Location: Town Common, 7 West Street, Norwell
Coordinates: 42°09’41.5″N 70°47’39.1″W
Date dedicated: July 3, 1878
Architect/Sculptor/Manufacturer: Unknown
Number of names: 24 men lost in the war

The primary inscription reads, “Liberty and Union, Established by our Fathers, Preserved Unimpaired by the Patriotism of their Sons.” It was built at a cost of $3,500. Of this, $1,000 was appropriated by the town and $2,500 raised by the GAR Post and Soldier’s Aid Society. The town was, at the time, known as South Scituate and would not be renamed Norwell until 1888. The monument therefore still bears an inscription to the sons of “South Scituate.” Fundraising for the monument came in the wake of the Panic of 1873 which resulted in a 6-year economic depression. The effort therefore took several years. The organizing committee managed to defray the costs somewhat by accepting a column that had already been built for a New Hampshire town but for whatever reason was not used.

General Horace Binney Sargent (1821-1908), a veteran who had been seriously wounded during the Red River Campaign in Louisiana in 1864, was the principal speaker during the exercises. At the time, he was Commander of the Massachusetts Department of the GAR. The day was blazing hot, so exercises were moved out of the sun to the First Parish Church. Unfortunately, this caused some delay which resulted in General Sargent being unable to finish his address as he and other guests had to rush to catch the train back to Boston.