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Butler County Soldiers, Sailors and Pioneers Mounment

1 South Monument Avenue
513-867-5823

The Butler County Soldiers, Sailors & Pioneers Monument was built to honor all the men and women who first settled Butler County and also to "perpetuate the memory of all the soldiers and sailors of Butler County." The Monument stands on the site of Fort Hamilton, built by General Arthur St. Clair in 1791 and enlarged by General Anthony Wayne in 1792.

Construction of the Monument, initiated by the Wetzel-Compton Post of the Grand Army of the Republic and financed by a general levy, began in 1902 and was completed in 1906. The official opening ceremonies took place on July 4, 1906 with much fanfare. The building, designed by a local architect in the popular neoclassical style, is 100 feet tall and forty feet square. Much of the interior in this three story building is finished with highly polished tablets of Tennessee marble engraved with the names of Butler County pioneers and veterans of American wars from the Revolutionary War through the Spanish-American War of 1898. The Monument is topped by a small temple-like structure supported by ten slender Corinthian columns. On the temple dome is a 3,500 pound, 14 foot, bronze statue of a young Civil War soldier. The statue, created by Rudolph Theim, a Hamilton sculptor, is waving his cap victoriously in the air while standing on an exploded shell.

One of the many unique features of the Monument is its art glass windows depicting women's contribution during wartime. One window (facing High Street), entitled "The Army Nurses," portrays a nurse caring for a Civil War soldier in a battlefield. The other large window (facing the Great Miami River), entitled "Our Loyal Mothers and Sisters," depicts women and children rolling bandages and collecting lint for the war effort.

The Monument houses an impressive collection of Civil War weapons and swords. It also has exhibits on 20th century American wars, including military uniforms, military medals, and photographs. In addition to the names of Butler County veterans engraved on the walls, the Monument maintains records of Butler County servicepersons who served in World War I, World War II, and the Korean, Vietnam and Gulf Wars. The Butler County Soldiers, Sailors & Pioneers Monument is open to the public free of charge and is available for group tours by appointment only during and beyond its normal operating hours.