Bloom Park was one of the very first monuments erected in the United States to honor the veterans of the Spanish-American War (1898-99). It was dedicated on July 4, 1900. The keynote speaker at the ceremony was Henry Kyd Douglas a former Adjutant General of the Maryland National Guard who was a Confederate officer during the Civil War. The monument was unveiled by two small boys, one of whom was William P. Lane, Jr., who grew up to serve as Governor of Maryland (1947-51). The cannon, a relic captured from Fort Morro at Santiago, Cuba was obtained from the War Department through the efforts of Senator Louis McComas. The land for this memorial was donated by S. Martin Bloom (Mayor, 1884-86), who lived across North Potomac Street. Mayor Bloom also absorbed all of the cost of transporting the cannon to Hagerstown and the expense of grading the park and constructing the base. In 2002 the Mayor and City Council officially named this site "Bloom Park" in recognition of Mayor Bloom's generosity.

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Show me all markers in:  Hagerstown, MD  |  Washington County  |  21740  |  Maryland  |  United States of America

This Bronze Cannon
In Memory Of
Hagerstonians in the Civil War
Zion Evangelical and Reform Church
Jonathan Hager
Retreat from Gettysburg
The Harmon Hotel
Corporal William Othello Wilson
Washington County Jail
Washington County Jail

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