The founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was honored with a monument in Bridgeport’s Seaside Park thanks to showman and former mayor P.T. Barnum. The monument, a fountain that was later converted into a planter, was dedicated in 1897 to honor Henry Bergh’s lifelong efforts to protect animals. Bergh […]
UPDATE: Removed in July of 2020 A statue of explorer Christopher Columbus in Bridgeport’s Seaside Park has stared into Long Island Sound for nearly 45 years. The statue, by sculptor Clemente Spampinato, depicts Columbus, with a map in one hand, standing at the bow of a ship. The statue stands on a black base, with […]
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A cannon captured from a Spanish warship has been mounted in Bridgeport’s Seaside Park to honor the service of local residents during the Spanish-American War. The bronze cannon, which faces southeast into Long Island Sound, was cast in Seville on December 13, 1794, according to a date inscribed near the cannon’s neck. We assume the […]
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The first statue erected in Bridgeport’s Seaside Park honors local industrialist and Civil War hero Elias Howe, Jr. The monument was dedicated in 1884 to honor Howe, who invented the first practical sewing machine and built a Bridgeport factory to build the machines. Several inventors created similar machines about the same time as Howe, but […]
Bridgeport honors the local men who served in the Civil War with an elaborate monument in Seaside Park. The monument features a large, granite base with several decorative elements that narrows into a shaft topped by a bronze allegorical figure representing the United States. The monument’s side feature bronze statues depicting an infantry soldier and […]
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A short update on the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument at the summit of New Haven’s East Rock Park: the city plans to replace the interior staircase that originally led to an observation deck 110 feet from the monument’s base. According to an article in today’s New Haven Register, the next phase of the monument’s restoration […]
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Bridgeport has honored the memory of circus showman, mayor and philanthropist P.T. Barnum with a statue at the intersection of Iranistan Avenue and Soundview Drive in Seaside Park. The P.T. Barnum statue, which faces south, depicts a seated Barnum with a book in his left hand. An inscription at the bottom of the base lists […]
The Perry Memorial arch in Bridgeport’s Seaside Park stands at the park’s main entrance, at the foot of, naturally enough, Park Avenue. The granite archway was dedicated in 1918 to honor William H. Perry, who had served as superintendent of the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company, a sewing machine producer that would later be acquired […]
An 1878 monument at the northeast corner of a park in the Danielson section of Killingly honors the service of local residents in the Civil War. The somewhat understated Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument features a bronze infantry solider standing atop a four-sided granite base. The front (northeast) face of the monument bears the dedication “Erected […]
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An 1876 monument in Ansonia’s Pine Grove Cemetery honors the service of local heroes killed in the Civil War. The monument features a statue of an artillery officer standing atop a granite base. A dedication on the rear (south) side of the monument reads “Ansonia’s tribute to the memory of her sons who gave their […]