Missing Lincoln monument from Nay Aug (Scranton, Clarks Summit: 2009, school, cost)

[scrantonluna]

Don't know if anyone recalls this:

The Times-Tribune - Missing Lincoln monument mystifies Scranton

The commission established to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth in Lackawanna County is on a monumental mission.

It didn’t expect to encounter a monumental mystery, too.

As its first project, the county’s Lincoln Bicentennial Commission is partnering with the city to raise money to rehabilitate and relocate the long-neglected monument to the nation’s 16th president at Nay Aug Park.


The granite monument, topped by a flagpole, now occupies a little-visited knoll behind the Walsh Swim Complex.

“We just really need to refurbish it — clean it up, repoint it, get a new flagpole,” commission chairman Charles Spano said.

The plan is to rededicate the monument July 4, 2009, 100 years after its original unveiling during dedication ceremonies for Lake Lincoln, the manmade lake at Nay Aug that was replaced by the modern swim complex in the 1960s.

And there’s where the mystery arises. The flagstaff monument apparently wasn’t the only Lincoln memorial dedicated at the park during Independence Day festivities in 1909.

Newspaper accounts of the event also refer to a Lincoln bust presented to the city. More intriguingly, a photograph published in The Scranton Times on July 3, 1909, depicts the bust atop an elaborate, 16-foot-tall stone monument surrounded by more than a dozen adults and children.

However, no trace of the monument is evident today at the park. Aside from the handful of old newspaper clippings and a postcard chanced upon by a local collector, there is nothing to indicate it even existed — and absolutely no hint of what happened to it.

“I never knew there was such a thing,” Mr. Spano said. “That’s awesome.”

Relocating and refurbishing the existing monument, a gift to the city from area chapters of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, is expected to cost $50,000. Although the monument received a minor facelift 20 years ago, it’s showing its age.

The stones in the base are loose; the granite panels on the sides of the monument appear to be pulling away from the core, and the flagpole is rusted. There is also graffiti that will have to be removed.

Mark Dougher, city parks and recreation director, said many Nay Aug visitors don’t see the monument because it is surrounded by trees. The city wants to move it about 50 yards to the north to a spot along one of the main paths through the park to give it more visibility.

“We could repoint it and leave it in the same place, but why?” Mr. Dougher said. “It’s too nice to hide.”

The commission will kick off its fundraising effort with a “Meet the Monument” event Saturday at Nay Aug.

In an attempt to engage young people in the process, Mr. Spano is mailing letters challenging school children in Northeastern Pennsylvania to collect 1 million Lincoln pennies — $10,000 — for the monument’s restoration.

The commission will announce details of other activities in the coming months, including a 200th birthday party next Feb. 12 that will include a Lincoln lookalike contest.

In the meantime, Mr. Spano said the commission would be interested in knowing what happened to the other monument, particularly the Lincoln bust.

“A magical mystery missing monument — it’s pretty neat,” he said.

In the late 1990s, Clarks Summit collector Jack Hiddlestone stumbled across a postcard depicting the missing monument. Mailed from Scranton to Gouldsboro in August 1909, the postcard showed a photo of what it identified as the “Lincoln Monument” at Nay Aug.

Mr. Hiddlestone said last week he always doubted the monument’s existence, suspecting the postcard showed a Lincoln memorial in another city. But he had not known about the newspaper references to the bust’s dedication or about the published photo, which is different from the one on the postcard.

“I never thought it would get this far, where there would be semi-proof that it existed,” he said. “I don’t know what to think now. It might be possible.”

Alan Sweeney, executive director of the Lackawanna Historical Society, is still skeptical. When Mr. Hiddlestone’s postcard surfaced, the society published it in its newsletter, asking members for information about the monument. No one came forward.

“I don’t know that it was ever there, to be honest with you,” Mr. Sweeney said of the monument. “But mysterious things happen in Scranton, Pennsylvania.”

[scrantonluna]

Thought someone might remember this, a person posted on the scranton times website that it was still there in 1972...

[scrantonluna]

For those who missed it, here's a link to the follow-up article that was in Sunday's paper. The photo is, unfortunately, not carried over to the web article, I will have to see if I can scan and post it.
The Times-Tribune - Missing Lincoln Monument at Nay Aug still a mystery

[cruc]

Lake Lincoln was renovated around 1968/69 to the complex that we have today. The missing monument was not there. I my option if the City kept records of all the renovations that took place at Nay Aug and Lake Lincoln, it should show when it was removed an by whom.

[scrantonluna]

Originally Posted by cruc

Lake Lincoln was renovated around 1968/69 to the complex that we have today. The missing monument was not there. I my option if the City kept records of all the renovations that took place at Nay Aug and Lake Lincoln, it should show when it was removed an by whom.

It's very possible there is still a bid or work order on file if they farmed out the job of building the swim complex...

[scrantonluna]

Let's see if this works...


Search is On for Missing Lincoln Statue

[W-B proud]

I stole it! It's sitting next to my Grover Cleveland Pez dispenser

[ScranBarre]

Luna, are you Charlie Spano, the man who was interviewed about this by WNEP?

[weluvpa]

Luna is too supportive of the mayor and his wild spending to be Charlie.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by weluvpa

Luna is too supportive of the mayor and his wild spending to be Charlie.

I hadn't heard of Charlie prior to the television interview and didn't realize he was against the mayor. Wow! Is anyone still a supporter of Mayor Doherty?