Photo: Tour of Honor rider Rodney Goddard, supplied by Eric Marshall.

Above: The Doughboy on display in the railroad roundhouse at Steamtown National Historic Site, Scranton, PA. Thanks to Tour of Honor members Rodney Goddard and Eric Marshall for the photo and new GPS coordinates.

SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA

41°24'27.3"N 75°40'18.5"W

Copyright version 1934, cast zinc.

Smithsonian Art Inventory Control Number: PA000648.

Originally dedicated May 30, 1940. Formerly in old Colonel Duffy Park on Harrison Avenue. Now indoors at Steamtown National Historic Site. A bronze replica now stands in a new Duffy Park on the opposite side of the new Harrison Avenue Bridge. The plaques on the old base were moved to the new location.

* * *

Photo provided by Jack Finnerty,
Director, Scranton Public Library.

The original Scranton Doughboy had experienced quite a bit of vandalism. The bayonet and rifle were repaired in 1957 for a rededication that year. The statue was repaired again in 1968 following extensive damage suffered when vandals tilted it to the right while trying to tear it from the base. The bayonet and rifle sling are missing and there has been deterioration due to exposure. Although the statue has a protective coating, the seams on the backs of the legs are beginning to split.

Update July 28, 2014: Due to the upcoming replacement of the Harrison Avenue bridge in the next couple of years, there was a plan to move the statue to the entrance of the Gino J. Merli Veterans Center at 401 Penn Ave. Former Scranton Mayor David Wenzel had suggested the move, but it was opposed by members of VFW Rabiega-Gorgol Post 3451 of Alder Street.

Update November 12, 2014: The statue was taken off its pedestal and sat packed in a crate on site for several months. It was then stored at Steamtown National Historic Site, then moved to the Electric City Trolley Museum in Scranton.

Update February 15, 2015: Because of the fragile condition of the original statue, plans were considered to have a cast bronze replica made to eventually be placed in the new Duffy Park, and the original preserved indoors in a museum. Attempts to have repair costs come out of the state's budget were unsuccessful.

Work on the new bridge is expected to last until July, 2017, when the old one will be torn down.

Update September 4, 2015: The Scranton City Council has returned from its summer recess and is seeking rehab funds for the Doughboy.

Update September 10, 2015: The City Council is Applying for a Lackawanna County Community Re-Invest Program grant of $61,625 to restore and replicate the World War I Doughboy statue.

Update December 28, 2016: Fundraising plans through a crowdfunding effort have begun for the statue. It's still not definite whether a bronze replica will be made and, if so, where indoors the original zinc statue might eventually end up. A suggestion was put forward that the former downtown Globe Store would be a good place. The property was purchased by Lackawanna County for conversion into a county government headquarters.

Update June 9, 2017: The original zinc statue is now again displayed in the railroad roundhouse at Steamtown National Historic Site. It will remain there for the public to see until Nov. 11, 2018, the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. VFW Post 3451 is raising money for a bronze replica that will be placed back in Duffy Park once the new bridge construction is completed.

Update June 17, 2018: PennDOT now has the original cast zinc Viquesney Doughboy statue undergoing restoration, and a cast bronze replica is being made, both by Constance Bassett and David Cann of Moorland Studios in Stockton, NJ.

Update November 7, 2018: A new cast bronze replica of the Doughboy has been placed on its base in the new Duffy Park. A rededication ceremony will be held on November 11. The original zinc Doughboy is again being housed at the Steamtown National Historic site.

---

Below: The Doughboy at its former location in the old Duffy Park, which was once located on the other side of the new Harrison Avenue Bridge.

Photo provided by Jack Finnerty, Director, Scranton Public Library.

Doughboy Searcher Tony Patti stands beside the Scranton Doughboy, May, 2011.

---

Links:
waymarking.com
thetimes-tribune.com
pahomepage.com
thetimes-tribune.com/video
thetimes-tribune.com/crated-doughboy
thetimes-tribune.com/new-plans
thetimes-tribune.com/statue-on-its-last-legs
thetimes-tribune.com/june-7-2015
thetimes-tribune.com/sep-4-2015
​thetimes-tribune.com/news/dec-28-2016
​pahomepage.com
​thetimes-tribune.com/jun-14-2017