Montclair's landmark World War I memorial in Edgemont Park consists of a tall granite obelisk. The shaft is surmounted by a bronze female figure of Liberty. She stands on a globe which is upheld by eagles. Her right arm is raised straight in the air; her left arm is held out in blessing.

At the base of the obelisk stands a bronze figure grouping. At the front of the group is a WWI soldier, dressed in uniform and carrying a rifle. Behind him is a figure of a sailor.
Columbia, a full-length female figure, stands behind and above the two male figures. She wears a helmet and holds a round shield in her left hand, towering over the soldier & sailor.
The bronze grouping stands on a stepped base surrounded by a flagstone platform.

This memorial was funded by popular subscription; $85,000 was raised. The municipality contributed an additional $6,000 to build two small bridges and to grade the island in the park on which the memorial stands.

Narrative adapted from Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS) inventory #NJ000507. 

Photos courtesy of: Lee Sandstead
Vintage postcard courtesy of:  Rutgers University Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives

Soldiers and Sailors Monument "All Wars"

100 Cities / 100 Memorials

This granite & marble obelisk monument stands on a small, landscaped traffic island in Cape May. The square cube base, placed on a larger, square stone slab, has bronze plaques mounted on each side. The plaques contain its dedication to Cape May vicinity residents who served in World War I, as well as an Honor Roll.  Thirteen Cape May residents perished during World War I.  The tall stone shaft is square in cross-section & tapers slightly toward the top where a ball with corner finials rests atop a small square slab. Perched on the orb is a large bronze eagle with wings outstretched upward, looking to the side. The shaft also has bronze plaques & medallions attached to its sides.  The plaques were refurbished and the monument was rededicated on November 11, 2018, the centennial of Armistice Day. Photos courtesy of: NJ State Historic Preservation Office. Vintage Postcard courtesy of:  Rutgers University Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives. 

This memorial is dedicated to Kearny residents killed in WWI.  It consists of a tall Vermont granite shaft topped with a sphere & a bronze eagle with outstretched wings. 
Projecting from the bottom front of the shaft is a pedestal with an inscribed plaque. 
Atop the pedestal stands a bronze statue of a woman in classical dress, her arms partially extended from her sides.

The other three sides of the shafts have granite reliefs of World War I military operations. The back panel depicts two fighters in a dogfight. One side panel shows warships firing on a surfacing submarine. And the other side panel features several doughboys charging out of a trench. 

The memorial was erected by the American Legion, Frobisher Post, with $11,000 of personal donations and $14,000 supplied by the town government.  It was unveiled on May 27, 1922 by General Pershing! 

Narrative adapted from Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS) inventory #NJ000159. 

Photos courtesy of:  NJ State Historic Preservation Office 

This sculpture is one of many casts made from EM Viquesney's doughboy design. Monuments using this design are scattered around NJ & the United States.

The sculpture, set upon a granite base, depicts a World War I infantryman advancing through the stumps and barbed wire of "No Man's Land."  He holds a rifle in his left hand & a grenade in his raised right hand.

The monument was erected in honor and memory of those from Belmar who served in World War I.

The doughboy sculpture was damaged by vandals in 2017. 

Narrative adapted from Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS)  inventory #47260066. 

Photos courtesy of:
Statue - NJ State Historic Preservation Office
Dedication on Memorial Day 1930 - EM Viquesney Doughboy Database & Nick Mihalic 

This sculpture is one of many casts made from EM Viquesney's doughboy design. Monuments using this design are scattered around NJ & the United States.

The sculpture, set upon a concrete base, depicts a World War I infantryman advancing through the stumps and barbed wire of "No Man's Land."  He holds a rifle in his left hand & a grenade in his raised right hand.

The monument was donated in 1922 by Dover Township resident, Peter C. Buck.  

Narrative adapted from Smithsonian Institution Research Information System Inventory (SIRIS) inventory #47260068. 

Photo courtesy of:  EM Viquesney Doughboy Database & Frank Poolas 

This sculpture is one of many casts made from EM Viquesney's doughboy design. Monuments using this design are scattered around NJ & the US.

This copper cast sculpture, set upon a pink Maine granite base with beveled corners, depicts a World War I infantryman advancing through the stumps and barbed wire of "No Man's Land."  He holds a rifle in his left hand & a grenade in his raised right hand.

The monument was dedicated on August 16, 1924, in honor of Fair Haven residents who served in WWI. The base contains a bronze plaque with a Fair Haven World War I honor roll.  It cost approximately $1,000 with an undisclosed sum for the base. The Memorial Park Committee financed it by holding several events including a boxing tournament feature Gene Tunney.

In the late 1960s, vandals stole the rifle and broke the figure’s left hand.  In 1995, the sculpture was refurbished.

Narrative adapted from Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS) inventory #NJ000436. 

Photos Credit:  NJ State Historic Preservation Office

This sculpture is one of many casts made from EM Viquesney's doughboy design. Monuments using this design are scattered around NJ & the US.

This bronze cast sculpture, set upon a base, depicts a World War I infantryman advancing through the stumps and barbed wire of "No Man's Land."  He holds a rifle in his left hand & a grenade in his raised right hand.

The sculpture was erected in 1926 on the front lawn of Frenchtown High School (presently Edith Ort Thomas Elementary School) to honor Frenchtown & vicinity soldiers who served in World War I. The sculpture cost $2,700.

In the summer of 1995, the sculpture was refurbished and cleaned by the Easton Memorial Finishing Works of Easton, PA. The rifle end was refashioned and attached, and the sculpture was sandblasted and buffed. A new plaque honoring veterans of subsequent wars was added and the sculpture was rededicated on November 11, 1995.

Narrative adapted from Smithsonian Institution Research Infomration System (SIRIS) inventory #NJ000454. 

Photo courtesy of: Alan Edelson & Historical Marker Database

This sculpture is one of many casts made from EM Viquesney's doughboy design. Monuments using this design are scattered around NJ & the US.

This bronze cast sculpture, set upon a granite base, depicts a World War I infantryman advancing through the stumps and barbed wire of "No Man's Land."  He holds a rifle in his left hand & a grenade in his raised right hand.

The monument was dedicated on Memorial Day 1927. The base contains a bronze plaque with a Matawan World War I honor roll.

Narrative adapted from Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS) inventory #47260070. 

Photo courtesy of:  NJ State Historic Preservation Office

This sculpture is one of many casts made from EM Viquesney's doughboy design. Monuments using this design are scattered around NJ & the US.

This bronze cast sculpture, set upon a granite base, depicts a World War I infantryman advancing through the stumps and barbed wire of "No Man's Land."  He holds a rifle in his left hand & a grenade in his raised right hand.

The monument was dedicated on Armistice Day 1930. The base contains a bronze plaque dedicating to Perth Amboy residents who served in wars prior to & including WWI. 

Originally installed on the corner of Amboy Avenue & Pfeiffer Boulevard, the statue was moved to its current site around 1979.

Narrative adapted from Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS) inventory #47260070.

Photo courtesy of: EM Viquesney Doughboy Database & Perth Amboy Public Library

This sculpture is one of many casts made from EM Viquesney's doughboy design. Monuments using this design are scattered around NJ & the US.

This bronze cast sculpture, set upon a granite base, depicts a World War I infantryman advancing through the stumps and barbed wire of "No Man's Land."  He holds a rifle in his left hand & a grenade in his raised right hand.

The monument was dedicated on September 3, 1923. The base contains a WWI honor roll plaque on the front, & an honor roll for subsequent conflicts on other sides.

Narrative adapted from Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS) inventory #47260071. 

Photo courtesy of:  EM Viquesney Doughboy Database & Nick Pagnetti

This sculpture is one of many casts made from EM Viquesney's doughboy design. Monuments using this design are scattered around NJ & the US.

This bronze cast sculpture, set upon a granite base, depicts a World War I infantryman advancing through the stumps and barbed wire of "No Man's Land."  He holds a rifle in his left hand & a grenade in his raised right hand.

The monument was erected in memory of Joseph Hassendorder, who made the supreme sacrifice, and in honor of the boys of Secaucus who served their country in the World War.

Narrative adapted from Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS) inventory #NJ000238. 

Photo courtesy of:  Michael Herrick & Historical Marker Database

One of several WWI memorials in the city of Paterson, the original Spruce Street Bridge War Memorial plaque was dedicated on Memorial Day, 1932 to those who served in World War I. 

The bridge is adjacent to the Passaic River, just above Paterson's Great Falls located in Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park. The bridge/overlook contains several low granite steps and a granite floor, bounded by a paneled concrete railing.  The modern replica bronze plaque is mounted to the central panel. 

Photos courtesy of:  NJ State Historic Preservation Office 

The Memorial Bell Tower at St. James Episcopal Church replaced the original steeple in 1919, honoring the church members who served in World War I.   Seven young men died in the war; 91 others fought and returned home. 

The Bell Tower contains 13 bells that have rung hourly for almost a century.  Seven bells are engraved with the name of one of the soldiers killed. 

Beneath the cornerstone of the tower is a bronze medal commemorating the signing of the Treaty of Peace at Versailles.  The buttresses contain shields symbolizing the US, England, Belgium, France & Italy, as well as Victory, and the 29th & 78th Army Divisions which included New Jersey troops.  A bronze tablet honor roll is set into the tower's vestibule wall. 

Vintage postcard courtesy of:  Montclair Historical Society
Bells photo courtesy of:  Montclair Public Library Local History Collection

The TA Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant produced & shipped ammunition for overseas military action during World War I. It was one of the largest facilities of its kind at the time.

On October 4, 1918, the plant exploded, killing approximately 100 people, destroying 300 buildings & causing $18 million in damages. The series of explosions continued for two days – an estimated 12,000,000 pounds (5,400 tons) of explosives were destroyed.

The devastation forced reconstruction of adjacent towns of South Amboy & Sayreville. According to a 1919 government report, the explosion destroyed enough ammunition to supply the Western Front for six months.

The plant had begun production just three months earlier, and the war itself ended just one month after the explosion.

The totality of the event ranked as one of the largest man-made, non-nuclear explosions in history. The strongest individual blast broke windows as far away as Manhattan & Asbury Park, more than 25 miles distant.

After the war, the company was renamed Gillespie Motor Company in 1919, merged to form Gillespie-Eden Corporation in 1920, and disappeared sometime after 1923.

See post (below):  TA Gillespie Loading Company Explosion Memorial & Mass Grave - Parlin. 

Photos courtesy of:
Gillespie Ammunitions Complex Blueprint - National Archives
Gillespie Ammunitions Complex Diagram - US Army Corp of Engineers 

It was in 1918, at 7:40pm when the first of a series of explosions spanning two days went off in Building 6-1-1 of the TA Gillespie Shell Loading Plant in rural Morgan, NJ.  The building contained equipment which melted and poured Amatol - a Trinitrotoluol (TNT)-based explosive - into 155mm artillery shells for shipment to France for use in WWI. 

The remains of 14-18 unfortunate souls, who were so badly disintegrated by the blasts, were buried in a mass grave in nearby Ernst Memorial Cemetery (Parlin, NJ).  The task of trying to identify the unidentifiable and to witness & certify each burial fell to South Amboy resident, Michael Nagel, who later became the Commander of American Legion Luke A. Lovely Post #62. 

In 1929, 11 years after the blast, the South Amboy Lions Club erected this monument at the site of the 20' x 35' grave. 

Narrative adapted from Morgan, NJ website. 

Photos courtesy of:
Gillespie Explosion crater 1918 & Power House - Atlas Obscura
Locomotive - National Archives
Morgan residents fleeing - New York Times 
Monument - NJ State Historic Preservation Office

The Talerhoff Internment Camp Memorial was erected in 1964 by members of the Russian-American community to pay tribute to the memory of the men & women placed in the Austrian camp during World War I. 

Jackson, NJ has a Russian community due to the employees at the Russian ordinance proving grounds in adjacent Lakehurst, NJ.  These were "White Russians," originating from Minsk (today's Belarus) around the time of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.  These citizens formed the Russian Consolidated Mutual Aid Society of America (ROVA), who helped create this memorial. 

This monument consists of a granite tapered pillar atop a two-tiered rectangular stone base.  It has two identical sides - one in English, the other in Russian - consisting of a relief of the Russian Orthodox cross encircled in a laurel wreath above an inscription dedicating the monument. 

Photos courtesy of:  Ocean County Cultural & Heritage Commission 

This Temple of Victory Monument, located at Manalapan's Old Tennent Church Cemetery, is dedicated to Monmouth County residents who lost their lives in World War I. 

It consists of an elaborate Barre granite canopy supported by four corner Doric columns, resting on two, tiered, square concrete slabs.  The base is 10' square; the dome is 14' high.  The canopy consists of a round ceiling slab with angled square corner blocks, decorated with stars & crossed weapons. 

Standing under the canopy is a stone slab with slanted upper surface commemorating the monument. 

The designers & builders were LL Manning & Son of Plainfield, NJ.  The monument was dedicated on November 21, 1920 with an address by New York lawyer, Howard R. Cruse.  The Camp Vail band performed. 

Photo courtesy of:  NJ State Historic Preservation Office

This fountain memorial, was originally topped by an Italian marble statue of a figure holding a torch.  It was erected on the grounds of Trenton Junior High School #3 (presently Trenton High School West) as a memorial to Russell Terradell of Trenton & other Trenton men who gave their lives during World War I.  The memorial was dedicated on July 4, 1925. 

It was a gift of Mrs. Elliott F. Shepard, sister of Mr. Terradell.  The basin & base of the monument were designed by Samuel Mountford.

Photos courtesy of:  NJ State Historic Preservation Office

This monument was erected in honor of the young switchboard operator at the munitions plant of the Canadian Car & Foundry Company near Kingsland. Glancing out the window in her workplace, she noticed a wisp of smoke curling from the eaves of Building 30 where 200 gallons of gasoline were stored.

Back at her switchboard, she connected with shed after shed, giving the message that there was a fire in Shed 30 and that all men should leave the area as soon as possible.  As she made her final calls, shells started to explode, and one shell piece came through the roof, grazing her.  She fainted.  Several fireman dragged the unconscious young woman out of the range of the explosions and loaded her into an automobile to be driven to the hospital.  Ms. McNamara lived until 1971. 

Photo courtesy of:  Bill Coughlin & Historical Marker Database

This World War I memorial of a bronze doughboy is depicted striding forward with his rifle held over his left shoulder and a large pack on his back.  In his extended right hand, he carries his helmet and an olive branch. 

The memorial was erected in 1924 under the sponsorship of the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, who raised $10,000 in contributions from the community. 

The figure was designed by Robert Tait McKenzie of Philadelphia; the Indiana limestone base by Paul P. Cret, head of the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania.

Narrative adapted from James D. Carpenteer, “History of Woodbury” (1936) and Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS) inventory #77002574.

Photos courtesy of:  NJ State Historic Preservation Office