Civil War Memorial (Adrian, Michigan)

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LocationMonument Park
Adrian, Michigan
Coordinates41°53′47″N 84°01′45″W / 41.89639°N 84.02917°W / 41.89639; -84.02917
BuiltJuly 4, 1870
ArchitectBenjamin Latrobe
Civil War Memorial
Civil War Memorial (Adrian, Michigan) is located in Michigan
Civil War Memorial (Adrian, Michigan)
Location within the state of Michigan
Civil War Memorial (Adrian, Michigan) is located in the United States
Civil War Memorial (Adrian, Michigan)
Civil War Memorial (Adrian, Michigan) (the United States)
Interactive map
LocationMonument Park
Adrian, Michigan
Coordinates41°53′47″N 84°01′45″W / 41.89639°N 84.02917°W / 41.89639; -84.02917
BuiltJuly 4, 1870
ArchitectBenjamin Latrobe
NRHP reference No.72000632[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJune 29, 1972
Designated MSHSAugust 13, 1971[2]

The Civil War Memorial is a marble monument situated in the center of Monument Park in Adrian, Michigan. The monument was designated as a Michigan Historic Site on August 13, 1971, and later added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 29, 1972.[1][2] It was unveiled on July 4, 1870, to commemorate soldiers from Adrian who died in the American Civil War (1861–1865).

The column once belonged to the former Bank of Pennsylvania building in Philadelphia.

The Civil War Memorial ties together the cities of Adrian and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The column used in the monument was originally one of the six marble columns on the eastern facade of the former Bank of Pennsylvania building in Philadelphia. The bank building and the column itself were built in 1799.[3]

Congressional resolution donating column for use in a memorial

The Bank of Pennsylvania building, which was considered one of the first examples of Greek Revival architecture in the United States, was demolished in 1867. With Congressional permission, Joint resolution N0-78, July 27, 1868, one of the six columns was acquired by The Hon. F.C. Beeaman, member of Congress and former Mayor of the city and J. Fred Myers Esq. of Washington, a former well known citizen of Adrian and was donated to the monument association by Hon. Hugh McCulloch, then Secretary of the Treasury of the United States after its destruction. It remains one of the only surviving piece of the original Bank of Pennsylvania building in Michigan. Wilmington, Delaware, has another column.[2]

Design

Adrian Civil War Memorial,
1962 HABS—Historic American Buildings Survey image.

Architect and sculptor Benjamin H. Latrobe created the design of the column for the Pennsylvania Bank. The monument architect was Francis R. Stebbins of Adrian Michigan. The column was donated to the association by a joint act of Congress, (No-78) dated July 27, 1868. The sandstone base and urn at the top came to a cost of $10,000 raised by the monument association. The monument was unveiled in Monument Park on July 4, 1870, by the Adrian Soldiers’ Monument Association. It was the second such commemorative monument erected in Lenawee County following the war — the first being a cemetery monument erected in nearby Franklin Township.[4]

The column rests on top of a sandstone octagonal pedestal, and each side contains a bronze tablet inscribed with the names of 84 fallen soldiers and the regiment to which they belonged. The column itself is surmounted with a sandstone urn.

The inscription on the base of the pedestal reads:

"1870. Erected by citizens of Adrian in memory of our fallen soldiers. By such as these was our Union saved in the great struggle of 1861–1865."[2][4]
Cannons
Drawing by F.R. Stebbins of the base and acorn for the granite column of the memorial.

Cannons

References

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