From time to time I wander around the neighbouring towns taking pictures. This time it was Ossining. It’s perhaps best known as the location of Sing Sing prison. In fact the town was originally called Sing Sing but changed its name to try to avoid the association with the prison. I was surprised to find that Walker Evans lived there between June and October 1928.

Statue of Soldier on the War memorial. The monument remembers soldiers of Ossining, New York, who died fighting in the Civil War. Those killed were men, both privates and officers, most from the 17th U.S. Volunteer Regiment and the 6th U.S. Heavy Artillery. The Field Guide to US Public Monuments and Memorials says:

“One of two Civil War remembrances in Ossining, this 21-foot tall statue, approximately, of a standing soldier in uniform and made of bronze is positioned atop a granite obelisk; an attached bronze plaque lists the 42 names of the lost soldiers that it honors. Maurice J. Power, a New York sculptor, designed and created the monument. The National Fine Arts Foundry, owned by Power and also situated in Manhattan, at 218 East 25 Street, New York, cast the work. This firm produced, or participated in the creation of, a number of lasting battle monuments, for instance that at Monmouth, New Jersey.

The sculpture was sponsored by the Sing Sing Monument Committee. Formed in January, 1887, to create this monument, the group was led by Colonel Edwin McAlpin and comprised of a wide-range of prominent community men. The colonel was a resident of the village and commander of the 71st Infantry Regiment, New York National Guard. A large parade, featuring both military troops and civic groups, prepared the village and parade onlookers for the work’s dedication, Decoration Day, May 30, 1887.

The memorial was installed that May day on North Highland Avenue (also known as U.S. 9 or the Albany Post Road) at its cross with Croton Avenue, called Hubbell’s Corners. However, as the village changed and expanded, so did this intersection. And as regards the monument, the intersection site became burdensome; the sculpture was therefore relocated in September of 1930 to its current location at the juncture of Brookville Avenue and Pleasantville Road.”

I came across this bench in the middle of a tiny traffic circle on an out of the way street.

The second of the two war memorials, this one in a park: an angel on a pedestal. On the base supporting the statue were a number of panels. This is one of them.

Church facade

Spooky doll in a shop window

House with fence

Buildings