Lodge 43 in partnership with the Lancaster City Office of Public Art and Urban Design, and the Office of Parks and Public Property will be undertaking a project to have the James Buchanan Statue which stands in Buchanan Park professionally cleaned in April or May this year.
The statue has not been cleaned since 2003. The bronze statue was the creation of Charles Grafly. Charles Grafly was a well accomplished Philadelphia sculptor, and a professor at the Philadelphia School of Art. Grafly began sculpting the Buchanan bronze statue in 1925.
The statue was commissioned by the family of the late Dulon Buchmiller as indicated in his will. Dulon Buchmiller was the business owner of Buchmiller Locks and a Philanthropist. Dulon Buchmiller died in 1922, had admired James Buchanan, thus directed $25,000 of his estate to be devoted to the creation of a James Buchanan statue.
Dulon Buchmiller also donated the land which is now known as Buchmiller Park to Lancaster City.
Additionally Dulon Buchmiller was a Freemason and a member of Lamberton Lodge. He became a Mason in 1903. The Buchmiller family has also donated the World War 1 Memorial Fountain which stands in the Memorial Gardens at Masonic Village in Elizabethtown Pa. The Memorial Fountain is inscribed “Dulon Buchmiller Memorial Fountain” The Grafly sculpture was completed in 1927 and placed in Buchanan Park in 1928 with a large ceremonial event.
Lodge 43 along with the City Park and Public Art Offices will be using the professional services of A.R.T. Research Enterprises, a local firm that specializes in fabrication, design, conservation, and restoration services.
2023 marked the 200th Anniversary of James Buchanan serving as Worshipful Master of Lodge 43, and 2024 marks the 200th Anniversary of his appointment as the first District Deputy in Pennsylvania by the Grand Lodge in Philadelphia.
Nathaniel Gilchrist Past Master and Historian, Lodge 43