- This is a simple bronze armillary, known as the Rittenhouse Armillary, and is about 2 feet (0.6m) in diameter consisting of a meridian ring, equatorial ring, and zodiac ring aligned with the polar axis. The gnomon is a traditional arrow rod casting its shadow telling local solar time using Roman numerals. Friends of Montrose Park relate its history: In 1956 the Georgetown Garden Club erected a memorial to Sarah Louisa Rittenhouse, through whose “vision and perseverance this land became Montrose Park”. Rittenhouse had worked relentlessly to persuade Congress and the Senate to authorize purchase of the Montrose estate, which was up for sale...The Garden Club commissioned architect Gertrude Sawyer who designed a bronze armillary sphere set on top of a limestone pedestal. Alterations were made to the center of the Entrance Ellipse, originally designed by Horace Peaslee in 1919, in order to accommodate the memorial. This memorial was a gift from the Georgetown Garden Club and was dedicated in 1956.
In 2019 the dial was vandalized, and as reported by Kate Oczypok in the August 12, 2022 Geogetowner: While the sphere — a model of the heavens with roots in ancient Greece and China — was completely removed in May of 1969, vandals chose to leave it behind this time around. Fifty years ago, after the sphere was removed from its location, it ended up at the door of the Washington Evening Star, which ceased publication nearly 40 years ago. In an article from the Star dated May 14, 1969, the theft coincided with “a noticeable rise in hippies at the fashionable park, which usually brings thoughts of nannies and small children.” ...According to Georgina Owens, president of Friends of Montrose Park, vandals used a large branch to twist the sphere off its base, which ended up damaging both the sphere and the base. The National Park Service conservation lab has inspected the sphere and is currently working on proposals for its restoration. The repaired and polished dial was rededicated 3 to 5 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 6., at the park’s entrance on R Street.
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