Property Record
NW CORNER OF COURTHOUSE SQUARE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | |
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| Other Name: | CIVIL WAR MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 44708 |
| Location (Address): | NW CORNER OF COURTHOUSE SQUARE |
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| County: | Grant |
| City: | Lancaster |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
| Section: | |
| Quarter Section: | |
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| Year Built: | 1906 |
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| Additions: | 1986 |
| Survey Date: | 1976 |
| Historic Use: | statue/sculpture |
| Architectural Style: | NA (unknown or not a building) |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Metal |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Courthouse Square Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 4/7/2006 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/20/2006 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. THE STATUTE IS MADE OF BRONZE AND ITS DATE OF CONSTRUCTION WAS 1906. (A). THE STRUCTURE WAS FOUND TO BE IN GOOD CONDITION. THE STATUTE'S BUILDER WAS J.L. MOTT IRON CO., NEW YORK. (B). HISTORICAL STATEMENT: ERECTED IN 1906 AT THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE COURTHOUSE SQUARE, THE CIVIL WAR MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN ILLUSTRATES LANCASTER'S CONTINUED CONCERN FOR THOSE WHO FOUGHT AND DIED IN THE NATION'S CIVIL WAR. THE CIVIL WAR MONUMENT, (8/10), ALSO STANDING ON THE SQUARE, HAD BEEN DEDICATED IN 1867 TO THOSE WHO HAD LOST THEIR LIVES DURING THE FIGHTING. EXPANDING THAT IDEA, THE McKINLEY CIRCLE OF THE LADIES OF THE G.A.R. DEDICATED THEIR FOUNTAIN TO THOSE THAT HAD DIED SINCE THE WAR'S END AND TO THOSE THAT SITLL LIVED. IT WAS HOPED THAT THE MEMORIAL "MIGHT CHEER THE LIVING WITH THE THOUGHT THAT THEIR DEEDS OF VALOR WERE NOT FORGOTTEN..." (A). A BRONZE UNION SOLDIER, CAST BY THE J.L. MOTT IRON COMPANY OF NEW YORK, STANDS ATOP THE FOUNTAIN WHICH HAS AN OCTAGON PAN DECORATED WITH GARGOYLES. THE BASE OF THE FOUNTAIN INCLUDES THIS INSCRIPTION: "MEMORIAL TO OUR BOYS IN BLUE, 1861-1865, BY WM. McKINLEY CIRCLE, LADIES OF THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC." THE FOUNTAIN WAS PAID FOR BY THE McKINLEY CIRCLE WHICH SOLICITED DONATIONS AND SPONSORED FUND-RAISING EVENTS. |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. GRANT COUNTY HERALD, 2 JUNE 1906. B. "MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN DEDICATED TODAY," NEWSPAPER ARTICLE, NO CITATION, FROM ALBUM AVAILABLE AT LANCASTER PUBLIC LIBRARY. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |