Masterton Washington Stone

The Washington Monument

Washington Memorial Stone

Alexander Masterton senior was, at the height of his career, clearly a man of some substance and his company, Morgan's Marble, by then owned by Masterton & Smith, was moved to donate one of the memorial stones within the Washington Monument on behalf of New York, and this was accepted by the Washington National Monument Society.  Public-spirited, or a shrewd piece of early product placement?

MEMORIAL STONES

A unique feature of the Washington Monument is the 193 memorial stones that adorn the east and west interior walls of the monument. Starting in July 1848 the Washington National Monument Society invited states, cities and patriotic societies to contribute Memorial Stones. The Society listed some requirements to be followed. They asked that the stone be durable, a product of the state's soil, and meet the following dimensions: four feet long, two feet high and 18 inches thick. These stones pay tribute to the character and achievements of George Washington. These traits are not only admired by Americans but by people the world over as exemplified by the number of stones donated by foreign countries. Most of these stones were donated prior to the the Civil War, however, the last stone was not donated until 1989.

Due to resource protection and security concerns, the memorial stones are no longer accessible to the public. The National Park Service made images of these stones which were for a while available through their website.

It seems that the number of stones now available for viewing on the nps website is much reduced so this image you see here may be the only publicly available one for some time.

Donor: Masterton and Smith of Morgan's Marble Westchester County, New York
Location: 140-Foot Level, West Wall, 12th Landing
Dimensions:  4' x 2'