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Military Park
Military Park is a city park in
downtown Newark, New Jersey, sitting on 6 acres of land that began
as a training ground for soldiers during 1667 to 1869, whereupon it
became the area known as the town commons. Across from the park, the
New Jersey Historical Society can be found. The Wars of America
monument is located there, which Gutzon Borglum sculpted, the same
man that sculpted the magnificent Mount Rushmore. This statue has a
sword, made of concrete that is the bottom of it, and it looks like
a huge dry fountain, which is more easily seen from the air. The
sword is 80 yards long, from one end under the statue to the end of
the sword, with the blade itself extending 10 yards wide. Gutson was
a famous sculptor and artist that not only made the heads at Mount
Rushmore, but did the well known carving at Stone Mountain in
Georgia and many other works. He was the first living sculptor to
have his work purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New
York City, and numerous sculptures of apostles and saints in the
Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist. Another of his wonderful works
is the large head of Abraham Lincoln that is found in the rotunda of
the capitol in Washington, and the magnificent sculpture was made
from a single six-ton block of marble. He sculpted a marvelous
statue of General Philip Sheridan that also is located in
Washington, DC. In 1965, the city added a bust of John F. Kennedy,
and there is also an old drinking fountain that contains the
Biblical line, "my cup runneth over" on it bottom, and there are
statues of Philip Kearny and Frederick Frelinghuysen standing on it;
both memorable men from America's early history.
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