Civic Center
This photograph shows Jefferson Square (now R. A. Long Park) and downtown Longview from the roof of the Monticello Hotel in 1926. The railroad station can be seen in the background at the far end of Broadway.
Robert A. Long Park, built in the center of the Civic Circle in 1923 in front of the Monticello Hotel, was originally called Jefferson Square and was intended to be the center of the city. The Long-Bell Lumber Company owned Jefferson Square until financial problems forced its sale. A Longview community group, raising money for a statue of Robert A. Long, ended up purchasing the park for the city to keep the park from being destroyed for development. Jefferson Square was rededicated in honor of Long on December 21, 1938. The city secured the title to the park in 1939. The park was placed on the National Register of Historic Places with the entire Civic Center on December 5, 1985.
Historical Photos:
View from the Monticello of Jefferson Square & downtown, January 1924 (University of Washington Library)
View of a May Day celebration in Jefferson Square in 1925 or 1926 (The Daily News)
View from the Monticello of Jefferson Square & downtown, 1926 (R.A. Long Historical Society)
View of Jefferson Square with Library in background, February 9, 1926 (The Daily News)
At each corner of the park is a historic monument tablet. Strangely, the sidewalks in the park all go behind these tablets, which face the street, so the only way to read them is to walk through the landscaping, or stop your car in front of them.
A. "North To Olympia" Monument
North to Olympia Monument on September 5, 2005.
The tablet at the northwest corner of the park bears a bronze relief by Alonzo Victor Lewis depicting oxen pulling covered wagons. It is titled North to Olympia and was placed by the Kiwanis Club of Olympia in July 1926. It bears the following inscription:
"NORTH TO OLYMPIA"
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY
OF THE EARLY SETTLERS OF MONTICELLO
AND THOSE PIONEERS WHO BLAZED
THEIR WAY THROUGH TO OLYMPIA
"THE END OF THE OLD OREGON TRAIL"
ERECTED BY THE KIWANIS CLUB OF OLYMPIA
JULY 1926.
B. Catlin Memorial
The tablet at the northeast corner of the park is a memorial to Seth Catlin, another early settler of the area. This monument is not dated, but was placed in 1926, and the engraved letters have become difficult to read. The inscription reads as follows.
Dedicated to the memory of
SETH CATLIN
and his wife
AGNES REDPATH
who with their seven sons
crossed the plains in 1848
from Illinois.
Filed on a donation land
claim in 1849 of which
this marks the
western boundary.
Seth Catlin was active in
the conventions of 1851 & 1852
which led to the formation of
the Territory of Washington.
C. Huntington Memorial
Huntington Memorial on September 5, 2005.
The tablet at the southeast corner of the park is a memorial to the Huntington family, more early area settlers. It was placed here in 1949. It reads:
IN MEMORY OF
THE PIONEER HUNTINGTONS
WHO CAME BY COVERED WAGON
TO MAKE THEIR HOMES ON THE
COWLITZ
FIRST CAME HARRY DARBY HUNTINGTON
AND REBECCA JANE HIS WIFE
CROSSING THE PLAINS IN 1848 AND
FOUNDING MONTICELLO TWO MILES
SOUTH ON THE COWLITZ 1849~
THERE THE ONCOMING PIONEERS PAUSED
BEFORE CONTINUING BY CANOE AND WAGON
TO SETTLE TO THE NORTH. IN HIS HOME
WAS HELD THE 1852 CONVENTION WHICH
PETITIONED CONGRESS TO CREATE THE
WASHINGTON TERRITORY~
IN 1852 CAME~
JAMES AND MARIAH
BENJAMIN AND JERUSHA
JACOB AND SUSAN
WILLIAM AND ELIZA
IN 1854 CAME~
CHANDLER AND ARABELLA
PRESENTED BY
THE HUNTINGTON FAMILY
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
1949
D. From Plymouth Rock & Battle Creek to Longview
From Plymouth Rock and Battle Creek to Longview Monument on September 5, 2005.
The monument at the southwest corner was placed in August 1930. It includes pieces of stone from Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts and Battle Creek, Michigan, and a copper plaque which reads:
FROM PLYMOUTH ROCK AND BATTLE CREEK
TO LONGVIEW
IN HONOR OF LONGVIEW, A WORLD-FAMOUS AND IDEAL CITY, AND
THE MECCA OF MANY PACIFIC COAST TOURS, THESE STONES FROM
PLYMOUTH ROCK AND BATTLE CREEK (WHERE THE FIRST EDUCATIONAL
MOTOR TOUR IN HISTORY STARTED), ARE PRESENTED BY JAMES
H. BROWN AND THE PUBLISHERS OF THE MICHIGAN FARMER,
DETROIT, WHO HAVE CONDUCTED EDUCATIONAL MOTOR AND RAILWAY
TOURS FOR MANY YEARS OVER THE U. S. WITHOUT AN ACCIDENT.
OVER A MILLION MOTORISTS AND PEDESTRIANS HAVE TAKEN
THE PLEDGE BELOW, ORIGINATED BY THE TOUR MANAGER DURING THE
FIRST TOUR IN 1895, MANY OF THEM WILL VISIT LONGVIEW IN THE
DAYS AND YEARS TO COME AND RENEW THEIR PLEDGE AS THEY
LOOK AT THESE FAMOUS STONES AND ENJOY THE CITY'S HOSPITAL-
ITY AND SIGHT-SEEING.
THE PLEDGE: "I SOLEMNLY PROMISE, AS A MOTORIST AND PEDESTRIAN,
THAT I WILL ENDEAVOR TO BE CONSTANTLY VIGILANT AND COURTEOUS
AND FOLLOW THE GOLDEN RULE WHEN AWAY FROM MY OWN VINE AND
FIG TREE."
AUGUST 1930 THIS TABLET PRESENTED BY
THE DUPLEX PRINTING PRESS COMPANY OF BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN
E. Sundial
Monticello Convention Sundial on September 5, 2005.
Near the center of the park is a sundial placed by the Mary Richardson Walker Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1939 in honor of the Monticello Convention. It reads as follows.
THE MONTICELLO
CONVENTION
HELD HERE 1852
MARKED BY
MARY RICHARDSON WALKER CHAPTER
DAUGHTERS OF
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1939
F. Bust of Robert A. Long
Bust of Robert A. Long on September 5, 2005.
In the center of the park is a bronze bust of the Longview's founder and the park's namesake, Robert A. Long. A statue of Long was first proposed in 1935, and a community group began raising money for the statue to be placed in Jefferson Square, which at the time was still owned by the Long-Bell Lumber Company. Long-Bell ended up having to sell Jefferson Square due to financial problems, and the community group ended up spending most of the money raised for the statue to purchase Jefferson Square to donate it to the city as a park. Without enough money left for a statue, the group changed its plans to a bronze bust on a concrete pedestal. The pedestal was placed in 1942, but material restrictions on bronze during World War II delayed the bust until after the war. Seattle sculptor Victor Alonzo Lewis' bust of Long was placed on the pedestal in October 1945 and was dedicated August 24, 1946. The pedestal inscription gives no indication of the bust's interesting history.
ROBERT A. LONG
FOUNDER OF LONGVIEW
1922
BORN 1850-DIED 1934
ERECTED
TO HIS MEMORY
IN GRATEFUL TRIBUTE
BY
HIS FRIENDS
AND
THE CITIZENS
OF THIS CITY
1942
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