Town rededicates moved monument Work continues on Civil War memorial

ROCKLAND – The city’s 1912 Civil War monument was rededicated Wednesday at the corner of Main and Park streets, after a local skirmish over the ground it should stand on.

The 60-foot flagpole with granite base and a bronze collar and plaques is an impressive showpiece for people who enter the downtown. Yet, there’s still work to be done on restoring the monument and adding the howitzers and granite benches that accompany it, as well as landscaping and walkways.

Mayor Tom Molloy, who served as master of ceremonies, credited the work of councilors and others in finding an appropriate new home for the memorial.

Capt. David Sulin, a Rockland Civil War historian, noted the sacrifices made by the city’s soldiers and sailors.

“The citizens of Rockland then were very proud of the men to whom this monument is dedicated, just as the citizens of Rockland today should be proud and never forget that their predecessors were willing to lay down their lives in a just cause to preserve the union and to set all men free,” Sulin said.

The monument itself has endured a battle over where it would stand.

In 2004, the monument was the center of attention when the American Legion wanted to take it under its wing. City councilors rejected the request, much to the chagrin of veterans.

The monument had been located outside the Grand Army of the Republic Building on Limerock Street, but the city sold that building in July 2002 to Burpee Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home. Eventually, the flagpole had to be moved and the Legion wanted to include it in its own military memorial being built.

This wasn’t the first time the massive monument has moved.

On June 17, 1912, the monument was erected at the corner of Union and Limerock streets, where Bank of America is now.

In 1960, the Edwin Libby Post of the Grand Army of the Republic bought a private home next to the funeral home and moved the flagpole there. The GAR later donated the building to the city.

With money saved for the relocation and a $10,000 grant, the city made plans for the restoration of the Sitka spruce flagpole, cleaning of the monument and other enhancements at Chapman Park, where the centerpiece now stands.

“Maine has more than 74 municipal Civil War monuments – you see them in town squares and city parks all over the state,” Councilor Brian Harden said. “This monument is both one of the most impressive and one of the most unique.

“So many of these monuments have at their top a soldier leaning on his rifle,” he said. “Others feature a lone cannonball looking as if it is about to roll off onto a visitor below. Only this monument combines the sentiment of sacrifice and service with a major community flagpole.”