Photo provided by Jim Tomazic, Commander,
Forest City Martin Skubic American Legion Post #524.

Detail of an old postcard shows the Doughboy at its original location at the site of Public School #2.

FOREST CITY, PENNSYLVANIA

N 41° 38.828 / W 075° 28.016

Copyright version 1920, sheet bronze.

Smithsonian Art Inventory Control Number: PA001545.

At head of sloped walkway to main entrance of the William Penn Apartments at 331 Main Street (Route 171), a short distance south of South Street.

The inscription on the front plaque reads:

DEDICATED BY
POST NO. 524, AMERICAN LEGION
FOREST CITY, PA.
IN MEMORY OF THEIR
COMRADES OF FOREST CITY
AND VICINITY WHO OFFERED
THEIR LIVES IN DEFENSEOF HUMANITY IN THE
WORLD WAR 1914 – 1918
---------------
THOSE WHO MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE
(About 20 names, including 2 women)

A “ROLL OF HONOR,” with names of those who lost their lives in World War II is on the side below the Doughboy’s right foot and a plaque naming those who lost their lives in Korea and Vietnam is on the other side.

The Doughboy was dedicated July 7, 1927, when Public School #2 was at the location. The school burned in 1936 and was replaced by William Penn School.  After the schools were consolidated, the Doughboy was moved about 25 feet to the current location when the William Penn Apartments were built in the 1970s. It was extensively refurbished on site in 1997 by McKay Lodge Fine Arts Conservation Labs of Oberlin, Ohio.

The area was known as Memorial Park at the time of original installation.