Coming Soon: Your Updated War Memorial

For the past several years, a dedicated group of community leaders have been been quietly working to see the work of an updated Miami Springs War Memorial to fruition, and the date is nearly upon us.

The official re-opening of the Memorial is set for 11:00 a.m. on Friday, April 4, 2025.

​I hope to see you there, as a project near to my heart becomes a reality.

Site Rendering courtesy of Southeast Design & Associates

Opportunities for financial sponsorship of this project in the form of personalized bricks and plaques at the site are still available. More information can be found here.

A Brief History of the Miami Springs War Memorial

The embedded collection of Miami Herald clippings shows there was a Miami Springs “Memorial and Honor Roll” dedicated on May 23, 1945 by the Miami Springs post of the American Legion.  It honored the three war dead of Miami Springs; Elmer F. Park (incorrectly listed as “Elmer S.” in multiple places, his middle name was “Francis”); Joseph A. Whitesell; Walter D. Kniffin.  Mayor Welford H. Tyler, Mayor of Miami Springs spoke at the ceremonies.
 

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Its precise location is not specified, although we can infer from the July 4, 1950 mention in the Herald “on Curtiss Parkway in Miami Springs” – that it was in its present location from the beginning.
 
In May 1953 a second ceremony was held to dedicate a plaque commemorating “the dead of all America’s wars”. Presumably that is the “larger” plaque we see on the War Memorial today.  That same article references the “J.N. Farmer American Legion Post 117.”  [Side Note: the Miami Springs American Legion Post 117 was officially installed at the Miami Springs Country Club on December 8, 1943. James N. Farmer was the founding Historian of the Miami Springs Post. He died in 1950 and became the Post's namesake.]

At some point the J.N. Farmer Legion Post 117 ceased to exist in Miami Springs. American Legion Post 117 now corresponds to an organization in Palm Bay, Florida -- and the current local is American Legion Post 32, Sullivan-Babcock, which is named for USMC Lt. Melville E.I. Sullivan, and Marine PFC Benny M. Babcock, Dade County's first fallen soldiers in World War I and World War II, respectively.
 
Finally, the May 1955 Herald article alludes (correctly or incorrectly) to a “new Veterans’ Memorial on Curtiss Parkway, near the Springs Circle.” 
 
So, while it is possible that our Miami Springs War Memorial has gone through multiple iterations, we know it dates back to May 23, 1945, with modifications happening between 1945 and 1955.