Statue
In the center of the square is a statue of David G. Farragut, a Union admiral in the American Civil War famous for rallying his fleet with the cry, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" He was the "First Admiral in the Navy." Its only inscription is "Farragut." The statue was sponsored by an act of Congress, authorizing $20,000 on April 16, 1872. It was sculpted by Vinnie (Ream) Hoxie and dedicated April 25, 1881 by President and Mrs. James A. Garfield.
The statue and park are maintained by the National Park Service and administered as part of its National Mall and Memorial Parks unit. A proposal to build an underground parking garage below it was rejected in 1961.
Read more about this topic: Farragut Square
Famous quotes containing the word statue:
“The Statue of Liberty is meant to be shorthand for a country so unlike its parts that a trip from California to Indiana should require a passport.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“Only he who can view his own past as an abortion sprung from compulsion and need can use it to full advantage in the present. For what one has lived is at best comparable to a beautiful statue which has had all its limbs knocked off in transit, and now yields nothing but the precious block out of which the image of one’s future must be hewn.”
—Walter Benjamin (1892–1940)
“The spire cranes. Its statue is an aviary.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)