Bladensburg Peace Cross Memorial Honoring Veterans To Be Rededicated By Gov. Hogan

BLADENSBURG, MD — The recently restored Peace Cross Memorial in Bladensburg will be rededicated Friday at 11 a.m. Gov. Larry Hogan will lead the ceremony on Veterans Day at 11 a.m.

The Peace Cross, first dedicated on July 12, 1925, by the American Legion, honors 49 residents of Prince George's County who lost their lives during World War I. The rededication ceremony follows a comprehensive restoration after the monument’s marble and concrete structure and decorative facing materials began to degrade and needed work, according to the governor's office.

Over the years, the 40-foot-tall memorial has been struck by lightning, sustained damage from flooding from the nearby Anacostia River and been hit by vehicle traffic.

The Bladensburg Peace Cross is located in the median at the intersection of Annapolis Road/MD Route 50 and Baltimore Avenue/US Route 1. Road closures will be in effect.

The American Humanist Association filed a lawsuit in 2014 over the cross, Patch reported, arguing that the 91-year-old memorial amounted to government sponsorship of religion in violation of the Constitution’s First Amendment. In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that the monument could remain on public land and does not violate the First Amendment’s establishment clause. At Hogan’s direction, the state of Maryland filed an amicus brief in support of keeping the Peace Cross on public land.