The 43-foot Gothic Revival monument in the middle of Penn Square commemorates Lancaster County's Union dead from the Civil War. Designed by John C. Brodhead and dedicated in 1874, it lists the names of local soldiers killed in the conflict on its four panels and is topped by a figure of the Goddess of Liberty.
The monument doubles as the visual anchor of downtown — every map of central Lancaster orients itself around it. The market, the courthouse, and the Fulton are all within a 200-metre radius. Worth a minute of pause as you walk past.