New Britain’s World War I memorial, dedicated on September 22, 1928, honors the 123 local men who died and the 4,000 citizens who served, replacing a temporary wooden memorial built in 1919 at the Main Street entrance to Walnut Hill Park. Designed in the Art Deco style by H. Van Buren Magonigle, the 90-foot limestone obelisk stands at the park’s highest point, where Frederick Law Olmsted’s plan had called for a memorial tower, and features symbolic garlands for strength and victory, butterflies for eternal life, ivy for constancy, eagles for freedom, and bronze plaques bearing the names of the dead. Walnut Hill Park also contains other memorials, including the John F. Kennedy Memorial dedicated on November 22, 1964, A Salute to Women, the Israel Putnam Stone and Memorial placed on July 4, 1876, Ledgers Way honoring R. Peter Ledger, the Father Jerzy Popieluszko Monument dedicated on June 11, 1989, and Freedom Grove, a planting of 200 crabapple trees commemorating the nation’s 200th anniversary.

Photo: City of New Britain, CT (PD)

Photo: Michael Herrick

Photo: Michael Herrick

Photo: Michael Herrick

Photo: Duane and Tracy Marsteller

Photo: Duane and Tracy Marsteller

Photo: Duane and Tracy Marsteller