The Victory Arch

After the 1918 Armistice, Newport News residents chose to honor their community’s role in national defense during World War I and the armed forces who had fought “the war to end all wars” by erecting a triumphal arch for troops disembarking at the nearby embarkation piers to pass under as they entered the city and were feted. Shipyard draftsman Ralph A. Preas designed the 50' × 50' memorial based on the French Arc de Triomphe, and ground was broken on January 27, 1919, for a temporary structure of wood and plaster funded by $6,000 raised through public subscription. Although no inbound troop ships arrived on the day of its dedication, April 13, 1919, the occasion was marked by a civilian parade with floats and 5,000 school children carrying small American flags; at Casino Park, the children in white outfits lined up to spell WELCOME while aviator Eddie Stinson flew overhead in a Curtiss Jenny biplane, releasing more flags and taking aerial photographs. Keynote speaker Samuel R. Buxton said that though the arch was temporary, what it represented was eternal, founded in the love and gratitude of the people, and Boy Scouts unveiled an inscription by attorney Robert C. Bickford: “Greetings with love to those who return/A triumph with tears to those who sleep.”

Newport News, Virginia · United States