The Rhode Island Town That Built American Monuments Debates The Future Of Its Own Columbus Statue

The Christopher Columbus monument in downtown Westerly, R.I. (Alex Nunes/The Public’s Radio)

Standing in Wilcox Park in downtown Westerly recently, John Coduri said you don’t have to go far to see signs of Westerly’s proud granite history. Just look across the street, he said, for reminders of the companies and workers who helped build numerous landmarks around town.

“Smith Granite Company—Christ Episcopal Church,” he said. “New England Granite Works—the Town Hall. The Industrial Trust Building, if you look at the Corinthian capitals—New England Granite Works.”

Westerly blue, grey or pink granite can be found all around town—from the foundations of homes and retaining walls, to the public library’s impressive entrance and archway, to the statues, gravestones and mausoleums in Riverbend Cemetery.

And, in recent weeks, there’s one monument in Westerly that’s been getting extra attention.

“It says, ‘Joseph Coduri Granite Company, Westerly, Rhode Island, dedicated October 12, 1949,’” Coduri said, reading a plaque on a 15-foot monument to Christopher Columbus, carved of blue Westerly granite by the company his grandfather founded in 1916 and father ran from 1940 until its closure in the early 1960s.

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