The dcist blog for Washington, DC, had Ben Schuman Stoler visit the Farragut Monument in Farragut Square, and wrote, "'Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!' Perhaps it might not have been the smartest of orders. But sure enough, Farragut's bully command helped the naval commander get a huge statue and two metro stops plus a square named after him."
A reporter at its April 25, 1881 dedication wrote that the statue and the mortars around it were cast from the propeller of the USS Hartford and underneath it were documents pertaining to his service. President Garfield spoke and remarked that the capital was slowly being filled up with heroes of other times. Then, there was a massive military procession and 30,000 spectators.
Today Farragut Square "is more of a traffic annoyance than a statement of honor and national pride."
Under comments, someone wrote that the square is now populated with the homeless and that someone had scrawled "I was a racist" on one side of the pedestal.
Too Late for the Monitor, Though. --Old B-Runner
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