Toledo, Washington: Gospodor Monuments
Towering metal columns once supported sculptures commemorating the Holocaust, the American Indian, and Christianity. Creator Dominic Gospoder died in 2010, and his monuments are now falling into ruin.
- Address:
- 370 Camus Rd, Toledo, WA
- Directions:
- I-5 exit 63, turn east, then make a quick right onto Camus Rd. Drive south 1.5 miles. On the right.
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The monument park is closed and locked. All that remains are the towers, but no statuary. It looked like there might be ruins at the base of the towers, but it's all very overgrown.
[Jordin Baugh, 07/06/2023]The statues that once topped the monuments are gone, but the large metal poles and weather vane remain.
[C Richards, 06/11/2018]
Dominic Gospodor, the eccentric bachelor who spent over $1 million building the Gospodor Monuments, has died at age 86. He never told anyone why he built them, or exactly what he meant to say with their peculiar combination of Mother Teresa, Native Americans, Jesus, Holocaust victims, an eagle, and an enormous weather vane.
Mr. Gospodor reportedly wrote in his will that upon his death a nonprofit organization had to be found to take over ownership of the monuments. But he also reportedly left no money to maintain them, or even to pay for the electricity that lights them at night. The monument pylons are made of structural steel, however, and should be around for a while.
[RoadsideAmerica.com Team, 09/22/2010]The new owners of the Gospodor Monuments are the Cowlitz Indian tribe, who initially said that they would maintain the Monument and turn its lights back on at night. They didn't. Jesus lost an arm in early Oct. 2014. Then on Nov. 11 a windstorm toppled him from his lofty perch.
Three existing "high-rise" monuments commemorate the Holocaust, the American Indian struggle and Christian faith with statues or symbols atop 100-foot-plus steel-pipe towers. But you wouldn't know it driving by on the freeway. The statues were erected by millionaire Dominic Gospodor, who [probably said something like] "I figure I'll do what I want to do" with his money.
Taking the closest service road can give you a rear view, but no further information is posted. The pedestals are now rusty cylinders.
[Michael Sussman, 08/09/2007]
Park with large statues on I-5. One statue is Mother Theresa and another is an American Indian. The largest is one of Jesus.
[Tim Foutz, 10/01/2005]Seattle resident Dominic Gospoder, 81, is the artist who erected 100-ft. tall steel towers, each supporting a 20 ft. wooden statue. The first three monuments placed in 2001 were to remember the Holocaust, Christianity, and the struggle of American Indians. Mother Teresa was added later, and Gospoder was considering additional monuments to polio vaccine inventor Jonas Salk, African Americans, Susan B. Anthony, William Seward, and 17,000 people killed annually by drunk drivers.
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The Towers' creator, Dominic Gospoder, died in 2010, and apparently left no money for their maintenance.