Confederate Monument (Portsmouth, Virginia)
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Confederate Monument | |
|
Confederate Monument | |
   | |
| Location | Jct. of High and Court Sts., Portsmouth, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 36°50′6″N 76°18′4″W / 36.83500°N 76.30111°WCoordinates: 36°50′6″N 76°18′4″W / 36.83500°N 76.30111°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1876-1881 |
| Architect | Cassell, Charles E. |
| NRHP Reference # | 97000956[1] |
| VLR # | 124-0183 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | September 4, 1997 |
| Designated VLR | December 4, 1996[2] |
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The Confederate Monument in Portsmouth, Virginia, was built between 1876 and 1881. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1997.[1]
The monument is a 35-foot obelisk of North Carolina granite. It is located at the town square of Portsmouth, on Court Street at the corner of High Street. Also facing on the town square are the Trinity Episcopal Church dating from 1828 and the Portsmouth Courthouse dating from 1846, which are also NRHP-listed.[1][3]
It was erected by the Ladies Memorial Aid Association of Portsmouth, Virginia, which was founded in 1866 with one purpose "being the erection of a monument to the Confederate dead of Portsmouth and Norfolk County." The design was by Charles E. Cassell, "an ex-Confederate topographical engineer".[3]:8
The cornerstone was laid in 1876. Within the cornerstone several artifacts were placed, including:
- a Confederate flag
- Confederate bonds, currency, and postage stamps
- a payroll and other lists of officers and men in a company and an artillery battery
- a photograph of the late Col. James G. Hodges, commander of the Fourteenth Virginia Infantry, and
- "silver currency of various nationalities".
The monument's capstone was not placed until 1881, and the monument as a whole was not completed until 1893.[3]:9–10
The four cast white-bronze figures that surround the obelisk, including their heads and facial features, are largely generic.[4]:536–537 The sailor figure, for example, also appears outside the G.A.R. Memorial Hall in Wabash, Indiana.
The city of Portsmouth "gave 1,242 men to the Confederacy of whom 199 were killed or died; Norfolk County gave 1,018 men to the cause of whom 280 were killed or died; and the City of Norfolk gave 1,119 of whom 176 were killed or died."[3]:10
References
- 1 2 3 National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
- ↑ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 William Blake (October 7, 1996). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Confederate Monument / 124-183" (PDF). Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission. Retrieved 2010-04-24. and Accompanying photo at Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
- ↑ Carol A. Grissom (2009). "Zinc Sculpture in America, 1850-1950". University of Delaware Press. Retrieved 2016-05-28.
