The Man Who Brought an Egyptian Obelisk All the Way to New York

Henry Honychurch Gorringe, a 19th Century naval officer, discovered an mountain range, brought Cleopatra’s Needle to New York and almost ended-up on a wildlife adventure with Teddy Roosevelt. His name is also one of the very few words in the English language rhyming with Orange

he Obelisk’s the trip by rail across Central Park; illustration from H.H.Gorringe’s book Egyptian Obelisks; via Linda Hall Library.

In Sparkill buried lies that man of mark
Who brought the Obelisk to Central Park,
Redoubtable Commander H.H. Gorringe,
Whose name supplies the long-sought rhyme for “orange.

Thus goes a quatrain by humourist Arthur Guiterman, referencing Gorringe’s final resting place in Rockland Cemetery, in Sparkhill, a suburban hamlet in the Town of Orangetown, Rockland County, New York. Henry Honychurch Gorringe’s main claims to fame, beyond his name being a rare rhyme for “orange”, are discovering an underwater mountain range named “The Gorringe Ridge” after him, and bringing the Obelisk known as Cleopatra’s Needle from Alexandria in Egypt to New York’s Central Park.

The Gorringe Ridge