Some More on the Macdonough Monument in Plattsburgh-- Part 1

From the September 10, 2014, Press-Republican (NY)  "Ceremony to honor Macdonough Monument" by Cara Chapman.

The great-great granddaugher of Thomas Macdonough will speak at a ceremony marking the 88th anniversary of the monument that honors him in Plattsburgh, New York.

Isabelle Verkaart Parlin will be among family members at the event scheduled for 1 pm Friday.  There will be a large number of direct descendants as well as many descendants of his brother.  There is hope that the families of those people involved in the monument's construction will also be there.

It was erected in 1926 and dedicated August 18 if that year.

Plans for the monument began as early as 1913 in anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the battle in 1914.  This was the work of the Plattsburgh Centenary Commission which hoped that "by itself, or in cooperation with  the government of the United States, to provide for, erect, and establish a suitable memorial to  Thomas Macdonough in the city of Plattsburgh, N.Y."

In 1914, the state of New York and U.S. Congress appropriated funds to do just that.  The commission used these funds to acquire the land and selected architect John Russell Pope to design it.  Pope also had designed buildings such as the Roosevelt memorials, the Plattsburgh City Hall and the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C..

--Brock-Perry