World War I Doughboy

Near the Polk County Courthouse and facing Mills Street is an Italian marble statue depicting a WWI US infantryman representing the men nicknamed doughboys. The statue was erected on July 4, 1925 through the patriotic efforts of local citizens and W.A. Cannon, a member of the county’s Soldiers Memorial Association which was created soon after the war’s end. The five-foot tall statue with rifle in hand stands atop a seven-foot base made of local field stone and river rocks. The nearby flagpole flies the American flag with 48 stars representing the states in the union during WWI. The marble panel on the base honors the Polk County men who gave their lives in the war.