Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 May 1895 — Ths Drake Cross. [ARTICLE]

Ths Drake Cross.

The prayer book cross, or Drake cross, as the cross in Golden Gate Park is known, is by far the largest cross in the world and is in many respects the most notable piece of stonework on the American continent. It is 57 feet high, standing upon a pedestal of solid stonework 17 feet 6 inches square by 7 feet in height. The cross is composed of sixty-eight pieces of stone, aggregating 600,000 pounds in weight. The arms are formed of eight pieces, each weighing 24,000 pounds, making a total weight of 192,000 pounds. There are ten stones in this cross larger than the largest stone in the famous pyramid of Cheops. The stone used in the construction of the cross is blue sandstone from quarries in Colusa County, and it stands a crushing test of from 9,000 to 12,000 pounds to the square inch. The cross—erected to commemorate the first use of the book of common prayer in this country, at a service held on the shore of Drake’s Bay about St. John’s Day, 1579—was the gift of the late George W. Childs, of Philadelphia, and was unvailed January 1, 1895.—San Francisco Call.