The St. Marys Cenotaph commemorates the soldiers of St. Marys who fought and fell in the First World War. It was unveiled on Monday, November 7, 1921, three years after the armistice of 1918. It is on the main road in St. Marys beside Town Hall in the downtown where the first celebrations were held after the armistice. Initially, the names of sixty-five soldiers who died during the First World War from the St. Marys area were placed on the memorial.
The memorial features a stoic British solider standing at attention, facing forward on a pillar. This kind of memorial is common in Perth County and celebrates the human individuals in war. All four sides feature inscriptions of the names of the local fallen, later amended to include the Second World War. The local Women’s Institute funded this memorial.
The first official Armistice Day ceremony held in St. Marys did not occur until 1924 and was organized by the Women’s Institute. These ceremonies continue to be held annually at the St. Marys Cenotaph. The area surrounding the cenotaph was officially named Memorial Park in June 2008 to commemorate the citizens of the community who served, or who will serve.
