The War Memorial Tower on Fox Hill in Rockville, Vernon, was constructed between 1937 and 1939 as a memorial to Veterans of all wars from the town of Vernon. Before it was built, an earlier tower made of wood had stood on the site. Built by a Mr. Jeffrey of Meriden, it stood from 1878 until it was destroyed in a blizzard in 1880. Visitors were charged 15¢ to climb the tower and use the telescope at the top. The ruined building was not restored, but around 1889 the artist Charles Ethan Porter, Jeffrey’s brother-in-law, was using the surviving first floor as his studio. By 1923, the last remains of the structure had disappeared. The new Memorial Tower, built of stone, was designed by Walter B. Chambers of New York and was modeled after a 1500 year-old Romanesque tower near Poitiers, France. The WPA provided the labor and materials. The Tower is in Henry Park, named for E. Stevens Henry, a merchant and politician, who bequeathed Fox Hill and the surrounding area to the city of Rockville.
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