Cannon Park

Cannon Park was created by the citizens of Stillwater as a symbol of the village's military history and of the sacrifices made by its veterans. The site held monuments honoring local involvement in conflicts from the American Revolution to World War II. A central feature of the park was a cannon obtained by Major Harmon Bradt, who came to Stillwater in 1832 when his father took charge of the tollgate at the newly completed covered bridge over the Hudson River. Bradt attended the Stillwater Academy, served as a devoted member and Service Warden of St. John Episcopal Church, worked in a dry goods store in Troy until 1851, and later, while serving as Village Treasurer, secured a surplus cannon from Watervliet Arsenal and brought it to Stillwater by canal boat. The land, once called Lansing Park after Gilbert and Fanny Lansing, was donated in 1874 to the old Methodist and Episcopal Churches, but because it was swampy and civic engagement had ebbed amid the financial effects of the 1893 depression, development was delayed. In 1904 Bradt, then a Park Commissioner, made repairs during a labor shortage, but the site remained undeveloped until the Stillwater women became involved. In 1907 the Village Improvement Society, with the approval of the Village Board, took over the park's beautification by filling and grading the swamp, laying out three flower beds, trimming the street elms, and cleaning, painting, and mounting the cannon at the park's center. Other memorials were later added, all honoring the men and women of Stillwater who served their country from the American Revolution to the present.

Stillwater, New York · United States