The monument was first suggested in 1869. However, little was done to create the monument until 1893 – at a time the memory of the war was fading and there was a wave of nostalgia for the Civil War in the country – when the New York State legislature established a Board of Commissioners for a monument to the soldiers and sailors who had served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Originally set to be built at Fifty-ninth Street and Fifth Avenue then at Mount Tom (83rd Street and Riverside Drive) the project was delayed for many years because many organizations in the city could not agree on a site for the monument. When the final site was selected, the winning design for the monument had to be redesigned for the new site.