How can the Javanese gardu (guardhouse), generally perceived as an everyday institution responsible for neighborhood watch, have come to function simultaneously as a form of memorialization that helps define community identity? This essay examines the political roles and the changing meaning of gardu genealogically, from the contemporary era into the past, and shows how this everyday urban artifact often performs as a “monument” for the expression of political views, regulation of public memory, and definition of community identity.