Major John Andre Monument
Encyclopedia
Major John Andre Monument, also known as the Site of Major John Andre's Hanging and Burial, is a historic monument
located at Tappan
in Rockland County, New York
. It is a gray granite
monument erected in 1879 and approximately 40 inches square and 58 inches tall. It is located in a circular plot approximately 31 feet in diameter. It commemorates the site of the hanging of Major John André
on October 2, 1780.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 2006.
The monument was constructed in 1879 by millionaire Cyrus W. Field. It was dedicated on October 2, 1879
The monument caused quite a bit of controversy when it was first constructed. It was vandalized, and then had its base blown up twice by persons who felt that a monument to a British spy was an insult to Washington. For this reason a bronze tablet was later added to commemorate the bravery of Washington and his generals during a crisis of the war.
There were three attempts to destroy the monument:
On February 22, 1882, the monument was hacked and mutilated by George Hendrix, of New York City.
On March 30, 1882 at 11:35 PM, an explosion slightly damaged the monument.
On November 3, 1885 at 10:00 PM, an explosion destroyed the iron fence surrounding the monument and toppled the monument.
After Cyrus Field's death, his heirs refused to pay the taxes of $6.38 on the property. Rockland County put the land up for auction in 1903. There were no bidders and Rockland County assumed ownership of the monument and land.
Monument
A monument is a type of structure either explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, or simply as an example of historic architecture...
located at Tappan
Tappan, New York
Tappan is a hamlet in the Town of Orangetown, Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Old Tappan, New Jersey; east of Nauraushaun and Pearl River; south of Blauvelt and west of Palisades and Sparkill...
in Rockland County, New York
Rockland County, New York
Rockland County is a suburban county 15 miles to the northwest of Manhattan and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area, in the U.S. state of New York. It is the southernmost county in New York west of the Hudson River, and the smallest county in New York outside of New York City. The...
. It is a gray granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
monument erected in 1879 and approximately 40 inches square and 58 inches tall. It is located in a circular plot approximately 31 feet in diameter. It commemorates the site of the hanging of Major John André
John André
John André was a British army officer hanged as a spy during the American War of Independence. This was due to an incident in which he attempted to assist Benedict Arnold's attempted surrender of the fort at West Point, New York to the British.-Early life:André was born on May 2, 1750 in London to...
on October 2, 1780.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 2006.
The monument was constructed in 1879 by millionaire Cyrus W. Field. It was dedicated on October 2, 1879
The monument caused quite a bit of controversy when it was first constructed. It was vandalized, and then had its base blown up twice by persons who felt that a monument to a British spy was an insult to Washington. For this reason a bronze tablet was later added to commemorate the bravery of Washington and his generals during a crisis of the war.
There were three attempts to destroy the monument:
On February 22, 1882, the monument was hacked and mutilated by George Hendrix, of New York City.
On March 30, 1882 at 11:35 PM, an explosion slightly damaged the monument.
On November 3, 1885 at 10:00 PM, an explosion destroyed the iron fence surrounding the monument and toppled the monument.
After Cyrus Field's death, his heirs refused to pay the taxes of $6.38 on the property. Rockland County put the land up for auction in 1903. There were no bidders and Rockland County assumed ownership of the monument and land.