A monumental undertaking

In its earliest days, cattle and pigs grazed there. Eventually, it was partially a landfill. An early centerpiece was "Cory's Punch Bowl." Then came the buttonwoods and the elms.

Just about the time when north country boys were being sent south to help preserve the Union, a flagpole sprang up.

A refreshing sight appeared in 1869 or 1870: a new fountain. Yet another type of watering device created in 1890, a "monument to the memory of Uncle Moses," was a sight more refreshing to animals than to the human eye.

And a couple of years later, its first real monument was built, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, a gift to the city from a retired businessman and his wife.

At some point in the 19th century, nobody is quite sure when, a bandstand was erected, later to be replaced.

There we have the early evolution of what somehow became known as Peanut Park, the grassy area in the center of Watertown's Public Square, which this fall takes on a new face while preserving its past as a monument park.

Henry Coffeen settled his family here. After a couple years, in 1802, a tavern was opened by another of the pioneer citizenry, Dr. Isaiah Massey, at what is now the entrance to Paddock Arcade.

The settlers, Coffeen and Massey included, provided a quadrangle of land in the center of their village, to be known as the public mall. The plot was measured at 12 rods by 28 rods, with hills on the east and west ends flanking a depression in the middle. The depression became a landfill.

The community grew around its mall but suffered huge setbacks when fire struck in 1849, 1851 and 1853. With the scars of those blazes still showing, a dealer of dry goods stepped forward to lead a revival for the heart of Watertown.

And that leads us to wonder, why was Albert M. Utley never honored as the Father of Public Square?

Born in 1819 in the town of Rodman, Mr. Utley was about 24 when he went to work for a dry goods business in Watertown, a business he would eventually own and operate on Public Square and later on Court Street.

In 1858, Mr. Utley, with retirement two or three years away, suggested to village Mayor Joseph Mullin his idea of laying out in the middle of the square two oblong parks at opposite ends with a circle between them for a fountain.

Nothing was done for about a year, until after heirs of settler Jonathan Cowan granted a waiver from a provision in the property deed that prohibited "obstructions" in the area so it could be preserved as a public mall. Mr. Utley and Dr. Edward S. Sill found the heirs and secured their consent.

A surveyor, Charles Smith, was hired by Mr. Utley to draw up the plans for the layout and grading of the parks.

Meanwhile, village Trustee Benjamin Cory, editor of The Register, suggested a fountain for the middle of the park. His recommendation gave birth to "Cory's Punch Bowl," destined to remain about 15 years as the centerpiece of Public Square.

Once the park's groundwork was finished, citizens were invited to plant trees along the margins and even to name their trees.

With this arborous endeavor came some friendly competition, according to a story Mr. Utley shared in 1903 with a reporter.

Daniel Dorsey, proprietor of the Woodruff House, teamed with Frederick T. Story, owner of Watertown Gas Works, and Edmund Q. Sewall, a partner in Goulding, Bagley & Sewall, iron and brass manufacturer, to plant a tree facing the Woodruff. Theirs was a 25-foot-high buttonwood.

The trio laughed at Mr. Utley's choice, a small, thrifty elm with two branches that he placed on the south side, almost opposite the buttonwood.

"Such an insignificant staddle," the threesome jeered.

"Gentlemen," Mr. Utley replied, "wait a few years and see which tree is the larger."

He had the last laugh. In about two years, the buttonwood was dead and had to be removed. Mr. Utley's elm was thriving and became one of the largest trees in a park encircled by trees.

"In a few years the Square, crowned by the beauty of its trees and foliage, became the pride and admiration of the citizens and won the praise of strangers who visited us," the reporter's 1903 story read.

After Watertown was incorporated as a city in 1869, parks came under the jurisdiction of city government. Within a year, the city, under the administration of Mayor George W. Flower, had a new fountain installed, replacing "Cory's Punch Bowl." Mr. Cory wasn't around to see it happen, as he had died at age 66 in June 1861.

The new fountain, painted dark green and surrounded by an ornamental iron fence, was to remain in place for about 90 years.

Electric lights began glowing on the square in 1880.

Eight years later, city engineer Frank A. Hinds was directed to reduce the length of the upper park, at the west end, to make room for a water tank for the benefit of man and beast. The iron structure, with a ground-level bowl for thirsty dogs, was the contribution of Moses Eames, an 82-year-old former state assemblyman and president of the Jefferson County Agriculture Society.

"He was a friend to dumb animals, as evidenced by the gift of enduring and useful watering troughs erected by him, one on Public Square and another on State Street," his obituary said in June 1892.

The writer of the 1903 report added, "May it remain for all time as a monument to the memory of Uncle Moses."

In the meantime, little attention had been paid to improvements or proper care of the trees.

"In 1891 the decree went forth that all the trees in the park should be removed, and the Square was bereft of its beautiful foliage and the parks were laid bare to the scorching rays of the sun," the 1903 account continued. "This act was much regretted by a large majority of the citizens."

Mr. Utley lived to see the trees of Public Square flourish, but he also was around to witness their destruction. He was 90 when he died in August 1909.

The roads of Public Square were still not paved — that would happen in 1894 in the form of wooden bricks — when the heart of Watertown was given its first monument.

The parade of monument construction on Public Square began in 1892, courtesy of George and Adeline Granger Cook. The couple had been living in Watertown nearly two decades when they made their gesture of patriotism by placing the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in the upper park.

Mr. Cook had become prosperous operating a drug, hat and cap store in his native Cortland County. He retired in 1857 and moved in 1873 to Jefferson County, where his wife had spent her childhood.

The couple was inspired by an editorial in the Watertown Daily Times on May 31, 1889, as well as by Mr. Cook's brother. Albert Cook of Seneca Falls had willed $5,000 for a monument in his community.

Mr. and Mrs. Cook pledged $10,000, asking the city to provide a site and a foundation. City Hall took just four days to follow suit.

At the laying of the cornerstone on May 30, 1890, Mr. Cook's comments were quite brief: "The boys deserved a monument, ought to have a monument, and my wife and I were determined they should have one."

The 55-foot high monument, topped by Lady Victory, was inscribed, "In Grateful Memory of the soldiers and sailors of Jefferson county who fought or fell in defense of the Union and the freedom of man."

A second inscription reads, "This Monument to witness that these dead have not died in vain, and that through them, under God, this Nation had a new Birth of Freedom."

Mrs. Cook lived seven years beyond the monument's June 3, 1891, dedication. Her husband lived to be 86, dying on Feb. 2, 1901.

The Roswell P. Flower monument, which greets traffic entering Washington Street from Public Square, was unveiled and dedicated on Sept. 1, 1902.

"It is an enduring tribute to atypical American life," the Times said in an editorial that day. "It will stand always as an inspiration and example not only to those of today but for generation after generation."

The former New York governor's 9-foot-high bronze statue and its base were the product of a $25,000 fundraising drive initiated by two officials of New York Air Brake Co., Charles A. Starbuck and John C. Thompson.

In 2002-03, $128,000 was raised to restore and preserve the monument.

At the east end of the square is a bronze tablet mounted on a 3-ton granite boulder "to the memory of the following early settlers of Watertown who donated in 1805 for the free use of the people forever, the land now known as Public Square, formerly called the Mall."

It lists Mr. Coffeen, Isaiah Massey, Hart Massey, Mr. Cowan, Zachariah Butterfield, Aaron Keyes, Medad Canfield and Jesse Doolittle. Presented to the city by the LeRay de Chaumont Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, it was dedicated on June 14, 1940.

Two great-great-great-grandchildren of Hart Massey, David Fairbanks, 11, and Berthaida Fairbanks, 9, residents of Troy, unveiled the monument.

The monument was given to preserve for "the generations which will follow" the unselfish devotion of the settlers, said Emily M. Field, regent of the DAR chapter, at the dedication.

A new "Lady of the Lake" fountain replaced the existing fountain in 1960, with a dedication on May 31. New York Air Brake Co. had again stepped to the forefront in keeping the square dressed up, donating the fountain, complete with spraying jets and a silver-painted sculpture in the middle.

"We saw in the idea to replace the fountain an opportunity to express some of our gratitude to the city for the good home Watertown has provided our company," said Philip R. Fortune, general manager.

Said Watertown Mayor William G. Lachenauer: "Our fountain is not only a trademark of the city, but also has been a tourist attraction throughout the years."

The fountain, restored this year, features a Greek goddess, Hebe, overlooking the square's new traffic pattern while pouring water from a pitcher. Flowers, vines and a gaggle of geese cast in iron add to the structure's design.

To the west of the founders' boulder is a triangular War Memorial that was dedicated "as a tribute to all wars" on Nov. 11, 1969, "In Honor Of Those Who Served," the Times reported. It was secured through efforts by the Veterans Memorial Association, the National Defense committee of the Greater Watertown Chamber of Commerce and veterans groups.

The original flagpole on Public Square stood tall at 122 feet, ready to fly our nation's colors for the first time on May 5, 1861.

Gone are the "Uncle Moses" trough and its successor, a marble edifice that was donated by Sarah Flower, widow of Roswell P. Flower. She announced on Aug. 7, 1905, her decision to provide a replacement for the Moses trough.

The final product was "a tall shaft of imported marble, artistically sculptured, surrounded by marble bowls for quenching the thirst of man and beast," the Times reported. There were high troughs for horses facing the Paddock Arcade, low bowls for dogs, and separate facilities for people, with seating facing the east.

The Flower Memorial Fountain endured the elements for nearly 35 years, being removed in 1940 to make way for road development.

A bandstand toward the east end of the park was built soon after the Civil War broke out, according to the 1903 article, and was replaced by another one shortly before 1890, when the newer stand appears in photographs. It was still visible in a 1911 picture, and recollections by the late Alex T. Duffy had it still serving the community in 1922.

We are at a loss to say when it was removed from Public Square.

That void is answered this month with the city's $7,000-plus purchase from North County Storage Barns, Philadelphia, of a red cedar gazebo about 14 feet in diameter, located approximately where the bandstands stood. It is expected to serve as the focal point for activities on the Square.

Here is a question for our readers. How did the monument park on Public Square become called Peanut Park? The first such record of that reference in Times files appears in a story on June 4, 1977, when the city manager, Ronald G. Forbes, was asked to have city police "check on the condition of Peanut Park on the east end of Public Square."

City Councilwoman Roxanne M. Burns said she suspects the shape of the original island at that end of the square may have given the impression of a peanut.

"I wish people would stop calling it that," she said. "It's not an official name."

We thank city historian and clerk Donna M. Dutton and Times librarian Lisa Carr for their contributions in research, and Timothy J. Abel, director of the Jefferson County Historical Society, for his assistance with photo reproduction.

CELEBRATING THE NEW PUBLIC SQUARE

The city of Watertown will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4, to mark the completion of the Public Square makeover. During the event, Mayor Jeffrey E. Graham will light the Christmas tree, and the Watertown High School Select Choir will sing in the season.

And speaking of the season, an invitation has been sent out for Santa Claus to be on hand.