26-05-2025
Raleigh's bronze tribute to George Washington gets a makeover
From his perch on Capitol Square, George Washington projects a jaunty self-confidence, his gaze steady, his chin lifted, his wig tied in a respectable bow — keeping a patriot's post with sword at the ready.
But after 168 years, even a founding father needs a good scrubbing, especially this ex-president in bronze, who's turned a bit green from corrosion in the four decades since his last bath.
So over the next week, the man on the $1 bill will get full restoration treatment down to a fresh coat of lacquer.
'He'll look better and last longer,' said Kara Deadmon, site administrator at the N.C. Capitol. 'He'll be a shiny bronze color.'
Washington's makeover, funded through a nonprofit support group, comes as the state continues to tinker with Raleigh's most visible downtown square.
An N.C. House proposal would add a statue of the Rev. Billy Graham, which would be the Capitol's latest addition since the Confederate monument removal in 2020.
Washington has kept steady watch over Fayetteville Street since 1857, when a reported and likely exaggerated crowd of 10,000 people witnessed his statue being dedicated on the Fourth of July — complete with brass bands and explosions.
'As the covering of the statue was removed,' raved The Weekly Standard, 'the roar of cannon brought vividly before our mind's eye many of the terrifying scenes in which the father of his country had stood by her, as her destiny paled and flickered, calm and unmoved as the inanimate figure before us.'
Raleigh held a special fondness for the commander-in-chief, having lost its original Washington statue in the 1831 fire that destroyed the Capitol. That marble monument from Italian sculptor Antonio Canova was widely considered a world masterpiece, depicting the first president in sandals and a Roman military kilt.
So even though the bronze statute was only a copy, one of more than 30 produced nationwide, it represented Washington's triumphant return to Raleigh — a symbolic arrival considering the drumbeats of secession pounding across the South.
As N.C. architectural historian Catherine Bishir has noted:
'By the 1850s, Washington's symbolic importance as father of the nation had grown with the years, as evidenced by the Washington Monument under construction in the nation's capital ... By this time, too, Washington's personification of national identity carried added meaning amid rising tensions between North and South.'
Washington was widely considered stiff as a statue in his own lifetime, described by filmmaker Ken Burns as 'opaque and unknowable.'
But as Raleigh's mascot for independence, none of Washington's awkwardness comes through — only his steely gaze fixed on righteousness, liberty and other important things.
So pardon his scaffolding.
Gallantry requires maintenance.
