page_title: United States Military Academy
section_title: Campus
hierarchical_section_title: United States Military Academy / Campus
caption_attribution_description: English: The "Mural Wing" of Washington Hall, the Cadet Mess Hall at the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY during lunchtime. All 4000+ cadets dine together family style at the exact same time every day for breakfast and lunch.
context_page_description: The United States Military Academy, also known as West Point, Army, Army West Point, The Academy, or simply The Point, is a four-year federal service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort that sits on strategic high ground overlooking the Hudson River with a scenic view, 50 miles north of New York City. It is the oldest of the five American service academies.
  The academy traces its roots to 1801, when President Thomas Jefferson directed that plans be set in motion to establish the United States Military Academy at West Point. The entire central campus is a national landmark and home to scores of historic sites, buildings, and monuments. The majority of the campus's Norman-style buildings are constructed from gray and black granite. The campus is a popular tourist destination, with a visitor center and the oldest museum in the United States Army.
  Candidates for admission must apply directly to the academy and receive a nomination, usually from a member of Congress. Other nomination sources include the President and Vice President.
context_section_description: The academy is located approximately 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City on the western bank of the Hudson River. West Point, New York, is incorporated as a federal military reservation in Orange County and is adjacent to Highland Falls. Based on the significance both of the Revolutionary War fort ruins and of the military academy itself, the majority of the academy area was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960. In 1841, Charles Dickens visited the academy and said "It could not stand on more appropriate ground, and any ground more beautiful can hardly be." One of the most visited and scenic sites on post, Trophy Point, overlooks the Hudson River to the north, and is home to many captured cannon from past wars as well as the Stanford White-designed Battle Monument. Though the entire military reservation encompasses 15,974 acres (65 km²), the academic area of the campus, known as "central area" or "the cadet area", is entirely accessible to cadets or visitors by foot.
  In 1902, the Boston architectural firm Cram, Goodhue, and Ferguson was awarded a major construction contract that set the predominantly neogothic architectural style still seen today. Most of the buildings of the central cadet area are in this style, as typified by the Cadet Chapel, completed in 1910. These buildings are nearly all constructed from granite that has a predominantly gray and black hue. The barracks that were built in the 1960s were designed to mimic this style. Other buildings on post, notably the oldest private residences for the faculty, are built in the Federal, Georgian, or English Tudor styles. A few buildings, such as Cullum Hall and the Old Cadet Chapel, are built in the Neoclassical style.
  The academy grounds are home to numerous monuments and statues. The central cadet parade ground, the Plain, hosts the largest number, and includes the Washington Monument, Thayer Monument, Eisenhower Monument, MacArthur Monument, Kosciuszko Monument, and Sedgwick Monument. Patton Monument was first dedicated in front of the cadet library in 1950, but in 2004 it was placed in storage to make room for the construction of Jefferson Hall. With the completion of Jefferson Hall, Patton's statue was relocated and unveiled at a temporary location on 15 May 2009, where it will remain until the completion of the renovation of the old cadet library and Bartlett Hall. There is also a statue commemorating brotherhood and friendship from the École Polytechnique in the cadet central area just outside Nininger Hall. The remaining campus area is home to 27 other monuments and memorials.
  The West Point Cemetery is the final resting place of many notable graduates and faculty, including George Armstrong Custer, Winfield Scott, William Westmoreland, Earl Blaik, Margaret Corbin, and eighteen Medal of Honor recipients. The cemetery is also the burial place of several recent graduates who have died during the ongoing conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of the older grave sites have large and ornate grave markers, the largest belonging to Egbert Viele (class of 1847), chief engineer of Brooklyn's Prospect Park. The cemetery is also home to a monument to Revolutionary War heroine Margaret Corbin.
caption: One of the six wings of Washington Hall during lunchtime.
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