Last updated: December 1, 2022
Place
George Washington Equestrian Statue - Morristown
NPS
Quick Facts
Location:
Morris Avenue, Morristown, NJ
Significance:
Statue
MANAGED BY:
Morristown, NJ
A bronze equestrian statue of George Washington overlooks the Ford Mansion, where the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army made his headquarters.
The statue's donor Miss Ellen Mabel Clark wanted to memorialize Washington's place in Morristown history. She commissioned Fredrick George Richard Roth to create the statue. Roth's primary work concerned animals, not human subjects. He also worked on the Balto statue for New York City's Central Park, among many others. Washington was an excellent horseman, so the statue's composition is a natural mode for the General. Miss Clark requested that Washington's horse be modeled after a strong, sturdy horse drawing a milk wagon in town, and Frederick Roth obliged, taking several films of the subject horse in motion to study before setting to work. The bronze statue was cast in Florence, Italy. Its unveiling occured on October 19th, 1929, on the anniversary of Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown.
The statue's donor Miss Ellen Mabel Clark wanted to memorialize Washington's place in Morristown history. She commissioned Fredrick George Richard Roth to create the statue. Roth's primary work concerned animals, not human subjects. He also worked on the Balto statue for New York City's Central Park, among many others. Washington was an excellent horseman, so the statue's composition is a natural mode for the General. Miss Clark requested that Washington's horse be modeled after a strong, sturdy horse drawing a milk wagon in town, and Frederick Roth obliged, taking several films of the subject horse in motion to study before setting to work. The bronze statue was cast in Florence, Italy. Its unveiling occured on October 19th, 1929, on the anniversary of Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown.