GPS City GuidePortlandHenry Wadsworth Longfellow Monument

Stop 11 of 34 · Portland audio walking tour

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Monument

West End · 1807 · Longfellow's Portland beginnings

What you'll hear here: about a minute on what happened at Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Monument and around West End — the audio starts on its own when you walk into range.

On the triangular plaza at the southeast corner of Congress and State Streets, in Portland's West End, sits the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Monument. The intersection built around the monument is known as Longfellow Square, and the southeast side of the plaza is occupied by One Longfellow Square. The figure before you is a bronze statue of Longfellow as seen late in his life, seated on a granite pedestal about 10 feet (3.0 m) high.

Carved tablets on two sides of the pedestal are decorated with swags and garlands that frame the name "LONGFELLOW," and above them runs a frieze band of anthemion and vines with a cornice over all. The bronze itself is about 7 feet (2.1 m) tall; he sits in a chair whose arms end in lion's heads, with a neat stack of books beneath. Longfellow wears an overcoat, a cape draped over his lap and one shoulder; one hand holds a manuscript, the other is propped.

Notice the granite pedestal, the lion-headed chair, and the streets and plaza that embrace this seated memorial.

Where it is

Coordinates
43.65306, -70.26722
Area
West End
Era
1807 · Longfellow's Portland beginnings
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Three stops free. No account needed. The audio plays itself as you walk.