Forty-one soldiers from Arthur were killed in the First World War and many more were wounded. Arthur Enterprise News editor Rixon Rafter first had the idea of a soldiers’ memorial in December of 1918. The next year, a group of local ladies organized under the name of the Women Memorial Workers with an objective to honour these men. They suggested a cenotaph and park at the corner of George and Frederick Streets, despite those who thought the former site of livery stables was inappropriate. Council agreed and purchased the land for $500. Donations came from many sources, such as bazaars and groups of former citizens living in Toronto.
The Arthur Cenotaph was built with stones gathered from local farms and was the first fieldstone cenotaph built in the province. Architect Major J.M. Gibson of Toronto was raised in Arthur and had commanded some of the local soldiers overseas. Ed Doherty, a local stone mason, was the contractor. The federal government donated the marble slab in the center of the cenotaph with the cross embedded in it. On August 6, 1923, before a large crowd at the conclusion of a three-hour ceremony, the monument was unveiled by Mrs. Mary Brocklebank, President of the Women Memorial Workers, her son Stanley had died of wounds in France in 1918, and Margaret Chambers, who had lost her son, Private Robert Chambers, to the war.
In January 1930, the park and cenotaph were turned over to the town along with a bond of $11,000 for perpetual care. The cenotaph was rebuilt in 1995 to bring the plaques from different conflicts together. In 1970, Dutch citizens donated benches and lights to the park in thanks for the Canadian liberation of Holland during the Second World War. In 1995, a Homecoming Committee unveiled a memorial recognizing Arthur’s history as “Canada’s Most Patriotic Village.”
On September 16, 2000, the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 226 unveiled four plaques honouring those who served and came home, including those who served in the Merchant Marine and the Korean War. A plaque in the walkway in front of the cenotaph was added by the Arthur and Area Historical Society and Arthur Revitalization Committee in 2010 recounting the work of Women Memorial Workers. The two statues placed in 2011 were a project of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 226. In 2016, 700 red and white tulips were planted in beds at the front of the park, gifts from Holland.
