Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial commonly known as Perry's Monument commemorates the

Battle of Lake Erie The Battle of Lake Erie, also known as the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, on Lake Erie off the shores of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of the British ...

that took place near

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

South Bass Island South Bass Island is a small island in western Lake Erie, and a part of Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. It is the southernmost of the three Bass Islands and located 3 miles (4.6 km) from the south shore of Lake Erie. It is the third ...

, in which American Commodore

Oliver Hazard Perry Oliver Hazard Perry (August 23, 1785 – August 23, 1819) was a United States Navy officer from South Kingstown, Rhode Island. A prominent member of the Perry family naval dynasty, he was the son of Sarah Wallace Alexander and Captain Christo ...

led a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

squadron to victory over a smaller

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

squadron under

Robert Heriot Barclay Commander Robert Heriot Barclay (18 September 1786 – 8 May 1837) was a Royal Navy officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. Life He was born in Cupar, Fife, Scotland, the son of the Rev. Peter Barclay DD & Margaret Duddi ...

during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. Located on an

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

on the island, the memorial also celebrates the lasting peace between Britain, Canada, and the United States that followed the war.

Overview

A monument — the world's tallest Doric column — was constructed in

Put-in-Bay, Ohio Put-in-Bay is a Resort town, resort village located on South Bass Island in Put-in-Bay Township, Ohio, Put-in-Bay Township, Ottawa County, Ohio, United States, west of Cleveland and east of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo. The population was 154 at the ...

, on

South Bass Island, Ohio South Bass Island is a small island in western Lake Erie, and a part of Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. It is the southernmost of the three Bass Islands and located 3 miles (4.6 km) from the south shore of Lake Erie. It is the third ...

, by a multi-state commission from 1912 to 1915 "to inculcate the lessons of international peace by arbitration and disarmament." The memorial was designed after an international competition from which the winning design by Joseph H. Freelander and A.D. Seymour was chosen. Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial was established to honor those who fought in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812, and to celebrate the long-lasting peace among Britain, Canada and the United States. The Memorial column, rising over Lake Erie, is situated five miles from the

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

. Although the monument bears the name of Oliver Hazard Perry, six officers slain during the battle lay interred under its rotunda, beneath the stone floor of the monument. The remains of the six naval officers are of three Britons and three Americans while Perry himself is buried in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

. Carved into the walls inside the rotunda are the names of soldiers and sailors who were killed or injured in the Battle of Lake Erie and the text of the Rush-Bagot Treaty. The Doric Column is the only international peace memorial in the United States National Park System and stands 47 feet taller than the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...

New York Harbor New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River near the East River tidal estuary on the East Coast of the United States. New York Harbor is generally synonymous with Upper New York Bay, ...

. The upper deck platform is 12 feet higher than the statue of Liberty's torch. To visit the observation deck near the top, visitors must walk up 37 steps, pay the admission cost ($10.00 cash, card, or check for adults 16 and older starting 2019 season, 15 and younger are free) then a National Park Ranger will transport them by elevator to the top. Rangers are stationed at the observation deck to answer questions and speak about the history and surrounding area. Views span Lake Erie, the islands and mainland of Ohio, Michigan,

Detroit River The Detroit River is an List of international river borders, international river in North America. The river, which forms part of the border between the U.S. state of Michigan and the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ont ...

and nearby islands in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, including Middle Island, the southernmost point of land in Canada, and part of

Point Pelee National Park Point Pelee National Park (; ) is a National parks of Canada, national park in Essex County, Ontario, Essex County in southwestern Ontario, Canada where it extends into Lake Erie. The word is French for 'bald'. Point Pelee consists of a peninsu ...

and

Pelee Island Pelee may refer to: *Pelee, Ontario, an island in Lake Erie, Canada *Point Pelee National Park, a park in Ontario, Canada *Mount Pelée, a volcano in Martinique *Peleus In Greek mythology, Peleus (; Ancient Greek: Πηλεύς ''Pēleus'') was ...

. The column is among the tallest monuments in the United States (the

Gateway Arch The Gateway Arch is a monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary Catenary arch, arch, it is the world's tallest arch and List of tallest buildings in Missouri, Missouri's ...

San Jacinto Monument The San Jacinto Monument is a column located on the Houston Ship Channel in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, about 16 miles due east of downtown Houston. The octagonal Art Deco spire is topped with a , 220-ton Lone Star – the symbo ...

, and

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States, victorious commander-in-chief of the Continen ...

are taller). Although substantially completed in 1915, funding problems prevented the proper completion of a fully realized memorial complex. In 1919 the federal government assumed control of the monument and provided additional funding. The official dedication was celebrated on July 31, 1931. In 2002, $2.4 million was spent on a new

visitor center A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center or tourist information centre is a physical location that provides information to tourists. Types A visitor center may be a Civic c ...

. The memorial is visited by 200,000 people each year.

Administrative history

Established as Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial National Monument by President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

on June 2, 1936 (Proclamation No. 2182); redesignated a National Memorial and renamed on October 26, 1972. As with all historic areas administered by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

, the memorial was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on October 15, 1966; the listing's boundaries were increased in 2015.

2013 US quarter coin

Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial was selected to represent Ohio in the multi-year America the Beautiful Quarters series, honoring a national site from every US state, district, or territory. Its design shows Oliver Hazard Perry on the coin's reverse, depicting the site's statue of Perry with the International Peace Memorial in the distance. The design was selected from eleven proposals.

Structural concerns

The Memorial had been closed for most of the summer of 2006 after a 500-pound (230 kg) piece of

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

broke off the southeast face of the observation deck, falling and leaving a crater in the plaza in June. No one was injured. Following a structural assessment that deemed it safe for visitors, the memorial reopened on August 26, 2006, with a fence surrounding it. The monument closed on September 30, 2009 for repairs, and reopened on July 12, 2012. The monument was closed once again for the summer of 2017 for repairs and cleaning. The aging sea wall surrounding the monument was rebuilt between 2022–2024. The restoration work contract was valued at $24,964,290.

Interactions with the Boy Scouts of America

Annually, the monument site hosts a large

Boy Scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organizatio ...

camporee hosted by Troop 360 from

Port Clinton, Ohio Port Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Ottawa County, Ohio, United States, located at the mouth of the Portage River on Lake Erie. The population was 6,025 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Port Clinton micropolita ...

. This camporee attracts a large number of scout troops that camp by the monument grounds. This event, however, is highly susceptible to weather conditions, and has not been held due to flooding concerns.

Gallery

File:Perry's Monument flags.jpg, Flags of Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom fly next to the memorial at equal height. File:View from the top of Perry's Memorial Ohio.JPG, alt=View from the top of the Column at Perry's Memorial, View from the top of the Column at Perry's Memorial File:Perry's Victory and Interational Peace Memorial - Ohio.jpeg, alt=Inside the rotunda at the base of the column, Inside the rotunda at the base of the column File:Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial Vistor's Center.jpg, The memorial column can be seen from the visitor center behind a statue of Commodore Perry. File:Memorial Plaque at Perry's Monument Ohio.JPG, alt=The Memorial Plaque on the floor of the Rotunda, The Memorial Plaque on the Floor of the Rotunda File:Steps inside Perry's Monument Ohio.JPG, alt=Steps inside Perry's Monument, Steps leading to the elevator to the observation deck

References

External links

National Park Service: Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial

Perry's Monument Photo Gallery

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{{Authority control National memorials of the United States Military monuments and memorials in the United States Landmarks of the War of 1812 Peace parks Monumental columns in the United States Monuments and memorials in Ohio National Park Service areas in Ohio Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Protected areas of Ottawa County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Ottawa County, Ohio Protected areas established in 1936 Victory monuments Buildings and structures in Ottawa County, Ohio Tourist attractions in Ottawa County, Ohio Buildings and structures completed in 1936 1936 sculptures Peace monuments and memorials