Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument Square

Monument Square honors all servicemen and owes its existence largely to General Thomas H. Barber (1844-1905), a wealthy summer resident of Southampton who had a brilliant military career after graduating from West Point in 1867. He served briefly as the first military Governor of Hawaii before insisting on joining the fight in the Philippines, where he served some time with General MacArthur. Later in life, he had the idea to create this unusual monument to all servicemen and it was through his connections with the War and Navy Departments that he was able to procure the military material assembled in this unique monument. Among the contributions were guns, projectiles and chain from an old sloop of war. Work began in 1896, the public dedication was held in 1900, and the monument, originally referred to as the “Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument,” was completed in 1902. Expenses amounted to about $2,000 and much of the work was done by local volunteers.