Veterans Day: Worcester war memorials worth a visit

WORCESTER — Scattered around the city are memorials and statues honoring the city's part in the nation's many wars. It's easy to pass by and not notice them.

Veterans Day provides an opportunity to acknowledge these historic pieces of the city's landscape.

Some, like the Civil War, World War II, Korean War and Massachusetts Vietnam War memorials, are larger attractions for visitors to the city to discover. Others, like the World War I memorials, are in need of renovation.

There are smaller memorials to the Vietnam, Spanish-American and Southeast Asia wars, and there is a monument to those who were held as prisoners of war.

In Worcester, there are also more than 230 memorial squares named mostly for those who served and died in war.

City Hall also has many memorial plaques and a bell recalling the sinking of the U.S. Maine at the start of the Spanish-American War. The monuments and memorial squares are included on an interactive map by the city Parks Department.

The following are Worcester's war monuments and where to find them:

• The Bigelow Monument in the small cemetery at the center of Worcester Common honors Col. Timothy Bigelow. He led the minutemen from Worcester at the Revolutionary War battles of Lexington and Concord and commanded the 15th Massachusetts Regiment during the war.
• The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial honoring those who served in the Civil War is found on the east side of Worcester Common
• The statue of Civil War General Charles Devens, a Worcester lawyer wounded three times during the war, is at Highland and Main streets next to the former Worcester County Courthouse.
• The statue of of a Spanish-American War soldier, representing those who served in that war, is in Wheaton Square on Grove Street, between Salisbury Street and Institute Road.
• On the front of City Hall are four memorial plaques naming those who served in the Spanish-American War.
• Worcester Memorial Auditorium was built in 1932 as a memorial to those from the city who served in World War I.
•  The Whispering Mall on the west side of Lincoln Square honors those who served in World War I. It includes a plaza, a memorial flag pole and the names of many places in Europe where American troops fought.
• Worcester's World War II Memorial and its fountain are near the center of Worcester Common.
• The city's Citizens of Color World War II Honor Roll is at the end of Belmont Street at Lincoln Square.
• Another World War II monument is in the new roundabout in Billings Square at the intersection of Grafton and Hamilton streets.
• The World War II Roll of Honor monument is a bookend to the Billings Square monument. It is at the intersection of Lake and Hamilton streets.
• The monument honoring World War II Medal of Honor recipient Lt. John Vincent Power is on the south side of City Hall on Franklin Street.
• The city's Korean War Memorial is at the intersection of Foster and Front streets.
• The Massachusetts Vietnam Veterans Memorial is in Green Hill Park.
• The Vietnam Memorial is on the south side of Worcester Common on Franklin Street.
• The Ex-POW Memorial honoring those from the city who were taken prisoner in wartime is next to the Vietnam Memorial on the south side of Worcester Common on Franklin Street.
• The Official State Monument to those from the city who served in the Southeast Asia War, including Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield is on the east side of Worcester Common on Church Street.