General Grant Memorial Park – New York
The General Grant National Memorial, often called Grant’s Tomb, is the final resting place of Ulysses S. Grant. Located along Riverside Drive in New York City, it stands as the largest mausoleum in North America and one of the most prominent memorials to a Civil War figure.
Grant died on July 23, 1885. At the time of his death, he was one of the most admired figures in the nation, the commanding general who had led Union forces in the Civil War and later served two terms as president. His funeral in New York City drew enormous crowds and was one of the largest public mourning events the country had yet seen.
Although Grant had strong connections to several places, it was New York City that offered to build a grand memorial in his honor. After his death, his body was temporarily placed in a tomb in Riverside Park, while plans were made for a permanent monument. The site overlooking the Hudson River was selected because of its dramatic setting and its association with the growing Riverside park landscape.
Funds for the memorial were raised through a nationwide public campaign, with tens of thousands of Americans contributing small donations. Construction began in 1890 and completed in 1897, the centennial year of Grant’s birth. That year his remains were moved into the mausoleum during a ceremony attended by President McKinley and thousands of spectators.
Inside the memorial are the red granite sarcophagus of Ulysses Grant and his wife Julia Grant, placed beneath the massive dome. The memorial became a unit of the National Park Service in 1958.
Standing before the great domed structure overlooking the Hudson River, we are reminded how deeply Grant’s legacy resonated in the years following the Civil War, so much so that citizen contributed to the creation of this monument.
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