Bradford County Veteran’s Memorial Park
PO Box 206
Towanda PA 18848
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Bradford County Veteran’s Memorial Park
PO Box 206
Towanda PA 18848
The Bradford County Veteran’s Memorial Park Association has constructed a site to highlight the traditions and national heritage of our local men and women who have served in our armed forces. This project will stand as a traditional stonework honorarium focusing on those who have served our country from the inception of our nation in 1775 up to and including present day conflicts. Once fully completed, the project will honor those who have defended our sovereignty and kept us safe from harm past, present and future. Our goal is to build a patriotic educational tool cast in granite and bronze which will stand the test of time with minimal maintenance.
The membership personnel of the Bradford County Veterans Memorial Park Association are all volunteers with no salaried employees. Their only goal is to serve the veteran community in our county.
Partnered with and co-hosted by the Borough of Towanda, the project site is located on Borough owned land, earmarked and donated specifically for this use. All financial management is administered by Towanda Borough in accordance with its fully audited municipal accounting procedures and standards.
Upon completion, the park will be a natural complement to the many public improvement and community-based projects that have occurred in the County over the last 25 years. These improvements have been the result of a comprehensive revitalization and redevelopment strategy developed by the Local Government to capitalize on the county seats’ rich history and natural resources.
Part and parcel yet inseparable in concept, the project includes a parking for use by the general public. Additionally, a concrete sidewalk leads to the existing walking trail along the Susquehanna River, up to the Senator Roger A. Madigan Gateway Park, One Progress Center and the nationally registered Towanda Historic District which includes the Towanda Central Business District.
Serving as a trailhead, the parking lot and walkway serve a dual purpose providing safe entrance and easy exit from the veterans’ heritage site. Benches, lighting and trash containers will be placed at convenient and necessary locations throughout the area. The park is accessible to the handicapped via ramps and handrails.
The park will afford many areas for the general public to relax for lunch, sightsee, meditate, perhaps find a spiritual connection and enjoy family gatherings while walking through this historic landmark facility.
In summary, the principle goal of this park is to educate those who may not know the contributions made by our veterans to keep our nation free. The park elicits pride, honor, respect and a sense of awe to those who read the inscriptions on the various monuments and plaques.
Respectfully,
Joseph F. Doherty / for BCVMPA
In 1992, the Towanda Business District was entered into the National Register of Historical Places. 441 of a total 482 structures are historically contributing. The predominant architectural styles are Greek Revival and Queen Anne, with Gothic Revival, Second Empire and Italianate styles also represented. Buildings in the downtown range in scale from the dominant bulk of the Bradford County Courthouse down to two and three story commercial buildings on narrow plots; residential scale runs from small cottage-like houses up to rambling Queen Anne mansions on large lots. The structures are either brick or frame construction, as stone buildings are few. While some buildings date from the early years of the 19th and 20th centuries, the vast majority, date from Towanda’s economic heyday, which spanned the years 1830-1900. Though most of the downtown business district is included, the district is predominantly residential.
Perhaps the most unusual of Towanda’s buildings is the French Renaissance Revival Public Library at 106 Main Street. The Bradford County Courthouse of 1897 is a monumental structure in the Beaux Arts Classical Style. The Episcopal Church, 1 Main Street, c. 1889, combines the blunt stonework and conical towers of the Romanesque with Gothic features. The County Jail, constructed in 1867-1868, consisted of three-story, a brick gable roof stone structure measuring forty-eight feet by sixty-four feet capped with a ten-foot-tall crenellated tower. Built of rusticated, ashlar sandstone cut into large blocks, measuring as large as five feet in length and two feet in height. The entire structure is trimmed in stone, including the cornice which uses a single stone as the fascia and soffit.
The collection of architecture in the Towanda district is by far the largest and most varied in Bradford County. In the area of Greek Revival, it is unrivaled in quality. The Gothic Revival buildings constitute one of the best collections in north-central Pennsylvania.
Towanda Historic District Walking Tour
An $80,000 project partially funded with a DCNR Heritage project grant to purchase and erect various types of entry and descriptive plaques and to develop brochures and other printed material.
Towanda Historic District Walking Tour Unveiling at the Bradford County Historical Society, August 26, 2005
Committee: Bob Veleker, Anne Sturzen, Susan Miller & Tom Fairchild – Photo in center: Jean Cutler – Photo on right: Jean Miller & Mayor Richard Snell
Walking Tour Brochure
To receive a copy of the brochure stop at our office, located at 724 Main St, Towanda, PA.
In 1997, a $230,000 project, partially funded with a DCNR grant, was implemented to develop a boat launch, walking trail, picnic and fishing areas and a multi-use sports field across the river from the Borough. In 2002, a much used 24’x48′ pavilion was built at the park with donations from the Wysox and Towanda Area Chamber of Commerce, the Towanda Area Soccer Association, the local Kiwanis, Lions and Rotary clubs, State Aggregates and Cotton Concrete. The pavilion is the focal point of the Borough’s Concert in the Park program.
