STATUE OF ALEXANDER R. SHEPHERD
The statue standing in front of the District Building, at Fourteenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW., was unveiled May 3, 1909. The cost of its erection, $10,192.67, was defrayed by public subscription in the city of Washington.
The statue is the work of U. S. J. Dunbar, sculptor. It perpetuates the memory of a man who in the face of great opposition accomplished wonders for the National Capital.
Mr. Shepherd, for the years 1873 and 1874, was Governor of the District of Columbia, and previous to that had been vice president and executive officer of the board of public works, which inaugurated a program for municipal improvement that led to the transformation of the city in that day, as has been heretofore described. Driven from the city, he went to Mexico and accumulated a fortune, returning later to Washington. His tomb is in Rock Creek Cemetery, not far from the famous Adams Memorial.