Category Archives: Historic Preservation

Utah DAR Monuments & Markers Series Part II: World War I Doughboy Monument

In the 1920s, a World War I Doughboy Monument was sculpted by Gilbert P. Risvold and placed on the balcony of the American Legion Post on 24th Street in downtown Ogden City.

In 1947, the monument was moved to the Ogden City Cemetery. After years of wear and damage from vandals, the Weber County Heritage Foundation took on the project of restoring the monument.

The Golden Spike Chapter, NSDAR of Ogden, Utah sponsored an NSDAR Historic Preservation Grant in 2016 to help with the cost of the restoration. A grant was awarded for $8,450.00.

In 2017, the monument was removed from the cemetery and restored by the Adonis Bronze Company. A new granite faced dais was also completed with “In Flander’s Fields” by John McCae on the front of the base.

On the back, donors’ names are inscribed with the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and the Golden Spike Chapter as the second and third inscriptions. The monument sits in a prominent location in the cemetery on Gold Star Drive.

The graves of Veterans radiate out from the statue. The Doughboy Monument was rededicated on November 11, 2018. The Monument is overseen by the Golden Spike Chapter in Ogden, Utah.

Utah DAR Monuments & Markers Series Part I: DAR Drinking Fountain

The Spirit of Liberty Chapter dedicated the first Utah DAR monument, The DAR Drinking Fountain, in Salt Lake City on November 11, 1905. On behalf of the Spirit of Liberty Chapter,  State Regent Mrs. Lee Charles Miller presented the fountain to the city as a reminder of those who served in the American Revolution, calling attention to the need of having a reminder for the children lest they forget those who aided “with unfailing loyalty” to the cause of Independence.

Present during the dedication was Real Daughter Mrs. Elijah Sells, the first State Regent Mrs. O.J. Salisbury, and State Regent Mrs. Mary Montague Ferry Allen.

The monument was first placed in front of the Packard Public Library located at 15 South State Street in Salt Lake City, Utah. It moved to Washington Square at 451 South State Street, Salt Lake City, Utah for a time before landing in its current location on the Northeast quadrant of Liberty Park, 600 East 900 South, Salt Lake City, Utah.

The water fountain outlets are located on two sides of the fountain for patrons. Below one of the fountain outlets, there is a lower drinking fountain for dogs “who may quench their thirst.”

No longer a functioning drinking fountain, the monument currently sits in the center of a flower bed bordered by a rock wall.  The Monument is overseen by the Salt Lake Valley Chapter in Murray, Utah.