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Monument Park meets the following criteria for TAUNY’s Register of Very Special Places:
On the day after the Great Carthage Fire of 1884, the local newspaper headline declared, "Saved By a Graveyard." That was because the village’s original burying ground served as a firebreak so the flames could be brought under control. A couple of decades later, citizens of Carthage, like towns all over America, raised enough money to erect memorials to those who gave their lives in the Civil War. A most impressive, 45 foot obelisk of Barre granite was erected in 1902. At the top stands a Union soldier in dress uniform; on its base the words: “In memory of the Soldiers and Sailors of Civil and Spanish American Wars.” From that time to this, the small park, bordered by family monuments in the old cemetery, has been a place for quiet meditation and public ceremony. On other occasions since, local veterans groups have added monuments to veterans of both world wars, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam War, and Operation Desert Storm. At the time of the village’s sesquicentennial, another monument to pioneer families was added. Each year, Monument Park has become the site for Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies. In 2005, a local citizens' committee completed a successful fund drive to dismantle, repair and return the old soldier to his lofty spot for generations to come.
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The Soldiers Monument in Carthage as it appears on a color postcard, mailed in 1919.
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Veterans place wreaths at the foot of the obelisk in Monument Park for ceremonies in undated photo, ca. 1950.
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Workers for a local monument company carefully guide the 7 ˝ foot granite soldier to the ground to be refurbished, 2005.
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Townspeople and military veterans gathered on a gray November day in 2006 to honor the fallen in Veterans Day ceremonies in Monument Park.
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Buglers play Taps in a call and response to close Veterans Day ceremonies in 2006.
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Active soldiers, veterans organizations, school bands, and local fire departments participated in a Memorial Day parade up State Street toward Monument Park in 2007.
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Monument Park, with flags from several services and memorial wreaths, following Memorial Day ceremonies, 2007.
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An officer from nearby Fort Drum addresses a large crowd gathered at Monument Park for Memorial Day ceremonies, 2007.
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The most recent memorial added to the collection of monuments in the park, this time to Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf. Engraved paving stones memorialize other Carthage citizens.
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A view from the Soldiers Monument up State Street toward the Pioneers Memorial, 2006