Soldier's Monument was erected to commemorate Civil War veterans. Plans to build the memorial began with the incorporation of the Kent County Soldiers' Monument Association on February 13, 1864, but were postponed for nearly two decades while the group was able to raise sufficient funds. When the Army of the Cumberland announced their annual reunion would be held in Grand Rapids in 1885, interest in completing the project was revived. park land, which had been acquired in 1843, was set aside and in consideration of the group's financial concerns, The Detroit Bronze Company suggested the monument be built in their highly publicized white bronze, an economical casting material. It is believed Detroit architect, Leon Coquard, was given the task of designing the monument. A drawing of it, inscribed with his name, was featured at the time of the monument's dedication in two local newspapers; the Grand Rapids Daily Democrat (September 11, 1885) and the Grand Rapids Daily Eagle (September 17, 1885). At that time Coquard worked as a draughtsman for the Detroit architect Albert E. French. After the monument's completion Coquard opened his own firm specializing in churches, perhaps a reflection of his own parochial school education.

The multi-layered monument is topped by a solitary Union soldier. In a style befitting the period, Victorian embellishments, including cherubs and drapery flounces, surround portraits and quotations of Civil War heroes such as Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and James Garfield. Names and dates of engagements in which Kent County soldiers fought and a scene of a woman caring for a wounded soldier, are also included. Originally grey, the color of the Confederate army, the monument was repainted Union blue in the 1970s.