The monument, originally 18 feet tall, stood in Wilmington for 131 years, including at Garfield Triangle Park since 1918. Before it was shipped to Hiram, Ohio, it was trimmed, with the bottom two stones left behind; the city's taxpayers footed the bill to send it away. The empty concrete base left behind in Garfield Triangle Park has become a flashpoint for residents who say they were never consulted before the landmark left Delaware. The statue is now in Hiram, but its possible return to Wilmington remains disputed.
Wilmington Mayor John Carney authorized sending the statue to Hiram, Ohio, according to NBC10 Philadelphia. The move came after the Wilmington City Council member representing the area requested the statue's removal as part of plans to remake the park, the outlet reports. A city spokesperson told the station that Carney had the authority to make the decision on his own.
Wilmington taxpayers covered the $21,595 cost to remove, crate and ship the statue, while Hiram, Ohio, covered the costs to reinstall it, according to Spotlight Delaware. The statue had stood in Wilmington for 131 years, first dedicated on Memorial Day in 1895 by a group of civic leaders and Union veterans known as the Garfield Monument Association, per the same outlet. By 1918, the city moved it north to Concord Avenue, to the spot that became known as the Garfield Triangle.
An Empty Base and Vanishing History
Garfield Triangle Park now has no sign marking its name or explaining Garfield's history, and its concrete base sits empty where the statue once stood, NBC10 reports. Stu Freeman, who lives near the park, told the station that passersby had no idea who the statue even honored. “No one knew, there was no placard or anything he was just standing there,” Freeman said.
Freeman offered his own ideas for what should fill the void, suggesting the city replace the statue with someone from the area or simply dedicate the park to a dog or something, according to NBC10's report. Other residents in the neighborhood are focused less on the statue's fate and more on basic upkeep, wanting the park kept clean and safe, the station notes.
Preservationist Disputes the Process
John Medkeff, a local preservationist, maintains that Wilmington still owns the statue and says a proper process was not followed before it left the state, per NBC10's reporting. Medkeff argued residents could have found another location for the statue within Wilmington rather than sending it to Ohio. He said Garfield — a Civil War general, abolitionist, lawyer and preacher — deserved to be remembered, and that the statue belongs in Wilmington, where there are plenty of places it could have gone instead.
Medkeff and other residents have questioned whether the mayor should have made the call without a more public process, the station reports. Some residents want the statue returned to Wilmington outright. A city spokesperson said Carney believes the move takes the statue from a place of obscurity to a location with deeper ties to Garfield's legacy, since Hiram is where Garfield attended college and later served as principal for the school, according to Spotlight Delaware.
Hiram Celebrates What Wilmington Lost
While Wilmington residents grapple with the empty base, Hiram has welcomed the statue with open arms. The Hiram Historical Society was planning a celebration for the statue's arrival, according to NBC10. News 5 Cleveland reported that the 131-year-old statue was being installed in Hiram after spending years in Wilmington, Delaware. The Portager reported the statue was installed on Oct. 19 in a meadow adjacent to Hiram's Village Hall.
Garfield, the nation's 20th president, died in 1881, a couple of months after being shot in an assassination attempt, NBC10 notes. NBC10 said it reached out to the Wilmington City Council member who requested the statue's removal and to Hiram's mayor but did not receive responses from either.
Not Wilmington's First Statue Fight
This isn't the first time a Wilmington monument has stirred public debate. The city removed its Christopher Columbus statue in June 2020 amid concerns it could be damaged during unrest following George Floyd's killing, according to WHYY, part of a wave of similar removals and, in some cities, damage to Columbus statues nationwide that year.
Nearly six years later, the Columbus statue's future remained unresolved, WDEL reported. In February, the Wilmington City Council considered a resolution opposing the statue's proposed reinstallation, but it failed to pass with three votes in favor, six opposed, two present and two members absent, according to Delaware Call. For now, Garfield Triangle Park remains without the statue that stood there for more than a century, and the question of whether it should come home is far from settled.
