County Tourism urges residents to visit a military memorial
New online database lists memorials dedicated to soldiers from Orleans County
Photos by Tom Rivers: The Civil War cannon at Greenwood Cemetery on Route 18 is a memorial for the community’s Civil War veterans.
There won’t be any big parades or official public gatherings in Orleans County on Memorial Day.
Residents can still have a meaningful Memorial Day without a crowd. The Orleans County Tourism Department has created a database of military memorials.
There is a war memorial in all 10 towns in the county. The most remarkable by size and for the number of dead it honors may be the tower at Mount Albion Cemetery, a 68-foot-high sandstone structure that includes the names of 463 county residents killed in the war. The names are in marble slabs inside the tower. That memorial was dedicated in 1876, on the country’s 100th anniversary.
The most recent new memorial is a bronze statue of a soldier that was dedicated on Sept. 7, 2019. That statue honors the soldiers who trained at the former Medina Armory, which is now the Orleans County YMCA.
All of the memorials throughout the county pay homage to sacrifice of soldiers.
“Orleans County’s deepest respect and patriotism is demonstrated in the memorials and monuments scattered throughout the county,” the County Tourism Departments states in a message about the memorials. “Dedicated organizations and individuals have led the efforts to create these monuments in honor of those who served in the Armed Forces and several who paid the ultimate sacrifice.”
Click here to see the online site about the local memorials dedicated to soldiers from Orleans County.
This memorial in front of the Albion Middle School is a memorial to Orleans County residents who were killed in action during the Vietnam War. The memorial was dedicated on May 24, 1996.
