The Soldiers & Sailors Monument at the center of Lancaster city was built to honor local Union veterans of the American Civil War.
In its 136 years of existence, brass plaques have been added to its base to honor veterans killed in the nation's subsequent wars. There are plaques commemorating the fallen of World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Persian Gulf War, and two for the Vietnam War.
But there are no plaques honoring veterans killed in the nation's earlier wars.
"There is no other war we fought that was more important than the Revolution, so we should celebrate it," said Dr. Paul Ripple, who is leading an effort to have a plaque placed on the Penn Square monument honoring veterans of the nation's original war.
Ripple, of the Lancaster County Chapter, Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution, said his group began discussing an appropriate commemoration for the Revolutionary War more than a year ago.
The original discussion called for a statue honoring the war's veterans. But concern arose about a site for the statue in the busy square, and its cost.
The more modest plaque, expected to cost $5,000 to $7,000, would be paid for by the Sons of the Revolution.
To erect the plaque on the city-owned monument, the group needs the approval of Lancaster City Council. That approval is expected to come at council's next meeting, planned for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Southern Market Center.
The plaque would join others already in place on the north side of the monument's base.
The proposed plaque, at 21.5 inches by 32 inches, would displace a much smaller oval put on the granite base in 1973 indicating the monument's listing on the National Register of Historic Places. A new place would be found for the oval.
The Sons of the Revolution is proposing that the plaque would note that the monument stands atop the site of the former county courthouse, where the Continental Congress met on Sept. 27, 1777. It also would note Lancaster County's contribution of leaders, arms and supplies to the war effort.
Ripple said the Sons of the Revolution hopes to dedicate the plaque on Sept. 27 at its annual Capital Day ceremony. For more than 40 years, the group has been marking the anniversary of Lancaster being the fledgling nation's temporary capital.