Veterans' Memorial Forest

"Oneida County's Veterans' Memorial Forest"
by T.P. Woolschlager, Boonville, NY
from North Country Life, Summer 1953

A LIVING MEMORIAL - nearly 800 acres of waving green trees near Boonville in Oneida County - was dedicated last spring to the veterans who have fought and won our wars so that freedom and democracy might live.

The "Veterans' Memorial Forest" is one of the finest reforestation projects in Northern New York. It is located four miles west of Boonville and lies astride State Highway 294. This forest consists of 798.04 acres of reforested and natural forest land. It is the outstanding forest area in Oneida County Reforestation program and is one of 11 such areas located in seven different townships; all of which total 3,751.55 acres.

This area was planted during the mid and late 1930's with the following tree species: while, red and Scotch pine, Norway and white spruce, Japanese and European larch, white cedar, and Douglas fir. All of these species are doing well and show remarkable growth in diameter and height. The planting was done under the direct and expert supervision of Wallace Brown, who served as Superintendent of Oneida County Reforestation from 1934 until his death in 1944.

In 1951 the two veterans' organizations of Boonville petitioned the Oneida County Board of Supervisors to designate this area as a "Veterans' Memorial Forest," and they in turn gave the local V.F.W. and America Legion permission to landscape a small memorial plot and to place a memorial boulder, bronze plaque, flagpole, rustic sign, and ornamental shrubbery. During the summer and fall of 1952 this work was carried out by a joint committee representing the two organizations. Valuable assistance was rendered by the towns of Ava and Boonville, and contributions of various kinds were made by local merchants.

Oneida County is justly proud of this living memorial, one of the finest veterans' memorials in New York State, or perhaps the whole Northeast.