Notice the bronze figure of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry rising here in Cleveland's Public Square. It is a war monument that commemorates Oliver Hazard Perry and his victory at the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812. That victory came on September 10, 1813.
The monument was erected at the center of the city's Public Square in 1860, and the statue of Perry by sculptor William Walcutt holds the distinction of being Ohio's first monumental sculpture. Cleveland City Council unanimously adopted resolutions to erect a monument here in June 1857, and the work you see grew from that decision. The monument has been relocated several times around the city.
In 1929 the original marble statues were replaced with bronze castings; the originals were put in storage and in 1937 were given to the city of Perrysburg, where they resided until 1997 when the originals there were replaced with bronze castings. Since 2002 the original statue of Perry has been on loan to the Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial in the village of Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island, while the original Sailor Boy and Midshipman statues reside in the lobby of the Perrysburg Municipal Building. Notice Walcutt's bronze work, Ohio's first monumental sculpture.