Monuments in Wisner Park

by Erin Doane, Curator

For generations, people have been going to Wisner Park to meet with friends, gather for celebrations, speak out about various causes, shop for summer produce, and simply sit and enjoy the green space. In 1875, the Elmira Daily Advertiser declared the spot “one of the pleasantest in this city and hardly equaled in any place in the state or country." It is also a spot to commemorate local heroes. The park is dotted with nearly a dozen statues and memorials.

View of the eastern half of Wisner Park from above, c. 1950s

Thomas K. Beecher Statue, 1901

The first statue erected in Wisner Park was dedicated to Thomas K. Beecher. In 1854, Beecher came to Elmira to preach at the Independent Congregational Church, now known as Park Church. He served as minister there for 46 years. Just two days after his funeral in 1900, Col. William C. Buck called for a suitable monument to be erected in Wisner Park to honor Beecher. Eminent sculptor Jonathan Scott Hartley was hired to create the statue and it was dedicated in 1901.

Postcard showing children posing near the statue of Thomas K. Beecher, c. 1910s

Exedra, 1924

In 1919, at the end of World War I, a Victory Arch was built across Main Street near Wisner Park. People gathered there to welcome home the soldiers of Company L. A temporary honor roll inscribed with 96 names of local soldiers who died in the war was erected there as well. On Memorial Day 1924, a permanent monument to those who served in the war was dedicated . Exedra stands “in honor of the heroes” and “in memory of those who gave their lives.” Terzo Cenci, a young sculptor who was also a veteran of the war, designed and modeled the monument, and Ernest S. Leland was the architect. In 1936, Harry B. Bentley Post 443 of the American Legion added an eternal light in front of the monument.

Postcard showing the temporary honor roll, 1919

Postcard showing permanent Exedra monument, c. 1920s

The Hiker, 1929

In 1929, a second war monument was added to the park. “The Hiker” statue honors those who fought in the Spanish-American War, the Boxer Rebellion, and the Philippine-American War. Elmira’s statue is one of at least 50 copies throughout the United States. The original statue was created by Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson for the University of Minnesota in 1906. The Common Council of Elmira and the Chemung County Board of Supervisors each contributed $2500 to purchase and erect the monument.

A gathering of veterans at The Hiker statue, date unknown

World War II Monument, 1949

During World War II, a temporary marker was placed in Wisner Park in memory of local soldiers who gave their lives in service. In 1949, the Harry B. Bentley Post erected a permanent monument honoring the 292 people who died and the 12,000 who served from Chemung County.

World War II monument, 2018

Korean and Vietnam Wars Monument, 1987

A monument honoring Chemung County men and women who served their country and gave their lives in Korea and Vietnam was dedicated on Memorial Day in 1987.

Korean and Vietnam Wars monument, 2018

Fallen Officers Memorial, 2000

On November 11, 2000, the Elmira Police Department unveiled a monument dedicated to fallen officers. It lists four men – Chief John J. Finnell, Sergeant Charles Gradwell, Officer August R. Michalke, and Sergeant John C. Hawley – who gave their lives in the line of duty.

Fallen Officers Memorial, 2018

Other Monuments

While walking around Wisner Park last week, I noticed there were several other smaller monuments that I had not noticed before. Near the Exedra monument are two black stone monuments carved to look like books. They are dedicated to two local Medal of Honor recipients, Thomas P. Gere and John Denny.

Medal of Honor monuments, 2018

Also, in the center of the eastern half of the park is a flag pole. Its base is a monument “In tribute to the honorable men and women who gallantly serve our country as we strive to preserve freedom throughout the world and establish a just and lasting peace.” It was erected by Chemung County AFL-CIO labor assembly.

Flagpole monument, 2018

The Popcorn Truck in Wisner Park

by Erin Doane, Curator

One of the most famous sights at Wisner Park’s summer market is the restored antique popcorn truck that was originally owned and operated by Frank Romeo from 1930 until his retirement in 1971. Many people who remember Romeo and his truck have fond, nostalgic memories of the kind man who sold popcorn, peanuts, and other treats in the park. Not many are aware of the struggles that he went through to become a beloved fixture in downtown.

The Popcorn Man by Lori Mustico

The website https://www.elmira-ny.com/popcorn/index.shtml has a wonderful history of the work undertaken by the Popcorn Truck Preservation Society in the late 1980s to restore the “Red Wagon” to its former glory. It is definitely worth reading about all the time and effort that went into bringing the popcorn truck back to life, so to speak. My focus here is going to be on the truck’s first life with Frank Romeo.

Frank and Constantina Mustico Romeo with the popcorn truck, 1971

Frank Romeo was an Italian immigrant who came to Elmira in 1912 at the age of 17. He was drafted into the military in 1918 and served in World War I. In 1922, he began his nearly 50-year career in the popcorn business. At that time, he had fallen ill and lost his job. He told a Star-Gazette reporter years later that his doctor told him “if I didn’t get more air I might as well build my own box. So instead of building a box, I built a push cart. And I started selling popcorn.” The southeast corner of North Main and West Church Streets in Wisner Park seemed the perfect place to get fresh air and sell popcorn he popped by hand over a coal stove on his cart.

In those early days, however, Romeo had not settled on that corner of the park as the only location of his business. In July 1929, he had a popcorn and soft drink stand on West Miller Street in front of the Southside playground. On the night of July 10^th, a drunk driver crashed his vehicle into the stand. Romeo received $335 from the driver in $10 weekly installments to cover the damages done. A clerk who happened to be at the stand at the time also received $60 for hospital expenses and to replace his clothing that was ruined in the crash.

Little Red Wagon Set by Talitha Botsford

In 1930, a local car dealer made a specially designed popcorn wagon on a two-ton chassis for Frank Romeo’s business. With this new truck, he settled into his corner near Wisner Park at North Main and West Church Streets and had no desire to leave. Even his arrest that year for violating section 154 of Article 12 of the city ordinances would not move him. The text of the law reads:

No person shall permit any vehicle owned or controlled by him to stop upon or anywise encumber any public streets or places within the City of Elmira…for a longer period than 15 minutes along any block while engaged in selling or offering for sale any provisions or merchandise;…and no person shall erect or maintain any booth or stand, nor place any barrels, boxes, crates or other obstructions upon any such public street or places for the purpose of selling or exposing for sale any provision or merchandise.

Romeo’s arrest came after Alderman John B. Sheehe registered a complaint on the floor of the Common Council against the operation of freelance street peddlers. He introduced a resolution directing police Chief Elvin D. Weaver to act to enforce the ordinance. Romeo’s friends and fellow military veterans rallied around him after his arrest, believing he was being discriminated against. No other merchants had been arrested even though nearly every grocer or fruit dealer in the city was in violation of the ordinance for having boxes and crates full of merchandise on the sidewalks in front of their businesses.

Romeo pled not guilty before the Recorder’s Court and was represented by Attorney Harry Markson, a veteran himself of World War I. After the war, veterans were given state licenses to operate as peddlers. Romeo had such a license as well as a city permit to operate his business. The city’s recorder found Romeo not guilty of violating the ordinance regulating the operation of street peddlers and ruled that he had a legal right to sell his wares any place in the city at any time because of the ex-serviceman’s license he held. The recorder also noted that any peddler without such a license was in violation of the law and would be punished.

Elmira Star-Gazette, April 26, 1930

Romeo’s victory in court helped establish him and his red popcorn wagon as fixtures in downtown Elmira for years to come. There were still some bumps along the way, though. On June 9, 1931 his truck was damaged extensively by a fire that was believed to have been caused by defective wiring. A leak in the gasoline tank added fuel to the fire. During World War II, butter became scarce and rather than use a substitute that would bring down the famous quality of his popcorn, he shuttered the business and did other work. At the end of the war, he returned to his parking spot on the corner of North Main and West Church Streets. 

Even when the city put in parking meters, public outcry led the city to set aside the parking space for Romeo for as long as he wanted it. And he stayed there until he retired in 1971. He was in his 70s at the time and had become a bit jaded by conditions in the area. His popcorn wagon was vandalized on occasion, once having its tires slit. In an interview several years after his retirement he said, “It was those park people. The hippies. I couldn’t see staying open just for them.”

Popcorn truck on the highway, 1971

After retiring, Romeo sold his popcorn wagon to Kenneth White, a school teacher, for $1,000. White intended to use the truck as a source of summer income but he only ended up selling popcorn from it a half-dozen times before parking it in a garage. Nearly 20 years later, the newly-restored popcorn truck made its triumphant return to Wisner Park. Now, the truck lives full-time in a specially-constructed brick and glass building near the corner Romeo had claimed as his own and it comes out to provide warm, fresh popcorn at the Wisner Market.

When the popcorn truck returned to the city in 1988, 25 1-pound bags of the original popcorn Romeo had purchased were found in the back.