Merrill Crater honors Dr. George. P. Merrill (Maine 1879), one-time curator of geology at the Smithsonian Institution. In his lifetime, he was the world's foremost authority on meteors, having written more than 60 scientific papers on the subject.

Near Coconino National Forest
Coconino County, Arizona
  
  

Mount Rushmore is famed for the four massive, sculpted faces of U.S. Presidents. The mountain itself is named for Charles E. Rushmore (CCNY 1876). He traveled to South Dakota while working as an attorney for a mining interest. Years later, Rushmore donated $5000 toward the sculpture project.

President Calvin Coolidge (Amherst 1895) dedicated the National Memorial in 1927.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Highway 244
Keystone, South Dakota
 
 

The birthplace of Calvin Coolidge (Amherst 1895) is preserved as a state park and historic district. Visitors may see the room where, upon hearing that President Harding had died, Coolidge took the oath of office from his father. Many other village buildings are open to the public. The graves of Calvin Coolidge and his son Calvin Jr. (Amherst 1927) are nearby, as are Coolidge State Forest and Coolidge State Park.

Route 100A
Plymouth Notch, Vermont
 
 

In 1889, Gamma Phi Chapter at Penn State built the first home owned by Phi Gamma Delta. Since the railroad did not extend to State College then, wagons hauled in building materials, contributing to the house's high cost of $5,000. The two-and-a-half story wood frame house housed fourteen brothers and featured a wrap-around porch and fenced lot.

In January, 1916 the chapter moved into a new house designed by Walter Mellor (Pennsylvania 1904).

The old house was moved in the 1930s to the back of its property, from the corner of Allen Street and Beaver Avenue to its current location. A commercial structure took the old frontage. Today, the building hardly resembles its old self. Subdivided into apartments, the porch and other distinguishing features have been stripped away.

Allen Street and Highland Alley
State College, Pennsylvania
 
 

Phi Gamma Delta's first congressman and general was also one of its two first initiates. The Founders initiated Albert G. Jenkins (Jefferson 1848) on May 8th, just a week after the Fraternity's founding. He served in Congress from 1857 until the Civil War, when he commanded cavalry and served in the Confederate Congress.

Jenkins used the Rupp House as his headquarters June 28-30, 1863. The monument was erected at the house in 2005. Jenkins' troops made the northernmost advance by Confederate troops during the Gettysburg campaign.

5115 East Trindle Road (at the Rupp House)
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
 
 

General Jenkins died in 1864 from wounds suffered at Cloyd's Mountain, Virginia. His body was twice re-interred, coming to rest ultimately in Huntington.

Spring Hill Cemetery
1427 Norway Avenue
Huntington, West Virginia

Jenkins' family plantation, Greenbottom, is now a state wildlife area. The 1835 home is a museum just north of Huntington.

Jenkins Plantation Museum
8814 Ohio River Road
Lesage, West Virginia
 
 

Dr. James Woodrow (Jefferson 1848) joined the Fraternity during its first month of existence. He went on to become a professor, an editor, and the president of the University of South Carolina. James Woodrow passed away in 1907; his nephew Woodrow Wilson later became a U.S. President.

Today James Woodrow is best remembered for arguing the theory of evolution, a stance which drew the ire of other Presbyterian leaders. In the 1880s the church put him on trial and attempted to have him removed as a professor at Columbia Theological Seminary.

Elmwood Cemetery & Gardens
Section 36, Lot 25, Grave 3
501 Elmwood Ave
Columbia, South Carolina
 
 

The first two men initiated by the Founders were J. B. Penington (Jefferson 1848) and A.G. Jenkins (Jefferson 1848).

In 1857, the year that Jenkins entered the US Congress, Penington became a member of the Delaware house of representatives. He later served as a US district attorney, Delaware's attorney general, and in the US Congress from 1887 to 1891. He died in 1902.

Presbyterian Cemetery, adjacent to the Museum of Small Town Life
316 S. Governors Avenue at Bank Lane
Dover, Delaware
 
 

Samuel Cosgrove (Ohio Wesleyan 1873) served as Washington's governor in 1909. He resigned due to poor health. His adopted hometown of Pomeroy erected a bust of him in front of their courthouse. In 2000 the bust was placed in front of the Garfield County Museum.

It is interesting to note that while he was governor, his contemporary Charles Warrent Fairbanks (Ohio Wesleyan 1872) was vice-president of the United States. Herman D. Crowe (Ohio Wesleyan 1871) was serving on Washington's supreme court.

Cosgrove's former home stands at 1710 Columbia Street.

Garfield County Museum
708 Columbia Street at 7th Street
Pomeroy, Washington
 
 

Percy Williams is a hero of Canadian track.  Aged 20, he won gold at the 1928 Olympics in both the 100 and the 200 meter run. In 1930 he set a world record in the 100 meters . . . the fastest man in the world!

The statue was erected at BC Place, Vancouver's stadium, in 1996. Find it outside the BC Sports Hall of Fame at Gate A, where you can learn more about Percy Williams.

As a freshman, Williams joined Alpha Gamma Phi, a local fraternity at University of British Columbia. He was initiated into Phi Gamma Delta on October 5, 1929 when Alpha Gamma Phi was installed as our Pi Gamma Chapter.

BC Sports Hall of Fame at BC Place
777 Pacific Boulevard South
Vancouver, British Columbia
 
 

Christy Mathewson is regarded as one of baseball's greatest pitchers ever.  To mention just one accomplishment, during the 1905 World Series he pitched three shutouts!  Mathewson was initiated into the first class of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936. He was known as much for his leadership qualities and gentlemanly deportment as for his athletic prowess.

His hometown of Factoryville dedicated this small statue in 2000. It is, fittingly, located in a park named for Mathewson. A copy of the statue is found at nearby Keystone College.

Bucknell University's stadium memorializes Mathewson.

Christy Mathewson Park
Factoryville, Pennsylvania