A granite memorial in Waterbury’s Chase Park honors the wife of the monument’s donor as well as the Pilgrims who landed in Massachusetts.
The Harrub Pilgrim Memorial, near the corner of Highland and Sunnyside avenues, was dedicated in 1930 to honor the Pilgrims as well as Rhoby Harrub, the wife of the monument’s donor Charles Harrub.
The monument, carved from French granite, stands 24 feet tall with 10-foot figures depicting Pilgrim settlers and Native Americans on the monument’s southwest face.
A dedication on the monument’s northeast face reads:
Plymouth Rock does not mark a beginning or an end. It marks a revelation of that which is without beginning and without end. A purpose shining through eternity with a resplendent light undimmed even by the imperfections of men and a response an answering purpose from those who oblivious disdainful of all else sailed hither seeking only for an avenue for the immortal soul. – Calvin Coolidge
A dedication on the monument’s northwest face reads:
Moved by the illustrious record of the Pilgrim Fathers, the donor Charles Harrub in loving memory of his wife Rhoby S. Harrub and of her sympathetic accord, dedicates this monument to the townspeople of Waterbury to keep ever in mind the conquest of hardship and adversity through virile Christian character and unflinching loyalty to almighty God on which was reared the structure of New England.
The monument was created by sculptor Herman A. MacNeil, whose other works include several statues on the Connecticut State Capitol building.
Charles H. Harrub, a Massachusetts native and Navy veteran during the Civil War, served for many years as the chief engineer of the Waterbury Brass Company. Among his inventions was a lubricator for milling machines.
After his wife Rhoby passed in 1921, Harrub donated $100,000 (nearly $1.5 million in 2020 dollars) fund a memorial to honor Rhoby and the Pilgrims. At the time, just after the 300th anniversary of their Plymouth Rock landing, the Pilgrims and the Colonial era were regarded highly.
Harrub, for instance, wanted to highlight the virtues of courage, character and the capacity for leadership.
The monument was moved to its current location to accommodate the construction of Interstate 84. At the time of its dedication, it stood on Riverside Street near Freight Street.
Harrub donated his considerable estate to Waterbury to create a trust that still benefits the community. His wife was also honored by a performing arts facility in Library Park.
Near the Harrub monument, a granite monument dedicated in 1935 honors the original settlement of Waterbury in 1675.
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The former Weehawken dueling grounds where founding father Alexander Hamilton was the most notable participant are marked with a bronze bust of Hamilton.
The monument, along Hamilton Avenue in Weehawken, stands above the former field where a series of duels were held between the early 1700s and the 1840s.
The bust was dedicated in 1935 and rededicated in 1993. The bust was originally mounted on a sandstone boulder where Hamilton rested briefly before he was rowed back to Manhattan after being mortally wounded in a famous duel with Vice President Aaron Burr on July 11, 1804.
The duel followed years of animosity and political disputes between the men that were capped by Hamilton allegedly making disparaging remarks about Burr’s character during a private dinner in March of 1804.
The boulder, which stands next to a granite pillar supporting the Hamilton bust, was moved from the dueling grounds to the ridge overlooking the site after railroad tracks were laid across the dueling field in the 1870s.
The boulder bears an inscription reading, “Upon this stone rested the head of the patriot soldier, statesman and jurist, Alexander Hamilton, after the duel with Aaron Burr.” The carving on the boulder replaces the inscription on a bronze plaque that was stolen in the 1980s.
Plaques providing additional information about the Hamilton-Burr duel, and other duels at the site, were added in 2004.
The Weehawken site, accessible only by boat at the time, was used because duels were illegal in New York. The top of the ridge where Hamilton Avenue sits provides a spectacular view of the west side of Manhattan.
The memorial is the latest of several honoring Hamilton, who served as a general in the American Revolution as well as the country’s first Treasury secretary.
The first memorial to Hamilton was an obelisk on the dueling grounds that was designed to honor Hamilton and to provide a warning to potential duel participants. The monument was removed in the 1820s after it was vandalized by souvenir hunters.
A stone bust of Hamilton, dedicated in 1894, was destroyed in 1934 after being removed from its mount and thrown down the cliff.
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The Civil War monument in the Kensington section of Berlin, CT, is the oldest permanent Civil War monument in the United States.
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Mystic’s Civil War monument, at the intersection of East Main Street and Broadway Avenue, was dedicated in 1883.
The Soldiers’ Monument in Ansonia’s Pine Grove Cemetery was dedicated in 1876 to honor local heroes killed in the Civil War.
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A red granite memorial with several panels honors Avon’s war heroes and veterans.
The central panel of the monument, at the intersection of West Main Street (Routes 44 and 202) and Ensign Drive, honors Avon residents who died during service in the country’s wars. The panel lists one veteran who died during the Mexican War; 25 during the Civil War; 13 from World War II; and two from Vietnam.
The memorial’s other six panels list veterans of the wars between the Mexican War and the first Persian Gulf War in the early 1990s.
The monument also features a granite podium inscribed with “Dedicated to veterans of all wars,” the name of the local VFW post, and the monument’s dedication dates in 1986 and 1996.
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The CT Post reports planned renovations to the magnificent Winchester Soldiers Monument in Winsted are on hold because $100,000 in a dedicated fund appear to have been stolen by a former finance director accused of stealing at least $2 million from the town.
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