MARYHILL, Wash. — In Maryhill, Washington, a monument pays eternal tribute to those lost to a long-ago war.
"This is one of the most exciting, unbelievable places that's right under everyone's noses," said Amy Behrens, executive director of the Maryhill Museum of Art. The museum owns and maintains the monument.
World War I was still raging when a wealthy visionary named Samuel Hill chose to honor the sacrifice of local soldiers with the 5,000-year-old design.
"At the time, historians thought that the original Stonehenge, out on the Salisbury Plain of England, was a site for human sacrifice," Behrens said.
Hill envisioned his Stonehenge as the original might have appeared long ago.
"One of the things that people notice when they visit Stonehenge is how intact it looks," Behrens said. "That's because Sam Hill decided to build the monument as if it were recently constructed."
Archaeologists, astronomers and engineers helped Hill design his creation to perfectly mimic the size and shape of the original. But building the massive pillars from local stone proved insufficient.
"It's reinforced concrete with steel rebar inside. So, a very modern construction for a very ancient style of monument," Behrens said.
It was the first structure ever created to honor those lost in "The Great War," though it wouldn't be completed until a decade later, just a couple of years before Sam Hill's death.
"He was so interested in pursuing these things that meant so much to him that he threw every bit of himself and every bit of his fortune into those projects," said Behrens. "Whatever he threw himself into, he threw himself in 120%."
This Stonehenge still serves as a place of mourning and memory, and is still visited by the families of those killed on the anniversaries of their deaths.
"Some of the descendants of those first Klickitat County veterans who lost their lives live in Goldendale and surrounding areas today."
Samuel Hill's dream stands as a stark reminder of the pride and pain wrought from the ultimate sacrifice.
"To honor those whose lives had been lost by this terrible pursuit of war," Behrens said.