From his house across the street, Greg Muehlberger watched volunteers build the park that would honor him and other military veterans.

The cast-iron lampposts lining the walkway pay homage to the men and women who worked at Bethlehem Steel’s Sparrows Point plant following the completion of their military service. The crepe myrtles planted there are a sub-species called red rockets, a nod to the streetcar that rumbled from Baltimore to Sparrows Point and Fort Howard from 1903 to 1958. The pollinator gardens recognize the women of The Point, who aided the war efforts and kept everyone fed. And the circular design symbolizes infinite time, that it may it not diminish the glory of their deeds.

Until Tuesday, though, Muehlberger, a 56-year-old steamfitter who fought in the first Iraq War, had not been able to see the finished Veterans Memorial Park at Wells McComas VFW Post 2678, with flags representing all branches of the military flapping in a stiff breeze and the grounds so filled with well-wishers that two large tents could not contain them. The Sparrows Point High School band played “God Bless America,” a local preacher blessed the veterans in attendance, and cars stopped along the road to check out the crowd.

“It gives me goosebumps,” he said. “The overwhelming appreciation and gratitude for all of us, and what we did. And they worked so hard on it. They did everything to make this permanent.”

On Veterans Day, hundreds of dignitaries, politicians, and servicemen and servicewomen braved the unseasonably chilly temperatures to dedicate the park, which Wells McComas VFW post Commander Dan Woolfrey and Sparrows Point/North Point Historic Society President Keith Taylor had been planning for years.

“He bought me a cold beer and I started talking about building a veterans memorial/gateway on the property. Dan being a Marine and me being an Army guy, I knew we were creating a mission for ourselves,” Taylor said.

State funds helped somewhat; the pair also offered local families the option to purchase bricks bearing the names of their respective veterans. Even before the memorial dedication, Senior Vice Commander Nancy Harris said, people were coming over to look at “their” bricks. A crowd gathered before and after the 45-minute ceremony to find and photograph their engraved memorials to loved ones.

The park also honors its namesakes, Daniel Wells and Henry McComas, known as the “Boy Martyrs of Baltimore.” Serving as privates during the Battle of North Point, they are believed to have fired the shots that killed British General Robert Ross before succumbing to their own injuries. (The record is not entirely clear on this point, but no one brought up the historic quibbles at the ceremony.)

The Battle of North Point, fought just down the road from the new veterans park, was a turning point in the War of 1812. Though the Brits won the September 2014 battle, the American troops held them off long enough to successfully defend Baltimore and ultimately end the war. The park also honors those who died in the battle.

“It’s a great tribute to them,” said Fran Taylor, chair of the North Point Committee for the Society of the War of 1812.

While digging, Taylor and the team found artifacts, arrowheads and bones. He contacted Towson University archaeologist Katherine Sterner, who identified one of the artifacts as a celt — a prehistoric tool that Native Americans used for cutting wood. It’s estimated to be from between 2000 and 5000 B.C. The bones belonged to livestock, horses and pigs and date back hundreds of years.

The team will display the artifacts on site for visitors to view and will continue working with Towson University and the Maryland Historic Trust to see what else may turn up at the park.

Asked about the artifacts, Muehlberger said he’s thrilled. It adds to the honor of the park, he said.

“It shows this area was here before we were,” he said. “With this monument being permanent, it adds something to that. It’s a voice from the past saying, ‘Guys, we were here.’”

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Greg Muehlberger's name