Photo by Graham Cullen Barbara Shealer of the Daughters of the American Revolution addresses an audience gathered to rededicate Braddock Monument after it was moved to its current location on Alternate 40, its third such location.

The Frederick Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution orchestrated the monument's move from a precarious perch on the side of Braddock Mountain to the Middletown Overlook in August.

The local DAR chapter's monument committee brought together engineers, state highway officials and a local crane company to make the move happen.

That was on Aug. 25. Sunday's dedication ceremony was a time for celebration and congratulations. The monument was dedicated June 14, 1924, on Flag Day. In 1935, the DAR named the monument the state's outstanding DAR memorial.

Committee members hope the monument's new home in a visible spot near the crest of the mountain will help it recapture some of its former glory.

"It looks exactly as we wanted it to look," said Joanne Baum, chairwoman of the monument committee, as she welcomed visitors to the dedication. Baum started working on the move in 2007.

The Braddock Monument honors the man who led the way west from Frederick toward Fort Duquesne, which is now Pittsburgh. Gen. Edward Braddock left Frederick in 1755 and led his men over the mountain that today bears his name. With him was a young Lt. George Washington. As they marched, the soldiers carved out of a Native American path a road that is still traveled today.

It is because that road, U.S. 40 Alternate, is such a busy commuter road that the monument became neglected. Over the years, the road bed was raised and widened. In 1959, the monument was moved a short distance by the former State Roads Commission, and there was limited access to the monument.

Steps leading to the monument crumbled and deteriorated, and parking was inconvenient. Visitors were few and far between.

Not any more. "Today, we are celebrating this new location," said Frances A. Randall, a longtime member of the Frederick DAR and a member of the monument committee. "The monument can be seen. Now there is some parking. Now it can help inform the public of some of our past."

The concrete, 25-ton limestone monument, made of stone quarried from the mountain, bears a bronze plaque showing Braddock and Washington drinking from the mountain's spring. It was draped in American and British flags Sunday to show the monument's heritage. Braddock was fighting for England in 1755. The American Revolution was two decades in the future.

Braddock never made it to Fort Duquesne. Native Americans, who joined forces with the French to fight the British in the French and Indian War, ambushed Braddock seven miles from Fort Duquesne and mortally wounded him.

On Sunday, the DAR members, bedecked in red, white and blue, welcomed visitors from other DAR chapters around the state, as well as visitors from the Sons of the American Revolution, the Children of the American Revolution and the Korean War Veterans.

Raleigh Boaze dressed in authentic period clothing.

"The state DAR extends congratulations to the Frederick chapter for their persistence," said Ruann George, the regent of the Maryland DAR. "It is this history we must preserve."

Sculptor Edward Berge, a student of French sculptor Auguste Rodin, made the bronze plaque in 1924. The DAR is having a new brass plaque made to commemorate the recent move.

The entire move cost the local DAR about $36,000, and about $3,000 is still needed, Baum said. Along with Baum and Randall, the committee consists of LaVerne Burall, Carol Larkin, Teresa Oyler, Pati Redmond, Betty Remsburg and Barbara Shealer.

In addition to the new brass plaque, the monument will eventually bear an interpretive sign that will offer visitors a brief history of the monument.