A New Portrait of Washington’s Grays Ferry Crossing

Going down a recent Google rabbit hole I stumbled upon a new painting of Washington’s crossing at Grays Ferry on his way to his inauguration that I had never seen before. The painting is immaculate, almost like it was commissioned at someone’s request to capture the precious moment when Washington passed through the city limits.

The point of focus is the Arch erected at the foot of the ferry’s bridge. The Triumphal Arch is a piece of architecture that you see throughout history in all societies of the world. Originating in Rome, The Triumphal Arch was “a type of Roman architectural monument built all over the empire to commemorate military triumphs and other significant events such as the accession of a new emperor”. Perhaps the most famous scene in recent history was Hitler marching his armies through the Paris’s Arc de Triomphe, which Napoleon had constructed in 1806, as a taunting symbol, letting the world know of his new state of oppression in Europe.

Although the arch constructed at Gray’s Ferry in anticipation of Washington’s return was not a massive structure made of stone and marble, the gesture was just as beautiful. George Washington was America’s first president, and the people of Philadelphia would welcome him as their new “emperor” without anyone telling them they had to do so. He was a man who could have been king if he wanted to, with no objections, but he was a visionary and he knew better, and he recognized what role he played in establishing the nation as a republic as opposed to an empire, or a dictatorship.

Years down the line, hundreds of monuments would be erected in honor of Washington, but I find deep deep solace in knowing that one of the first, although made of timber and leaf, was erected if only for a brief while less than half a mile from where I live. Now there is an avenue, a gas station, a McDonald’s down the street. Times change - but if we take the time to remember and honor those who have passed through before, maybe we can latch on to some part of them, some of their ideals, some of what they stood for.

- J.H

President-Elect Washington crosses floating bridge (Gray’s Ferry) — and through a triumphal arch — on his inaugural journey, Philadelphia, April 20, 1789