Located on Marcellus Road, memorial park is one of the Village’s most beautiful places for residents to enjoy. The park has a rich history dating back to the early 1900s.
The Park was once home to a native zoo. Its animals were rustic and blended in with our local environment.
History
Almost 100 years ago, the United States entered World War I (1914-1918), a brutal conflict that claimed 116,000 lives. The Allies gained a decisive advantage in the European battlefields, and at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, an armistice was signed.
Rather than the competing headstones of traditional cemeteries, memorial parks use tasteful bronze monuments lying flat on landscaped plots. Central water features, statuary and other site amenities accentuate the overall beauty of the park-like burial grounds.
The park was originally created to honor local service members who died in the Great War (WWI). It is a secluded open space nestled among old-growth redwoods that offers a multitude of camping, picnicking and hiking opportunities. Visitors will find a wide variety of plant and animal species, including banana slugs, woodpeckers, owls, Steller’s jays, deer and squirrels. The park is also home to a seasonal creek and Pescadero State Beach.
Memorial Walls
Memorial Park is home to one of Long Island’s most fitting 9-11 memorials and also includes a Veterans Memorial honoring all village residents who served their nation. Memorials are found throughout the Park including a Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the USS Columbia warship memorial.
The central piece of the park is the Wall South, a permanent memorial to the names of the American service members who died in the Vietnam War. Modeled after the Wall in Washington, D.C., the Memorial is unique because of its concrete walls and openings which allow light to shine through them and illuminate the names on the monument.
The main focus of SPLOST 2020 Project #16 is to replace failed stormwater structures currently hindering Memorial Park’s ability to function. The existing pond and forebay require dredging, re-engineering and significant repairs to prevent further failure. Visit the project story map to learn more details and provide feedback on the proposed designs.
Doughboy Statue
The bronze statue depicts a World War I foot soldier wearing an overseas cap, or doughboy. It was sculpted by Alonzo Victor Lewis, who also created several other WWI memorials around the region.
Lewis first modeled the doughboy in plaster for a 1921 reunion of local soldiers, then cast it in bronze to honor those from Caddo County who died in the Great War. A similar sculpture stands in Lincoln Park, and a third can be found in Palmer Park.
The doughboy is positioned at the memorial park’s “mustering ground” where local troops gathered before going off to fight in WWI. Ten of these local men never returned home, earning them the distinction of making the ultimate sacrifice for their country. The memorial commemorates all the local service members who made this ultimate sacrifice, and a nearby plaque lists their names. The memorial is a fine example of the type of artwork that prompted battles over its meaning and symbolism during the time it was being constructed.
Peace Statue
The Peace Statue, also known as the Children’s Peace Monument or the Atomic Bomb Children’s Memorial, was built in 1958 and honors the thousands of children who died as a result of the Hiroshima nuclear bombing. The statue depicts a young girl named Sadako Sasaki holding a wire crane above her head. It is based on the Japanese legend that states that anyone who folds one thousand paper cranes will be granted a wish. Sadako began folding origami cranes shortly before she died of radiation poisoning and hoped her final wish would be for world peace.
The statue is a symbol of hope, and her closed eyes represent prayers and respect for the victims of the bombing. The bent right leg symbolizes meditation and the left is a reminder that war must never be repeated. The sculpture stands atop a hill at the memorial park, which also houses other military monuments, including a colonnade for World War II and ones commemorating the Korean and Vietnam Wars.