The residents of Putaruru resolved to develop a park with an obelisk at its centre as their First World War memorial. Local settler Fred Barnett donated an acre of land in Arapuni Street and a citizens’ committee raised the necessary funds to develop three tennis courts, a croquet lawn and a bowling green there. The bowling green was formally opened on 23 January 1926 and the memorial obelisk was unveiled the following day. It bore the names of 12 fallen.
In 1945 the obelisk was moved to the newly developed Garden of Memories on the corner of Main and Overdale Streets. The obelisk’s base was enlarged to include the names of 20 men killed in the Second World War. The town’s Anzac Day service was first held at the new site on 25 April 1946.
The fallen from both wars are also commemorated at nearby Glenshea Memorial Park.
Sources: ‘War Memorial Park: Acquisition to Putaruru’, NZ Herald, 26/1/1926, p. 10; Vicki Schere, Putaruru: Home of the Owl, Morrinsville, 1992, pp. 29, 70-1.
Bruce Ringer, Auckland Libraries, 2015