Wolcott honors veterans of the American Revolution, War of 1812 and the Civil War with a granite monument in a small park in the center of town.
The Kenea Soldier’s Monument, dedicated in 1916, features an infantry soldier standing atop a relatively simple granite monument. A dedication on the monument’s north face reads, “Presented to the town of Wolcott by Leverett Dwight Kenea in memory of the soldiers who fought in the War of the Revolution, the War of 1812 and the Civil War. A.D. 1916.”
The monument’s other faces are free of lettering or ornamentation.
The soldier stands with a rifle in his right hand, an uncommon variation on the two-handed rifle grip usually seen in monuments with infantry figures. Also, the figure’s face appears slightly more mature than the figures seen in other monuments.
The monument was donated to Wolcott by Leverett D. Kenea, a Wolcott native who invested in several successful Thomaston businesses and made a number of philanthropic donations.
The town green is also known as Kenea Park, and Kenea Avenue runs between the green and Town Hall.
The monument, supplied by the Thomas F. Jackson Company of Waterbury (which also supplied the Prospect Soldiers’ Monument) was unveiled during its dedication ceremony by Wolcott’s four surviving Civil War veterans.
At the east end of the green, a granite monument honors veterans of the two World Wars, Korea and Vietnam, as well as recent conflicts in the Persian Gulf. The monument was dedicated in 1982 with support from three civic organizations.
At the western end of the green, a monument honors the service of local veterans in Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
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