The "I Should Be More Observant!" Story

Sculpture inside the entrance of the Lancaster
Historical Society of President James Buchanan.

It was an ordinary day.  Heading out of the Lancaster Historical Society when I glanced to my left.  There stood the same statue that I have seen for the past couple of years or so sitting against the wall about 20 feet from the front door.  Knew it was a statue of James Buchanan, but never took notice to the small sign that sat in front of it.  Thought now would be a good time to read why it had been placed by the front door in the past.  The sign told me that the statue of James Buchanan was by sculpture Hans Schuler and sculpted around 1930.  It is a plaster study of the Buchanan statue at Meridian Hill Park in Washington, D.C.  The completed statue of James Buchanan was dedicated on August 4, 1930 by President Herbert Hoover.  

The sculpture at the Meridian Hill Park in Washington, D.C.

Several hundred people were on hand to witness the unveiling and to hear the speech given by President Hoover in which he described Buchanan as "an incorruptible statesman and a faithful public servant."  It was the original plaster sculpture upon which the statue in Meridian Hill Park was based and now sits in the entrance of The Lancaster County Historical Society.  The plaster sculpture is very life-like and is a very good resemblance of the only President from the state of Pennsylvania.  The detail is remarkable and the image of Buchanan is very life-like.  

A closer view of the statue of James Buchanan.

The sculpture is an imposing 82-foot-long memorial that was dedicated in 1930 and is the only memorial to James Buchanan in Washing- ton, D.C.  Other statues in the park include: "Serenity" by sculptor Jose Ciara and is dedicated to the memory of Lt. Commander William Henry Scheutze, U.S. Navy and was dedicated in 1924; Joan of Arc, a gift from the Ladies of France in Exile in New York in 1922 and is a bronze copy of an 1889 statue by Paul Dubois with the original statue at the Reims Cathedral in France; Dante which is an 11 1/2 foot bronze sculpture by Ettore Ximenes which was created in 1921 and stand on a pedestal of sea-green granite and represents the Italian poet Dante Alighieri dressed in the robe of a scholar.  

A close-up of the sculpture at The Historical Society.

The central feature of the Meridian Hill Park is the 13-basin Cascading Waterfall in the lower-level formal garden.  The fountains are designed with a recirculating water system which, though an elaborate series of pumps, supplies water to two large circular fountains on the upper level, and cascade around on the lower.  The park was established by an Act of Congress on June 25, 1910.  

A closer view of the head.

Landscape architect George Burnap designed the urban park modeled on parks found in European capitals.  His plans were approved in 1914.  In 1994 the park was designated a National historic Landmark, as "an outstanding accomplishment of early 20th center Neoclassicist park design in the United States."  In 2014 the District of Columbia government approved creation of the Meridian Hill Historic District in the local neighborhood around the park, with the park itself in the center of the newly designated area.  I never knew, or realized that the statue of James Buchanan appeared in the park.  Will give me an incentive to make a visit to photograph the sculpture that matches the one at the Lancaster Historical Society.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.