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From a design
submitted by sculptor Larken G. Mead, Lincoln’s Tomb was
constructed from 1869-1874 at a cost of $180,000. Due
to uneven settling of the earth under the tomb, a
complete reconstruction of the Tomb was started in 1901
by the local Culver Stone Company. Following this
reconstruction, President Lincoln’s son Robert Todd
requested that his father’s body be placed in a
specially designed steel and concrete vault beneath the
floor of the burial chamber. Again, due to external and
internal deterioration, a Second Reconstruction began
again in 1930 with a complete remodel of the interior.
President Herbert Hoover delivered the dedicatory
address.
The tomb’s
interior is comprised of a monument that marks the
location of Lincoln’s burial vault. Nine State flags
that are associated with the President and his family
surround the monument. The foyer has a bronze model of
the Daniel Chester French statue of the President at the
Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Statuettes
commemorating Lincoln’s career line the corridors
leading to and from the burial chamber.
The tomb’s exterior is
constructed of dressed granite from Quincy, MA and rises
to a height of 117 feet. At the approach of the tomb is
a large head of Lincoln, the work of sculptor Gutzon
Borglum. Four flights of granite steps lead to the
terrace, which has a cordon of thirty-seven shields,
each bearing the name of a state that made up the Union
at the time of the original construction. Names of
additional states are engraved in the granite at the
rear. Four bronze statuary groups are mounted at the
corners of the terrace were sculpted by Larken G. Mead
and represent the fighting forces of the Civil War.
Mounted on a square granite pedestal at the front of the
obelisk is a large statue of Lincoln. On the face of
the pedestal is a bronze plaque ornamented with a coat
of arms of the United States and representing the
Constitution. A fragment of the ancient Roman Servian
Wall (built in 578 B.C.) is attached to the obelisk, a
gift from the people of Rome to President Lincoln.
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