Memorial Arch of Tilton 3.03

The Memorial Arch of Tilton, sometimes referred to as Tilton's Folly, is a historic arch on Elm Street in Northfield, New Hampshire, United States, on a hill overlooking the town of Tilton. The 55ft was built by Charles Tilton in 1882; it was modeled after the Arch of Titus in Rome, its surfaces, however, modeled in the rustication that was currently a fashionable feature of Romanesque revival building. The Memorial Arch of Tilton was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.HistoryCharles Tilton was inspired to create a triumphal arch in 1881, when he visited Rome. While there he saw the Arch of Titus and decided to create a similar structure in his town to "symbolize the victories of peace rather than those of war." Ironically he chose to build this monument to peace on top of an old Indian fort at the apex of a local hill.Construction was completed on the Memorial Arch in 1882 at a price of 50,000 dollars.By the early 1980s the monument had been added to the National Register of Historic Places, but showed signs of neglect. In 1984 it was repaired and cleaned. Plants growing out of cracks in the top of the arch were removed and the monument itself was sandblasted and repointed. A park around the monument was also created at this time including the addition of picnic tables and grills.The archThe Memorial Arch of Tilton is tall, wide, and is constructed of Concord granite. It sits atop a hill above the Winnipesaukee River, and its foundation goes into the earth. At its base is a 50-ton sarcophagus and red granite "Numidian lion." Tilton intended to be buried in this monument, but was not. He was instead buried roughly a mile west, in Park Cemetery in Tilton.