Cathedral Restoration Begins, 1 Year After Earthquake
High above Washington, DC, a crocket stone was hoisted into place, marking the formal start of the post-earthquake restoration of the Washington National Cathedral.
It was just a small, carved stone, but it symbolized so much more. Cheers erupted as a newly carved crocket stone was carefully put into place in the southwest pinnacle of Washington National Cathedral's central tower—the "Gloria in Excelsis" tower—on Thursday afternoon, one year after a magnitude 5.8 earthquake shook the region. A pulley hoisted the stone from the roof of the tower to near the top of the pinnacle. With all of Washington, DC, at their feet, stone masons Joe Alonso (the cathedral's head mason) and Sean Callaghan guided the stone into place, then shook hands, 676 feet above sea level (according to cathedral facts). (A crocket is a carved stone—often depicting foliage—that projects from a pinnacle, according to New York …
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