Confederate Square - Madison, FL
N 30° 28.172 W 083° 24.750
17R E 268389 N 3373288
Confederate Square in Madison, Florida, is now known as the Four Freedoms Park.
Waymark Code: WM8966
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 02/21/2010
Views: 10
From Florida - A Guide to the Southernmost State - Part III. The Florida Loop, Tour 7:
In the central park, known as CONFEDERATE SQUARE, is the site of an old blockhouse, used as a refuge during the Seminole Indian War.
The name of the park was changed after the Four Freedoms Monument, commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to be dedicated to Captain Colin P. Kelly, the first hero of World War II, was placed in the park in 1944. The blockhouse no longer exists, but a historical marker about it is located in the park (see marker text below). Also in the park are a Confederate Memorial, a Blue Star Memorial Highway marker, a beautiful gazebo, a monument commemorating the Organization of the Florida Baptist Convention in 1854, a time capsule, and a monument to the Madison County, Florida, men who gave their lives in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
The historical marker about the Seminole Indian War Blockhouse that used to exist in the park reads as follows:
"On this site stood a Blockhouse erected by the citizens of the area to protect women, children, and old people in the threatening period of 1835-1842. It served as an informal Court House before Adoniram Vann completed the regular Court House in 1840. These facts come from W. Carlton Smith and others versed in frontier history. The marker will remind succeeding generations of their priceless heritage."