies a triangular plaza formed at the southeast corner of Congress and State Streets in central Portland. The southeast side of the plaza is occupied by One Longfellow Square. The monument consists of a bronze statue of Longfellow, as seen late in his life, in a seated position, which is mounted on a granite pedestal. The pedestal is about in height, and has carved tablets on two sides, decorated with swags and garlands that frame the name "LONGFELLOW". Above these is a frieze band of anthemion and vines, with a cornice above that. The bronze statue is about in height, with Longfellow seated in a chair whose arms end in lion's heads, and a stack of books underneath. Longfellow wears an overcoat, and a cape is draped over his lap and one shoulder. One hand holds a manuscript, while the other is propped on the chair back, while Longfellow gazes at passersby.
History
Franklin Simmons
Franklin Bachelder Simmons (January 11, 1839 – December 8, 1913) was a prominent American sculptor of the nineteenth century. Three of his statues are in the National Statuary Hall Collection, three of his busts are in the United States Senate ...
began the design and construction of the monument in 1885, three years after the poet's death, with a pedestal designed by
Francis H. Fassett. The monument was unveiled on September 29, 1888.
[Shettleworth, Jr., Earle G. "Creating and Preserving Portland's Urban Landscape, 1885–1925", ''Creating Portland: History and Place in Northern New England''. Joseph Conforti, editor. University Press of New England, 2007: 251. ] The monument is considered to be one of Simmons' major commissions.
[ The monument was added to the ]National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in April 1990.
Gallery
File:Longfellow_Square,_Portland,_ME.jpg, Longfellow Square on a postcard in 1906.
File:LongfellowMonument2.jpg, The Longfellow Monument in December 2010.
File:LongfellowMonument3.jpg, The Longfellow Monument in December 2010.
File:Longfellow Square, Portland Maine.jpg, Longfellow Square illuminated for the 2018 holiday season. Longfellow Monument is at right.
See also
*
*Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Memorial
''Henry Wadsworth Longfellow'' is a bronze statue, by William Couper, and Thomas Ball. The statue depicts American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It is located at the intersection of M Street and Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. an ...
in Washington, D. C.
References
External links
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Monument
MaineMemory.net
{{National Register of Historic Places
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Cultural infrastructure completed in 1888
Monuments and memorials in Portland, Maine
Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
West End (Portland, Maine)
National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Maine
Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...