Seaway News
Ask a Curator - November 2024
Celebrating Freedoms through remembering
This Remembrance Day article is centered on a former Cornwall military tribute which stood in a former city park.
Prior to the current City Hall Administration Building officially opening in 1950, the land on which it sits was home to City Hall Park. Until that time, City Hall was located immediately south, in front of the current Justice Building. Before Cornwall attained city status, City Hall Park was known as Town Hall Park. In the 1880s, it bore the name Music Hall Park and for good reason. The Music Hall operated from an auditorium on the upper floor of the Town Hall and the park was conveniently adjacent, witnessing many open-air concerts.
The park, which evolved over time, included floral gardens, majestic trees, a band shell/pavilion, at times a taxi stand and was a focal point for the City and residents.
After the Second World War, in addition to the Legion finding its current permanent home and the Cenotaph at Memorial Park being updated, City Hall Park gained an enhancement. Under the leadership of City / Township Councils and the Legion, a wall, decorative picket fence and path were erected in said park. On the 10-section, 94′ long by 9′ tall wall was 1″ tall block lettering bearing the names, without mention of rank, of nearly 5,000 active duty Cornwall servicemen and women. Each name plate was made of Masonite, 16 inches long and one and one quarter inches wide. The Alphabetically-arranged names were painted in black on a white background.
Blanketing the Pitt Street frontage of the park, the tribute was complemented by special lighting, a dedicatory plaque and flower beds. City engineer W.H. Magwood designed it and was inspired by a similar structure in nearby Massena, NY. The Daily Standard-Freeholder reported that the Wall bearing that Roll of Honor: “was considered the most decorative memorial of its type in Eastern Ontario.”
The newspaper also reported: “The Honor Roll is meant to serve as Cornwall’s tribute to the City’s active service personnel and in no way is designed as a memorial to the city’s war dead…The Roll is also intended to serve as a source of inspiration to others to follow fellow residents into the armed forces.”
Prior to the announced site selection for the new/current City Hall Administration Building, the community had already recognized the need to address the ailing condition of the tribute. A plaque, bearing the names of Cornwall’s WWII war dead was added to the Memorial Park cenotaph and the entire list of local WWII service personnel was recorded in a book of honor and displayed under glass in the new City Hall.
On a related note, one of the two cannons in Memorial Park previously graced Town/City Hall Park. In 1926, a delegation from the Memorial Committee persuaded a reluctant Town Council to permit the cannon’s relocation. Our M.P., Dr. Hamilton, had already lined-up a cannon for placement at Memorial Park, but it was the only other one available and the delegation impressed upon Council the need for two for symmetry…or none at all.
Don Smith is Curator/Manager, Cornwall Community Museum