English: A centerpiece of the four-and-a-half-acre public park at Academy Square in historic downtown Seneca Falls, New York is the Albert Cook Monument in honor of local Civil War veterans, as seen in this May 2022 photo. Standing 55 feet high in all, this memorial column of Corinthian-inspired design consists of a cylindrical shaft of New Hampshire granite resting consecutively atop an octagonal granite pedestal and a cast concrete base. At the top is a bronze figure of Victory personified, staring defiantly Southward with her left arm wrapped around a partly unfurled American flag and her right hand clutching a sword. Meanwhile, in front of the pedestal on its south and north sides stand life-sized bronze statues of a Union soldier and sailor, respectively, while inscribed on its sides are various patriotic lemmas and a dedication "to the martyrs who fell and the heroes who fought in defense of liberty and the Union, 1861-1865". The monument was constructed by the Dayton, Ohio firm of J. W. Carpenter and Son from plans by an unknown sculptor, was financed mostly through a $10,000 bequest from the descendants of local financier Albert Cook (hence its name), and was unveiled on Memorial Day 1889 in a ceremony boasting all the requisite pomp and circumstance: an opening prayer, patriotic speeches by local dignitaries, rousing musical performances, and so forth.