Honoring Our Heritage: Jean MacKay Henrich's 'Peace' Sculpture and the Evolution of Pulteney Park

Pulteney Park, established in 1793, has evolved from a public square and commercial area into a park. Originally a parking space for carriages and horses, the park began to transform about a century later with aesthetic enhancements, including a fountain installation.

In 1938, the city of Geneva hired Jean MacKay Henrich to create a monument sculpture, shifting the park's purpose to a memorial site. Henrich, a skilled artist educated at prestigious institutions, crafted a statue from Georgia marble. This statue, central to the war memorial, honors veterans of the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and World War I.

The statue, named 'Peace,' depicts a kneeling maiden in soft grey stone, symbolizing guardianship and remembrance. It is set in the middle of a square water basin, surrounded by historic elms and oaks, providing a space for community reflection.

The statue was unveiled on Memorial Day 1939, marking Henrich's first major sculpture. Originally cast in pink marble, a flaw led Henrich to recast it in grey marble. The discarded pink marble statue was mistakenly placed in West Jefferson County, North Carolina, and mislabeled as 'Pocahontas 1595-1617.'

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