Soldiers' Monument

The Soldiers’ Monument is a statue created by Charles N. Pike with the help of generous donations by the Ladies Aid (or Soldiers Aid) society and fellow businessmen Sanford Blackinton, George M. Mowbray, and C.T. Sampson. Charles N. Pike volunteered his own labor towards the creation of the monument in honor of local soldiers who had lost their lives in the war, as it depicts a typical Union soldier standing at parade rest. The monument stood for over 100 years without any damage until 1978.

Since the end of the Civil War in 1865, the townspeople in the area had brought up the idea of creating a memorial for the fallen soldiers. During the year 1878, the north village of Adams split up with the south village to create the independent towns of Adams and North Adams. After the new town of North Adams was created, the Ladies Aid Society, which was organized during the war to prepare supplies for the army hospitals of New York, Washington and Harper’s Ferry, offered $1,200 from its own treasury as a gift for the monument, along with the help of contributions from local businessmen Sanford Blackinton, George M. Mowbray, and C.T. Sampson. The citizens of North Adams later convened in a town meeting to provide another $300 toward the project and to donate the land necessary.

The project was put in the hands of Charles N. Pike, who volunteered his own services and reduced the expenses for the work substantially. He was a native of the city, born in 1839. In early life, Mr. Pike enlisted in the Ohio regiment during the start of the Civil War and served as credit to the state.

The Soldiers' Monument was dedicated by the new town of North Adams on July 4, 1878. The statue stood 11 feet high and was carved from a block of Sicilian marble. It depicts a typical Union soldier standing at parade rest. The dado of the pedestal is ornamented with the national shield, with the dates 1861 and 1865 and the inscription, “presented to the Town of North Adams by Ladies’ Aid Society.” The original intent for the inscription was to present the names of the local soldiers who had lost their lives in the war.

The statue was destroyed for the first time just before its 100-year anniversary. The first time was in March 1978 when an out-of-control vehicle crashed into the statue. The city and the community tried several ways to fix the statue with no luck. Paul F. Dilego, president of North Adam’s Kiwanis club, said they would be willing to raise funds to repair the statue. The Kiwanis Club started a fund drive in April 1979. However, after receiving bids from professional sculptors, Kiwanis Club announced they would not be able to raise $35,000 for the statue. The Kiwanis Club agreed that an amount that large would be better used for youth programs.

Another attempt to fix the statue was made by Lewis C. Cuyler, administrator of North Adams NOW, a revitalization program of downtown North Adams. Cuyler put an ad in "Yankee Magazine" in hopes of broadening the search for a new union soldier and to help save North Adams from paying the high prices of hiring a professional sculptor.

After not being able to raise the funds and with no response from the ad, the city thought they would have to scrap the statue. That is until Carl Robare from Stamford, Vermont took it upon himself to repair the statue. Robare worked for New England Telephone and was known for being able to fix anything. Robare’s rational for repairing the statue was that he grew up seeing the statue and felt sorry for it when no one was able to fix it. He said other people want to “get rich” from the work, and he will give it a try for $3,500, but North Adams doesn’t have to pay him if they don’t like the work. Robare spent 240 hours rebuilding the statue. The statue was restored on July 3, 1981, and an early 4th of July celebration was held to celebrate the return of the statue.

The statue was destroyed again on December 10,1999, when a storm knocked over the city’s Christmas tree into the statue. Police and firefighters were unable to secure the tree before it fell, due to the scaffolding around the First Babtist Church, which had broken free from the building in the high winds.

North Adams Mayor John Barret asked Robare if he would be able to fix the statue again, since Robare had been able to do it so successfully 20 years before. Robare was reluctant at first, but the community kept him going with the repairs. He also felt bad for the statue as no one would could or wanted to repair it again. Through his efforts, Robare became the self-appointed caretaker of the statue after repairing it a second time, coming into North Adams periodically to maintain and check on the statue, describing it as taking care of his baby The statue was fixed in August 2000 and was unveiled in time for the Fall Foliage Parade weekend.

Today, the Soldiers’ Monument remains a defining feature of North Adams’ downtown and a remembrance of its Civil War past.