Other

This plaque was dedicated to Sergeant David Smith who died during his service in the Second World War. He was the caretaker of Connaught School for 15 years.

Merritton High School opened in 1935 at 10 Seymour Avenue and became a part of St. Catharines' school system on December 31, 1960. It closed in 1999 and the Roll of Honour was moved to the Merritton Legion.

This plaque bears the names of former Connaught Public School students who paid the ultimate price during the Second World War.  

This memorial is dedicated to the members of St. Paul Street United Church who served in the First and Second World Wars. It was erected by the parishioners of St. Paul Street United Church.

This location is now home to Silver Spire United Church which came into existence on July 1, 2008, as an amalgamation of three former downtown St. Catharines churches: Memorial United, St. Paul Street United and Welland Avenue United.

This memorial is dedicated to the members of St. Paul Street United Church who served in the Second World War. It was erected by the parishioners of St. Paul Street United Church.

This location is now home to Silver Spire United Church which came into existence on July 1, 2008, as an amalgamation of three former downtown St. Catharines churches: Memorial United, St. Paul Street United and Welland Avenue United.

In 2010, a Memorial Walkway was added behind the Port Dalhousie Cenotaph to commemorate those who served and is made up of stones engraved with the names of Veterans, both living and dead. The effort was undertaken by the St. Catharines green committee after approaching the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 350. Manufactured by Port Colborne’s Glenmount Memorials, the stones were sold by the legion.

The Memorial Masonic Temple was erected as a memorial to the Masons of St. Catharines who made the supreme sacrifice during the First and Second World Wars and Korean War. It was dedicated on May 14, 1955.

To remember the sacrifice of Port Dalhousie men who died in the First World War, the citizens decided a cenotaph would be placed in the center of town. The memorial fund was started in 1916 after receiving word of the first casualty Harold Rooney who died on June 6, 1916. All the necessary funds were raised by donations.

Port Dalhousie Cenotaph was dedicated on Sunday afternoon November 23, 1924. A huge crowd attended the parade, unveiling and dedication. The Lincoln Regiment formed the guard for Lieutenant-Governor Henry T. Cockshutt who received the military salute, inspected the guard and unveiled the monument. The 10th Field Battery, Veterans of the 1866 Fenian Raids and many Great War Veterans were in attendance. 

The cenotaph bears the names of 20 soldiers who died during the war and an additional three who passed away shortly after the armistice. Carved into the back side is a list of battles where they fought and the Town’s seal is on the upper portion of the front face.

Emanuel Hahn was the sculptor and designer of the statue and it was constructed by the McIntosh Granite Company of Toronto. Hahn's design represents the sorrows caused by war. The soldier atop the cenotaph looks down in sadness at the ground below him, as if he might find there, his fallen comrades, if not for the tragedy of war. The statue depicts a young, grieving Canadian soldier in First World War army uniform. He is standing at a battlefield grave – a simple cross with poppies at the base – the final resting place of a comrade killed in action. His helmet is held close to his heart with his left hand and his right hands rests upon the cross while holding a laurel wreath.

The seven casualties of the Second World War were subsequently added. On the lower base is inscribed to remind us that citizens from Port Dalhousie also fought in the Korean War. A memorial walkway was later added behind the memorial to commemorate those who served in Afghanistan.

Emanuel Hahn moved to Toronto at the age of seven with his family of artists and musicians from Germany, in 1888. He studied commercial design and model-making at Toronto Technical School and Ontario College of Art and Industrial Design. At 25 years old Hahn began a nearly lifelong contract with Thomson Monument Company of Toronto. Two years later, he also started work as a studio assistant to sculptor Walter Seymour Allward. Part of his duties included assisting on Allward’s significant works such as the South African War Memorial in Toronto.

In 1912 Hahn began an association with the Thomson Monument Company of Toronto. It was there, along with several assistants, he made the many war memorials that are found across Canada: Fernie, British Columbia; Killarney and Russell, Manitoba; Alvinston, Bolton, Cornwall, Hanover, Lindsay,  Malvern, Milton, Petrolia and Port Dalhousie, Ontario; Gaspe, Quebec; Moncton, New Brunswick; Springhill and Westville Nova Scotia; Summerside, Prince Edward Island.

Hahn is probably most famous as the designer of the Bluenose sculpture on the back of the Canadian dime and the Caribou on the back of the Canadian quarter. He was a victim of anti-German sentiment in the years following the Great War, when his design for the Winnipeg Cenotaph was rejected in 1925. 

In 1924 St. Catharines formed a committee and began collecting funds for a war memorial through public donation. People entered St. Catharines by way of the Burgoyne Bridge, so the land adjacent to the bridge was chosen as home to Memorial Park and the cenotaph. The location was fitting since the Merritt House, also known as Oak Hill, was located nearby. It had previously been used as a Military Convalescent home for wounded First World War soldiers. 

McIntosh Marble and Granite Company of Toronto was hired to create the cenotaph. It is comprised of a large column constructed out of brick and granite, mounted atop a concrete plinth, set on terrace level steps. At the top, front of the column is the St. Catharines crest and on the reverse side is a maple leaf. A Crusader’s sword runs down the front of the column, symbolizing struggle and represents the cross of Christ. The sword is placed above discarded soldier’s equipment, which includes a canteen, pack and helmet, signifying items the soldier no longer needs and the end of a struggle.

A scroll-like ornamentation is at the base of the column. A furled flag and maple leaf grace each side of the cenotaph, and the symbols of the different units that fought in the Great War are found encircling the structure. On the bottom plinth are two carved crosses. Originally there was a large reflecting pool at terrace level in front of the cenotaph, but it was removed in late 1930. 

It was unveiled at a grand ceremony held on August 7, 1927, by Brigadier General W.B.M King, who commanded the 10^th Brigade of the third Canadian Field Artillery Battery during the struggle for St. Julien at the second battle of Ypres in 1915. Morning church services were held at 10 am instead of the usual 11 am and were followed by a Lincoln Regiment parade. The march began at the armories and ended at Memorial Park where the regiment (under command of Capt. Fred Collins) lined up as an honour guard for Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), who attended to perform the wreath laying ceremony. The Prince had been accompanied by a royal party which included: Prince George, British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, and the Right Honourable Mackenzie King, Prime Minister of Canada.

Masses of people gathered, lining the streets and sidewalks. War Veterans and family members of fallen soldiers were given a special section to observe the ceremony. W.B.M. King, Commander of the St. Catharines unit first under fire in 1915, was given the honour of unveiling the cenotaph by pulling a cord to release the large Union Jack flag.

Inscriptions recognizing the Second World War, Korean War, Peacekeeping (2006) and the Merchant Navy were added later. In July 2009 a heritage conservator hired by the City of St. Catharines revealed that the St. Catharines Cenotaph was in need of significant restoration. In the fall of 2012, a team was hired to remove its top to review the interior condition. It was a solid core, concrete with very little wear, which meant what looked like slightly shifted granite blocks were in fact, intact. Those granite blocks have been slightly out of plumb since the original build of the cenotaph in the 1920s.

The masonry work required was completed in time for Remembrance Day Ceremonies in 2012. In 2013, the final repointing was done on the cenotaph stairs, as part of the accessibility work and the landscaping completed. The costs to repair the St. Catharines Cenotaph were significant, but community support assisted in offsetting the costs to taxpayers. 

These trees were planted on April 19, 2018, by the 10th Field Battery Association and dedicated to the men and women of St. Catharines that served in the military.