1. The Victory Arches of Madison Square
Image from Library of Congress
Three monumental arches were once built at Madison Square. The Dewey Arch was a temporary monument at Madison Square Park to commemorate Commodore George Dewey’s victory over the Spanish at Manila Bay in 1898. It was built by Charles R. Lamb using staff, the same material used in the temporary structures at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Earlier in 1899, two additional arches were constructed to commemorate the centennial celebration of George Washington’s first inauguration, located on 23rd Street and 26th Street.
The Victory Arch (above) was another temporary, monumental arch of wood and plaster to commemorate New Yorkers who died in WWI. Designed by Thomas Hastings, it was modeled after the Arch of Constantine in Rome and installed at Madison Square in 1918 at a cost of $80,000. Plans to make it permanent fell through and it was eventually demolished.
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