Statue of Chester A. Arthur

The bronze figure standing before you depicts Chester A. Arthur, the twenty-first President of the United States. Sculptor George Edwin Bissell chose to portray Arthur in a frock coat, standing in a relaxed pose beside a chair draped with an ornate rug. You can see the presidential seal embossed on the back of that chair, a detail that grounds the memorial in the dignity of his office. Dedicated in June of eighteen ninety-nine, the statue rests on a pedestal of polished black granite that was designed by architect James Brown Lord. Its quiet presence in this corner of the park marks the final addition to a series of monuments honoring influential nineteenth-century political figures who once frequented this very neighborhood.