Louisville  

 Sundial: 1026
State/Province:  Kentucky Country:  USA
Dial Type:  Horizontal Dial Condition:  Good
  Latitude and Longitude: 38° 16.768’ N  85° 38.636’ W
Location:
  • Zachary Taylor National Cemetery
    4701 Brownsboro Rd.
    Louisville, Kentucky, 40207

    The dial is located at the far end of the roadway, beyond and to the left of the tall monument and the mausoleum.
 
Description:
  • This horizontal bronze dial is 9 1/2 inches in diameter with Roman hour marks from V to VII, delineated in quarter hours. Noon is marked by a thin trapezoid. Outside the dial is a surround of another ring with semi-circular words around the dial: "We live by deeds, not years". A classic hour glass with wings decorates the dial face. The gnomon is in good condition, but slightly bent. The dial sits atop a white marble pedestal 45 inches tall. The pedestal sits on a base two-foot square approximately 13 inches in height. Above the base the pedestal tapers upward, narrowing to an 11 inch square that holds the dial and the surround.

    The remains of the12th president of the US, who died July 9, 1850, and those of his wife, who died in 1852, were initially interred in the Taylor family burial ground. In 1883, the state of Kentucky erected a granite shaft surmounted by a life-size figure of Taylor. The United States erected a new limestone neoclassical-style mausoleum with a marble interior 43 years later. Over double glass-paneled bronze doors is the inscription "1784 Zachary Taylor 1850." Each year on Nov. 24, Taylor's birth date, military personnel from Fort Knox conduct a wreath-laying ceremony at the mausoleum. Zachary Taylor National Cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. A 50-foot granite monument topped with the life-size figure of Zachary Taylor was erected by the state of Kentucky in 1883.
 
General Information:Inscription:
  • Owner: US National Cemetery Administration
  • The plaque reads (in all capital letters)
    Memorial erected in 1930, by the Outdoor Art League to commemorate aid given in establishment of the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery. Plans presented to Congressman Maurice H. Thatcher in 1923. Acts of Congress of which Congressman Thatcher was the author were approved Feb. 24, 1925 and May 10, 1928. Lands donated by State of Kentucky in 1928, part of which were donated to State in 1881. Request for roadway presented to Jefferson County Fiscal Court in 1924 and roadway built in 1926. The cost of all other improvements and maintenance borne by Congressional appropriations. Outdoor Art League’s Special Committee: Mrs. Chas. D. Greer Miss Fannie Figg Miss Amelia Lamer

    This is the inscription on the back of the pedestal (in all capital letters) referring to the presidents of the Outdoor Art League:
    Presidents under whose regime this work was accomplished: Mrs. Chas. F. Huhlein Mrs. Joseph N. Grant Mrs. Geo. H. Webb, Mrs. John H. Miller

  • Designer: unknown
  • Builder: unknown
  • Construction Date: Sundial dedicated Nov 1, 1931
 
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Last Revised: 2021-11-04 18:42