Memorial Parkway

The Soldiers Memorial Parkway in Fremont, Ohio, was built to honor the Sandusky County soldiers who died in World War I and earlier wars. The parkway was laid out in the form of a cross, with buckeye trees lining the streets, and plaques bearing each soldier's name. Buckeye trees were chosen as a tribute to Ohio's 37th Division, also known as the Buckeye Division.

Officially known as the Soldiers Memorial Parkway and the McKinley Memorial Parkway, the living tribute was constructed in 1919 and 1920 on land donated by Colonel Webb C. Hayes. Soldiers Memorial Parkway begins at Hayes Avenue and proceeds south to Buckland Avenue. McKinley Memorial Parkway extends from McKinley Circle at the intersection of the two parkways, east to the Cleveland gateway of Spiegel Grove. A plaque and large artillery shell are placed at its entrance.

The one hundred-foot-wide strip of land, with parallel north and south brick drives and sandstone curbs, is separated by a series of fifty-foot-wide grass islands where buckeye trees honor the war dead. Spearheaded by local veterans and veterans' organizations and funded by a grant from the state of Ohio, a restoration project was carried out by the city of Fremont, Ohio in 1999. Throughout the years, veterans have replaced weathered or lost markers.