Soldier's Memorial Monument -

SCANENGER HUNT SITE #1  Soldier's Memorial Monument

The Soldier's Memorial Monument was dedicated on December 11, 1927, after a decade of fundraising. It was designed by sculptor Ralph Stackpole. Ralph was a well-known San Francisco artist who designed the monument, and other architectural features, for the Palace of Varied Industry at the Pan Pacific International Exposition. 

He was a friend of Diego Rivera and was involved in the labor movements of the 1920s and 30s. A staircase inside the tower leads to a viewing area at the top, which is closed to the public. The bas-relief soldiers at the top of the monument depict three white soldiers and one black soldier. It was meant as a memorial to the soldiers who had died in World War I.

The original location of the monument was at the intersection of the Victory Highway and the Pacific and Redwood Highways. It was originally located in Pleasant hill at Hookston Place (the intersection of Monument and Contra Costa Boulevards) as it stood on a triangle in the middle of the intersection. 

To allow for road expansion, it moved to its present location at the corner of Boyd Road at Contra Costa Highway in 1954, when it was rededicated to include veterans of WWII and the Korean War.

CAPTIONS:  Top right - The monument at it's original location. Right middle - an aerial view of Pleasant Hill. Low middle - 1942 Thomas Brothers Map of Pleasant Hill with the Monument in its original location and the Sacramento Norther and Southern Pacific Railroad tracks cross at Las Juntas. 

Below - current photo of the Monument.
Color photo modern day of the memorial shot from slightly above
Black and white photo of soldier's memorial
An aerial view of Pleasant Hill with the Soldier's Memorial in the center
A map of Pleasant Hill with the Soldier's Memorial marked

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Site #2 is known in Pleasant Hill as a place for music festivals and a place for having picnics, softball and outdoor aquatics!