County of statue: Pontotoc County
Location of statue: center of Confederate Park (town square), Pontotoc
Date erected: 1919
Artist: Unknown
Monument erected by: United Daughters of the Confederacy
"43A. (C) Confederate Monument
1930's Confederate Monument located in the center of the park.
Monument consists of a stone statue of a Confederate soldier
resting on a high stone pedestal. The soldier faces south,
towards the courthouse."
"The physical arrangement of Pontotoc is that of a grid
superimposed on a ridge road that runs approximately ten degrees west of north. This ridge road, known as Main Street inside the city limits, is the major thoroughfare for the downtown area. The grid of the town is laid out with streets running parallel to Main Street (Liberty and Lafayette) and perpendicular to Main Street (Jefferson, Marion, Washington, Green, Morgan, First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Seventh). The historic district encompasses eleven blocks along Main Street between Reynolds to the north and Seventh to the south and roughly one block east and west of Main. In the center of downtown is an open green space known as Confederate Park or Town Square. This square was, from 1840 to 1916, the site of the county courthouse. In 1916 this building was demolished when the present courthouse, which was built on the block to the south, was completed.
This new building faces northward onto the Square. This Square is
the visual, geographical, and historical center of Pontotoc. The
Square is casually landscaped with mature trees. Mature trees line
the streets in the residential areas. Small street trees have been
planted along the sidewalks fronting some of the commercial
buildings.
The majority of Pontotoc's historic commercial buildings are centered around and north of the square on Main Street. Most of the commercial buildings in Pontotoc are set next to the sidewalk. These buildings, dating from the 1890's to the 1930's, are built of brick with very simple detailing. Most of these buildings are one story although a few, mostly around the square, are two or three stories. The three-story courthouse very clearly dominates the downtown area." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
Monument text:
(Front Base):
C.S.A.
Mrs. Stella Wilson Herman - First President of R. A. Pinson Chapter, Under whose guidance this monument was erected
[Battle Flag]
OUR HEROES
1861 - 1865
[Bottom two tiers of lower base contain names and units of those who served - Names can be read in the photo gallery]
(Proper Left):
C.S.A.
[Long list of names down the entire shaft
Including the lower base steps]
Brass plaque on bottom step of lower base:
Three names added to original list
(Proper Right):
C.S.A.
[Long list on name down shaft
and lower setps of the base]
(Rear Clumn & Base): Love's tribute to the soldiers who marched 'neath the Stars and the Bars and were faithful to duty, The R.A. Pinson Chapter, D.D.C. erects this monument in grateful remembrance.
[More names and units]
Proper Description: "Full-length figure of a uniformed Confederate soldier stands atop a tiered base on a four-sided shaft. Facing west, the figure holds his rifle in front of him, butt on the ground, and barrel in proper right hand. Decorative reliefs on the shaft include a waving Confederate flag and a dove flying downward, with an olive branch in its mouth." ~ Smithsonian American Art Museum
Remarks: "Title supplied by Inventory cataloger.
The sculpture was erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy at a cost of $2,500. The monument was erected in the spring of 1919; and over 90 soldier names were inscribed in 1931" ~ Smithsonian American Art Museum