The Weehawken World War One Memorial

The Weehawken World War One Memorial serves as a somber guardian on the edge of the Palisades, looking out across the Hudson River toward Manhattan. Erected in 1930, it honors twenty-one men from the community who lost their lives during the conflict. The monument features a central granite column flanked by two bronze figures, a sailor and a doughboy, both standing at rest with their rifles held before them. The sculptor behind these figures, John Rapetti, lived in Weehawken and brought significant technical expertise to his work. Before creating this local tribute, he spent time in France working as an assistant to Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. This collaboration placed Rapetti among the skilled team responsible for building the Statue of Liberty, and his name is actually inscribed on the crown of that monument as one of its creators.