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Monuments & Memorials

"The centennial of World War One offers an opportunity for people in the United States
to learn about and commemorate the sacrifices of their predecessors."

from The World War One Centennial Commission Act, January 14, 2013

DCWorldWarMonumen 1World War One was a watershed in American history. The United States' decision to join the battle in 1917 "to make the world safe for democracy" proved pivotal in securing allied victory — a victory that would usher in the American Century.

In the war's aftermath, individuals, towns, cities, counties, and states all felt compelled to mark the war, as did colleges, businesses, clubs, associations, veterans groups, and houses of worship. Thousands of memorials—from simple honor rolls, to Doughboy sculptures, to grandiose architectural ensembles—were erected throughout the US in the 1920s and 1930s, blanketing the American landscape.

Each of these memorials, regardless of size or expense, has a story. But sadly, as we enter the war's centennial period, these memorials and their very purpose—to honor in perpetuity the more than four million Americans who served in the war and the more than 116,000 who were killed—have largely been forgotten. And while many memorials are carefully tended, others have fallen into disrepair through neglect, vandalism, or theft. Some have been destroyed. Watch this CBS news video on the plight of these monuments.

The extant memorials are our most salient material links in the US to the war. They afford a vital window onto the conflict, its participants, and those determined to remember them. Rediscovering the memorials and the stories they tell will contribute to their physical and cultural rehabilitation—a fitting commemoration of the war and the sacrifices it entailed.

Memorial Hunters Club

We are building a US WW1 Memorial register through a program called the Memorials Hunters Club. If you locate a memorial that is not on the map we invite you to upload your treasure to be permanently archived in the national register.  You can include your choice of your real name, nickname or team name as the explorers who added that memorial to the register. We even have room for a selfie! Check the map, and if you don't see the your memorial CLICK THE LINK TO ADD IT.

 

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Baltimore's War Memorial Buildingloupe
101 North Gay Street
Baltimore
MD
USA 21202
1925
Laurence Hall Fowler

The War Memorial, located at 101 North Gay Street, Baltimore, MD, honors and serves all veterans of Maryland. The building serves as a place of remembrance for fallen soldiers and as an administrative office for veteran’s outreach organizations. The War Memorial Commission was created under both State and City law to operate the War Memorial building. The Commission has custody and supervision of the War Memorial Building and the War Memorial Plaza.

 
Banks Co. – Homer – Veterans Memorial Parkloupe
Corner of GA HWY 51 (Historic Homer Highway) and Yonah Homer Road
Homer
GA
USA 30547
1968
Photos courtesy of Lamar Veatch

Memorial Park adjacent to old Banks County Courthouse.  Plaque inscribed with names from WW1, WW2, and Korea.  With Eternal Flame. 

 
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Barnett Statueloupe
S Washington & W Jackson
Memphis
MO
USA 63555

The statue is of a WWI Doughboy. It is dedicated to a soldier named Barnett by his mother. He was in the army for 43 days before dying of pneumonia at Ft. Riley KS

 
Barren County World War I Memorialloupe
42141 Glasgow KY, USA
Glasgow
KY
USA 42141

This monument has been erected to the lasting memory of those men and women of Barren County who answered the call of their country in the Great War 1917-1918.

 
Bartholomew County Veterans Memorialloupe
Near 234 Washington St #303
Columbus
IN
USA 47201
1997
 
Bartholomew County WWI Honor Rollloupe
Near 234 Washington St #303
Columbus
IN
USA 47201
1939
 
Bartholomew County WWI Veterans Memorialloupe
Near 234 Washington St #303
Columbus
IN
USA 47201
1929
 
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Bartlesville WW1 Memorial Bridgeloupe
E Adams Blvd
Bartlesville
OK
USA 74006

This bridge originally carried US-60, but today it has been bypassed by a modern bridge. However, this historic bridge remains in use as a connector for Commanche Avenue, a northbound (one-way) city street. The bridge has been preserved, and an interpretive sign has been placed under the bridge where a trail is located. The bridge features decorative pillars with 10 plaques memorializing more than 800 Oklahomans who served during World War I. The plaques were donated by Frank Phillips of Phillips Petroleum. Plaques and pillars have been restored & refinished.

 
Batavia Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines Monumentloupe
E. Main St. and Ellicott St.
Batavia
NY
USA 14020

A base projecting from a large granite obelisk supports a bronze statue of Batavia resident Maj. Gen. Emory Upton dressed in a Civil War uniform. Atop the obelisk is a bronze eagle with outstretched wings, standing on a ball with four mooring rings. It was originally dedicated on August 6, 1919, to honor the soldiers, sailors, and marines from Genesee County. Later, dedications were added for the veter­ans of WWI, WWII, and the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

 
Batesville Memorial Buildingloupe
Batesville
IN
USA 47006
August 1923
 
Batesville War Memorialloupe
320 E College Ave
Batesville
AR
USA 72501
No additional information at this time.
 
BATH ENLISTEES MONUMENT & MEMORIAL HONOR ROLL loupe
W. Bath Rd. & Lisbon Rd
Bath
NH
USA 03740

Originally Dedicated: 1923

The center grey granite column displays a bronze World War 1 plaque which reads:

            IN HONOR
                 OF
THE MEN WHO ENLISTED FROM
              BATH
IN THE WARS OF OUR COUNTRY
     ERECTED BY THE TOWN
            —————
1917 WORLD WAR 1918

Followed by the names of the 31 sons of Bath, NH who served in the “World War” including 2
who died in service, noted with a star preceding their name.

 

Plaques on either side of World War 1 list those who served and those who Made The
Supreme Sacrifice in World War 2 (91), Korea (29) & Vietnam (23). On the back of the
monument are plaques dedicated to those who served and sacrificed their lives in the
Revolutionary War (56), Civil War (124), The War of 1812 (35) and the Mexican War (5).

 
Battle Born: Memorial to Nevada's Fallen Warriorsloupe
101 Carson St
Carson City
NV
USA 89701

Set on the Nevada State Capitol grounds and dedicated on November 9, 2018, The Battle Born Memorial is a sanctuary where the stories of Nevada's heroes’ can be shared and remembered. Etched for eternity, the monument bears the name of every fallen warrior from the Silver State as an everlasting memorial to their service and ultimate sacrifice.

 
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Baxter County Courthouseloupe
1 E 7th St.
Mountain Home
AR
USA 72653

Courthouse for Baxter County, Arkansas.

 
Baxter County Courthouseloupe
1 E 7th St.
Mountain Home
AR
USA 72653
No additional information at this time.
 
Bay City Dough Boy by John Paulingloupe
100 E. Midland St
Bay City
MI
USA 48706
1924
John Pauling

Bay City Doughboy Statue by John Pauling

The Doughboy Statue was erected in 1924 after the Bay City Women's Improvement Committee approached the Bay City Commission about erecting a statue in 1923, Brady said. It cost $2,100.

The bronze statue has been under the care and auspices of the Bay County Library System. While there doesn't appear to be any documentation of maintenance of the statue, it's in remarkably good shape.

 
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Beaverton Veterans Memorial Parkloupe
12500 SW Allen Blvd
Beaverton
OR
USA 97005

This park contains many different memorials commemorating service in World War 1, including one for submariners and one for Medal of Honor recipients from all wars. The park is also home to many more monuments and memorials unrelated to World War 1, including Oregon's first Vietnam War Memorial.

 
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Beaverton WW1 Memorialloupe
Ross Lake Park
Beaverton
MI
USA 48612

The Survivor

100 Cities / 100 Memorials

100c 100m wwi centennial plaque Erected in 1925, the World War I monument "The Survivor" features a lone surviving soldier standing on the battlefield with a dead comrade on one side and a fatally wounded soldier on the other.  It is the survivor who must continue to strive to achieve the final victory so that his compatriots will not have died in vain.  The cement statue was designed and hand carved by German-American sculptor and artist, Helmuth Von Zengen.  It was reported that an estimated 3,000 people attended its unveiling in 1925. The statue originally stood in front of Brown Machine and was later moved to Ross Lake Park in 1986.

 
Bedford Veterans Monumentloupe
Bedford
IN
USA 47421
January 13, 1924
 
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Bel Air Armoryloupe
37 N. Main St.
Bel Air
MD
USA 21014

The castle-like Armory, designed by architect John Bentz Hamme; Builder: Lawrence Whalen & Co, was built in 1915, of Port Deposit granite, with two hexagonal crenellated towers and its machicolated cornice. Bel Air's local National Guard units marched from its doors to the Mexican border, and to service in Europe in World Wars I and II. This building has seen its share of patriotic festivals, community send-offs and a 1918 victory jubilee. The Armory even became Bel Air's Civilian Defense Headquarters during World War II. 

 
Belchertown War Memorial Flagpoleloupe
Town Common, Main St.
Belchertown
MA
USA 01007

An aluminum flagpole is supported by a square granite base bearing bronze plaques naming those from Belchertown who partic­ipated in WWI, WWII, and the Korean War, and those who died in them. It was designed by Alderman & McNeish and was dedicated on September 23, 1961.

 
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Belle Harbor Memorial Circleloupe
Veterans' Circle
2 Columbus Ave
New York
NY
USA 10023
1948

THE TREES IN THIS CIRCLE ARE DEDICATED / TO THOSE WHO MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE / IN WORLD WAR II / 1941-1945 / ARTHUR A. AMRON --- GEORGE P. HUMMEL --- JULES D. SCHLICHTER / FRANCIS T. ACTON --- AUSTIN W. KELLY JR. --- DONALD R. SCHNEIDER / LEONARD A. BENJAMIN --- JAMES P. KENNY --- LOUIS SEIDMAN / HAROLD J. BLANTHORN --- JOHN M. LEWIS JR. --- MURRAY SEIFF / CORNELIUS M. CALPIN --- LEONARD KRAM --- DONALD W. SELZ / JOHN E. CORRIGAN --- THOMAS MCARDLE --- HERBERT SPRINGER / RICHARD H. DAVIS --- BERNARD MEEHAN --- JOSEPH K. THIER / HENRY J. DEHNERT --- JAMES F. O'BRIEN --- ALVIN S. WEISS / ALAN EVANS --- VINCENT W. O'KEEFE --- BERNARD H. WIENER / ARNOLD P. FOX --- HAROLD W. ROBERTS --- GEORGE WILLIAMS / HERBERT HOFFENBERG --- GEORGE P. ROLLY --- ARTHUR ZIEGLER / BELLE HARBOR GARDEN CLUB /

 
Belle Plaine Veterans Memorial Parkloupe
101 Commerce Dr E, Belle Plaine, MN 56011
Belle Plaine
MN
USA 56011
 
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Belleau Wood Monumentloupe
Corner of Rand and Ballard Roads
Des Plaines
IL
USA 60016

This memorial is dedicated to the service of the Second Division in Belleau Wood (formerly known as Senne Wood) during WW1.

 
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Belleau Wood Monumentloupe
Rue des Chevaliers de Colomb
Belleau
Hauts-de-France
France 02400

Belleau Wood is located on the high ground to the rear of Aisne-Marne American Cemetery south of the village of Belleau (Aisne), France. In the center of the road leading through the woods is a flagpole and a monument commemorating the valor of the U.S. Marines who captured this area in 1918. 

It commemorates the actions of the 4th Marine Brigade of the U.S. Army’s 2nd Division. The 2nd Division attacked German positions beginning on June 6, 1918. The 4th Marine Brigade liberated Bouresches that day. Its 5th and 6th Marine Regiments fought in Belleau Wood through most of June 1918.  Their gallant actions resulted in the Battle of Belleau Wood ending on June 26. On June 30, 1918, the Commanding General, French 6th Army, officially renamed Belleau Wood as “Wood of the Marine Brigade.”  The 2nd Division sustained casualties of 8,100 officers and men during the intense fighting in this vicinity during June 1918.

Vestiges of trenches, shell holes, and relics of the war to include weapons found in the vicinity, may be seen near the marine monument, which was erected by the U.S. Marine Corps.

 

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