Belgrade Centennial Memorial, (sculpture).

Belgrade Centennial Memorial, (sculpture).

Hauck, Harry F., Jr., sculptor.

F.A.S.T. Corporation, fabricator.

Breitbach Construction, contractor.

Murphy Granite Carving, fabricator.

Belgrade Centennial Memorial, (sculpture).

May 1990. Crow installed July 1990. Dedicated Sept. 9, 1990.

Crow: plastic and fiberglass over steel, painted with automotive paint; Base: cement and stone.

Crow: approx. H. 18 ft. x W. 31 ft.; Branch: approx. L. 30 ft.; Base: approx. H. 25 ft. x Diam. 16 ft. (Crow: 3,000 lbs.; Base: 160 tons).

(Around top of memorial wall, incised lettering:) BELGRADE CENTENNIAL MEMORIAL (Plaque at kiosk entry:) BELGRADE/MINNESOTA/1888-1988/DEDICATED 1990 (Plaque at kiosk entry:) CENTENNIAL MEMORIAL/COMMITTEE MEMBERS/(list of names follows) (Plaque at kiosk entry:) Harry F. Hauck, Jr./(...inscription illegible)/(Plaque at kiosk entry:) GENERAL CONTRACTOR/BCC/BREITBACH/CONSTRUCTION unsigned

The Belgrade Centennial Memorial is a 3 1/2 acre site that includes a central sculpture of a large crow placed before a semi-circular wall honoring veterans of foreign wars. The crow is perched atop branches, and sits on a pyramidal-shaped cement base and lower stone structure housing a memento room or kiosk with an audio tape playing local history. The semi-circular wall contains nearly 5,000 bricks, each with a name and birth year of a Belgrade area resident, and the founders, townspeople, and descendants of Belgrade.

The memorial site also includes seating benches, picnic tables, flags from all fifty states and Canada, a POW flag, VFW and Lions flags, and flags commemorating pioneers from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, Poland, and Czechoslovakia, who came to America.

History -- United States -- Military history

History -- United States -- Minnesota

Animal -- Bird -- Crow

Outdoor Sculpture -- Minnesota -- Belgrade

Belgrade Centennial Memorial Park, US Highway 71S, Box 189, Belgrade, Minnesota 56312

The Belgrade Centennial Memorial commemorates the centennial of Belgrade, Minnesota (1888-1988), and was dedicated as part of Celebrate Minnesota 1990. The general contractor for the project was Breitbach Construction. The granite wall plaques are by Murphy Granite Carving.

The crow is an appropriate symbol for the area, as the memorial is located in Crow Lake Township, with Crow River and Crow Lake located nearby and the crow symbolism derives from Chief Little Crow.

IAS files contain transcription of plaques and signs throughout the memorial; newspaper articles from The Observer (Belgrade, Minnesota): July 4, 1990, pg. 1; Aug. 8, 1990, pg. 1, 12; Sept. 5, 1990, pg. 1; and flyer entitled "Reading at the Centennial Memorial Park," with a transcription of a recorded message.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Minnesota survey, 1995.

The Observer (Belgrade, Minnesota), Sept. 5, 1990, pg. 1.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

Control Number:

Horizon Information Portal 3.0

Powered by SirsiDynix

About | © 2020 Smithsonian | Terms of Use | Privacy | Contact

SIRIS - Smithsonian Institution Research Information System