You’re not likely to see George Washington honored at a war memorial in the western United States. After all, the Revolutionary War, fought between 1775 and 1783, took place in the far eastern quadrant of the country. 

But David Witter, president of the Lewis & Clark chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, wants to change that by adding a Revolutionary War memorial at Beaverton’s Veterans Memorial Park by next spring. 

The projected cost of the war memorial is about $160,000, and a state grant of $61,000 was recently awarded by the Oregon Parks and Recreation District in pursuit of the endeavor. The bulk of the money to cover the rest of the memorial was raised in individual and chapter donations by Sons of the American Revolution, Daughters of the American Revolution and Children of the American Revolution. 

“We had about $90,000 in the bank and we’ve spent some of that, but we’ll probably have to  raise another $10,000 or $20,000 before this gets finished,” Witter said. 

Witter estimates that the date of the dedication will be April 19, 2026. 

Memorial to honor ‘first veterans’

Witter said the idea behind the project, first conceived locally in 2008, is to celebrate the first veterans, those who fought in the revolution. 

“The whole theme here is not to glorify war, or the battles, but to recognize who were the people that made this happen,” he said. “The Continental Army is the establishment of the Army in the United States. There were militiamen, there were minutemen, there were sailors, Marines. Those were the people who made the revolution successful.” 

Envisioning the project, Witter said one panel will focus on soldiers and another will be focused on other patriots. The memorial will be in circular formation, with panels located among a space that’s 30 feet in diameter. 

In addition, the war memorial is expected to feature the paintings of John Trumbull, one of the most recognized artists after the revolution. 

“We wouldn’t have all these activities (at the war memorial) if it hadn’t been for the revolution,” Witter said, noting activities include annual events such as Memorial Day and periodic student visits. 

A memorial years in the making

But it wasn’t all easy going in the planning of the park’s soon-to-be installment.

“In 2017, the memorial was redesigned because the initial design had some issues with standards for the park,” he said.

The 2017 design initially had three full-size bronze sculptures, then it was increased to six. However, Witter said the cost of bronze was becoming unaffordable. 

As with many aspects of life, COVID threw a wrench into plans to develop the memorial. 

“With COVID, that kind of destroyed the momentum and fund raising efforts,” he said, noting that costs for completing a memorial escalated substantially. 

In 2022, organizers deemed the project unaffordable at a cost of well over $750,000 with only $80,000 in the bank for the project. 

“We stopped the project at the time, but because of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and all the other events (such as Memorial Day and children visits) related to that, we kind of flipped the question around and said, ‘What can we do with the money we have or we could raise?” Witter said. 

Witter’s group then redesigned the memorial into a more affordable form. 

“We stumbled on, almost by accident, this company in Hillsboro, OM Stone,” Witter said. “They have a proprietary process that can put all kinds of images on granite. That became a key piece of finding a solution.” 

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department awarded four grants statewide, totaling $295,195. In addition to the Beaverton project, grants went to a monument in Stanfield’s Veterans Memorial Park, to the creation of the Oregon Airport Memorial Gateway in Florence and to a Gold Star Memorial in Ryan J Hill Memorial Park in Keizer.