CHAPTER 6:
Landscaping the Memorial Grounds (continued)

G. The Seawall

The National Commission met in Washington on January 18, 1930, and approved plans prepared by Architect Parsons for a seawall to be erected along the Wabash River as part of the Clark Memorial. Parsons' wall was to be constructed of reinforced concrete, surmounted by "a substantial metal chain railing hung from precast concrete posts." [42]

Six months passed before the Executive Committee was able to advertise and abstract bids from interested construction companies. On July 8 the contract for the seawall was awarded to Premier Construction Co., whose bid of $84,142.16 was low. The wall was to be 1,000 feet long and 23 feet in height. [43] No difficulty was encountered by Premier in building the seawall, and it was completed well ahead of schedule.

H. Monument Stones and Plaques

1. The Fort Sackville Memorial Stone

On Thursday, May 14, 1936, the Fort Sackville memorial stone, which had been unceremoniously removed when construction on the Clark Memorial commenced, was reset in the center of a shrubbery plot at the northeast corner of the structure. This monument had been positioned in November 1905 by P. J. Burns, under the sponsorship of the Fort Sackville Chapter of the D. A. R. [44]

After the stone's removal, it had been "discarded in a pile of old stones back of the site." There it had remained forgotten until the autumn of 1935, when the commission's attention was called to it. A. P. Snyder & Sons were asked to prepare estimates for re-setting. When the old memorial was repositioned, it was impossible to locate the original base. Snyder & Sons accordingly set a new one, on which was inscribed the date of the re-setting. [45]

2. The Clark Headquarters Plaque

During the last three months of 1953, the Department of Conservation received requests from two organizations to locate monuments on the memorial grounds. On October 9 there came a letter from State Vice-Regent Alice M. Wolf, of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She asked authority to erect "a handsome stone . . . with a bronze marker" on the site of Clark's headquarters during the Fort Sackville fight. [46]

After checking with the Indiana Historical Bureau, the Department notified Mrs. Wolf that an appropriate location for the proposed marker would be either north or south of Main Street, at its intersection with 1st Street. [47] It was determined by the DAR to erect the stone and plaque at the northwest corner of the intersection of Main and 1st. The stone was erected early in October 1954 and dedicated on the 26th. [48]

3. The Gold Star War Memorial

A decision by the Corps of Engineers to extend the seawall compelled the Vincennes Chapter of American War Mothers to relocate their Gold Star War Memorial. It was currently positioned on a plot adjoining Culbertson Boulevard.

The Mothers approached Mayor Eugene Stocker on December 16, 1953, and asked him to intercede with the Department of Conservation to obtain authority for them to relocate their monument on the grounds of the Clark Memorial. The Department, after studying the request, agreed to permit the Mothers to relocate their memorial at the southwest corner of 1st and Main. Although Custodian James Biddle assisted the Mothers in moving the memorial, the cost of its relocation was borne by the citizens of Vincennes. [49]

gero/hsr/hsr6e.htm
Last Updated: 17-Sep-2001