2025 Ornament: Webster Statue

This commemorative glass ornament is our newest design in the series of ornaments celebrating the many landmarks and significant locations in West Hartford. Each ornament is beautifully packaged on a card with the history of the location on the back. A great gift for a current or former West Hartford resident or begin your own collection. Limited quantity available. 

History on the back of the packaging:

This commemorative ornament depicts the thirteen-foot marble statue of Noah Webster on Main Street. Webster is remembered as the schoolmaster of America, father of the American language, author of the first American dictionary, and a forgotten founding father, with numerous enduring influences on American life. This larger-than-life artwork was created in the 1930s by Korczak Ziolkowski (the man who later designed and initiated South Dakota’s Crazy Horse Memorial) who saw Webster as a hero. Ziolkowski offered to carve the statue and gift it to West Hartford, the town where Noah was born and raised. The artist eventually lost public support for his “unseemly” behavior, such as working on Sundays, often without a shirt, and increasing disagreements with the Town Council.

  The Webster statue originally stood in front of Town Hall on land that had been donated by the Town Council. The statue was relocated in 2007 to the top of “Webster’s Walk” in a new mixed-use development named Blue Back Square. The name honors Noah’s famous education resource nicknamed the “Blue-Back Speller”. This small book had a huge impact, and sold over 100 million copies, at one time second only to the Bible in popularity.  

The proceeds from the purchase of this ornament supports the Noah Webster House and West Hartford Historical Society, which serves as a repository for history of West Hartford, Connecticut. Our mission is to preserve, interpret, and champion Noah Webster’s legacy and birthplace, as well as the evolving history of West Hartford, the town that nurtured him.