Danbury honors veterans of several wars with a 1931 Memorial on the West Street green.
The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial, near the intersection of West and Division streets, is dedicated to soldiers and sailors who served in the American Revolution, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and World War I.
The monument features a bronze group of four soldiers and a sailor standing atop a round granite pillar. A dedication at the monument’s base reads, “Dedicated to the soldiers and sailors of Danbury,” along with years in which the various conflicts started (1776, 1861, 1898, and 1917).
The American Revolution and World War I figures are standing, the Civil War figure and sailor are in kneeling positions, and the Spanish-American war figure is crouched with a rifle at the ready. All of the figures have a variety of personal equipment.
The figures were created by sculptor Donald E. Curran, a Darien resident who won a design competition.
To the east of the Memorial, a granite boulder bears a plaque, dedicated in 1952, that honors Danbury’s World War II veterans.
At the eastern end of the green, a memorial honors president James A. Garfield, a Civil War veteran. The monument was erected in a park on West Wooster Street in 1884 by local philanthropist Edward A. Houseman, and moved to the West Street Green in 1931.
The monument was restored in 1993 after it was struck by a car.
Source: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Art Inventories Catalog
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