The Lafayette Arch was unveiled in 1976 as a part of the bicentennial celebration. It marks the entrance to Lafayette Park, a small pocket park dedicated to the memory and contributions of the Marquis de Lafayette, friend of the Patriots, hero of the American Revolution, and early abolitionist. Designed by local architect Mary Ramsay Brown Channel, it is and inspired by an arch erected in Portsmouth in 1824 to honor the Marquis de Lafayette’s visit to the city and dedicated to “all who lived and died for freedom.”