Monument mystery

By Bri Brasher 
with Leonard Cash
 
Newcastle historian Leonard Cash shared a short installment in the History on Main series detailing what he knows about the fountain that once adorned the head of Main Street in Newcastle, a fountain that seems to have disappeared since its removal.
According to Cash, a median was built in the 1920s in front of the armory on Warren Avenue, which is now part of Fresh Start. The median also contained a fountain, both of which Cash said were likely added for beautification. 
“Nobody seems to know for sure when Warren Avenue officially became Main Street,” said Cash. “In fact, once in a while, you’ll still hear somebody say Warren Street (in reference to Main Street),” said Cash. 
A Sept. 26, 1929, article in the News Letter Journal indicated a problem with the structure, stating that the drain for the fountain was repeatedly getting plugged, resulting in water running out into the street. Despite controversy over the drainage, the article included a quote saying that “the water is nice to look at and should be let alone and the civil pride should prompt even children to play elsewhere than the fountain.”
A few months later on Nov. 14, 1929, the News Letter Journal reported in “German Shell Set At Legion Monument” that “last Friday Contractor J.L. Sundstrom and his assistants, set in concrete the eight German shells, war relics of 11 years ago, around the base of the monument to ex-service men in the civic center between the court house and armory.”
Cash said the fountain was often referred to as a monument. The article also reported that the shells weighed around 150 pounds and measured about 7 inches in diameter. Cash recalls the shells being about 3 feet tall. The shells were used for heavy field artillery by land forces during World War I, and their memorialization in the fountain was said to “remind the citizens of the great event for many years to come,” according to the News Letter Journal. 
Then, on Aug. 13, 1933, objection arose to the removal of the “parkway,” objections recognized by then-Mayor J.F. Landrigan. According to the News Letter Journal, the street’s surface was undergoing repair and talk of removing the median also came up: “The hazardous condition created by cars parked on the upper end of Warren avenue with cars turning left from Summit street, especially during winter months when the street is icy, could be met by prohibiting parking near the corner, city officials were advised and, with the opinion generally prevalent, the idea of taking the parkway out has been abandoned and the no parking regulation adopted.” In response, a no parking sign was placed in front of the courthouse as a solution to the problem. 
The Jan. 4, 1940, News Letter Journal reported on the monument’s ultimate removal. The article said, “The monument in the center of the street will be moved by the American Legion to a selected location on the library grounds.” Cash said that the Works Progress Administration tore out the median and the monument, and its workers repaired the street in its place. However, Cash added that the monument was never moved to the library’s property, and he suspects the shells from WWI might have been sold for brass during World War II because nobody seems to know what happened to the monument after its removal. Thus, the mystery continues.