From Your Corner of Washington: Stonehenge?

(Images provided by Maryhill Museum of Art)

Most of us know about Stonehenge, that mysterious stone circle located in rural England and said to have been built more than 3,000 years. But did you know that we have a Stonehenge right here in Washington? It’s located on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River where the town of Maryhill once stood (a few miles south of Goldendale). Our state’s version of Stonehenge is an almost identical copy of the more famous one in England. It was built by wealthy entrepreneur and landowner Sam Hill as a memorial to those who died in World War I. It was completed in 1930, a year before Hill died. (Hill is buried nearby.)

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While the English Stonehenge is believed to have been used for both rituals and astronomical observations, the “Maryhill Stonehenge” was created for an entirely different reason. Hill, believing the original Stonehenge was used for sacrifices, built his version in honor of those from Klickitat County who died in World War I. According to the book “Weird Washington,” Hill had 1,650 tons of concrete poured into wrinkled metal molds that simulated the original Stonehenge pillars’ textures. The Maryhill Stonehenge is four miles east of the Maryhill Museum of Art, near the junction of Highway 14 and Highway 97. Located near the Maryhill Stonehenge is the Klickitat County Veterans Memorial, built in 1995. Both memorials are open daily from 7 a.m. to dusk. The Stonehenge Memorial admission is free. To learn more about the Maryhill Stonehenge, go here . Or submit us your photo and story from your corner of Washington