Property Record
NE CORNER OF COURTHOUSE SQUARE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Grant County Soldiers' Monument |
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| Other Name: | THE FIRST CIVIL WAR MONUMENT |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 44709 |
| Location (Address): | NE CORNER OF COURTHOUSE SQUARE |
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| County: | Grant |
| City: | Lancaster |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1867 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1992 |
| Historic Use: | monument |
| Architectural Style: | NA (unknown or not a building) |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | |
| Architect: | S. D. WRIGHT, WHITEWATER |
| 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 CENTRAL SHAFT IS SURROUNDED BY EIGHT SMALLER COLUMNS. IT WAS FOUND TO BE IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. THE MATERIAL USED TO MAKE THE MONUMENT WAS MARBLE. IT WAS BUILT IN 1867 AND RESTORED IN 1954. (A,B). THE SURVEY EVALUATION CRITERIA IS AN EVENT. THE MONUMENT ASSOCIATED WITH THE CIVIC DEVELOPMENT OF GRANT COUNTY. WRIGHT, THE DESIGNER, WAS FROM WHITEWATER. HIS CONTRACT FOR THIS PROJECT WAS FOR $5,000, BUT THE FINAL COST WAS $6,557.07. THIS MONUMENT IS BELIEVED TO BE THE OLDEST CIVIL WAR MONUMENT IN THE COUNTRY. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: A LETTER FROM PLATTEVILLE RESIDENT GEORGE LAUGHTON PUBLISHED IN THE GRANT COUNTY HERALD IN SEPTEMBER 1862, INCLUDED A PROPOSAL FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A MONUMENT TO HONOR GRANT COUNTY'S CIVIL WAR DEAD. PRIVATE CONTRIBUTIONS FINANCED THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF WORK, BUT AS COSTS MOUNTED, THE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STEPPED IN AND PROVIDED FUNDS GENERATED BY A COUNTY TAX. THE MONUMENT WAS MADE BY S.D. WRIGHT OF WHITEWATER AT A COST, INCLUDING EVERGREENS AND GRADING, OF JUST OVER $6,500. THE DEDICATION CEREMONY, OCCURRING ON JULY 4, 1867, WAS AN ELABORATE PORCEEDING INCLUDING A PROCESSION OF CIVIL WAR VETERANS AND MAJOR SPEECHES BY GOVERNOR LUCIUS FAIRCHILD AND NOTED ORATOR AND POLITICIAN MATTHEW H. CARPENTER. (A) THE MONUMENT UNVEILED AT THE CEREMONY WAS COMPOSED OF A CENTRAL MARBLE OBELISK MOUNTED ON A BASE AND CAPPED BY AN EAGLE PERCHED ON A GLOBE AND HOLDING A LAUREL WREATH IN ITS BEAK. ALL FOUR SIDES OF THE OBELISK FEATURE INSCRIPTIONS; THE ONE ON THE EAST READING: "DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THE BRAVE SOLDIERS OF GRANT COUNTY, WHO FELL IN DEFENSE OF UNIVERSAL LIBERTY, IN THE GREAT REBELLION OF A.D. 1861.." (A). SURROUNDING THE CENTRAL SHAFT ARE EIGHT COLUMNS WHICH CONTAIN THE NAMES OF THE MORE THAN 700 MEN FROM GRANT COUNTY WHO DIED DURING THE WAR. (A). ORIGINALLY, THE MONUMENT WAS ENCLOSED BY A CHAIN FENCE, HUNG ON MARBLE POSTS; THIS FEATURE WAS REMOVED AT SOME LATER DATE. (B). SINCE 1867, THE MONUMENT HAS BEEN THE SITE OF A NUMBER OF PUBLIC GATHERINGS, MOST NOTABLY THOSE CELEBRATING THE FOURTH OF JULY AND OTHER PATRIOTIC EVENTS. IN 1967, THE CIVIL WAR MAONUMENT WAS REDIDICATED IN A SPECIAL CEREMONY. IN 1954, THE MONUMENT UNDERWENT SUBSTANTIAL RESTORATION. THE NAMES WERE RECARVED, BASES STABILIZED, AND SOME COLUMNS REPLACED. COUNTY FUNDS FINANCED THE WORK. (B). HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: THE CIVIL WAR MONUMENT IN LANCASTER, DEDICATED JULY 4, 1867, AND THOUGHT TO BE THE FIRST OF ITS KIND IN THE NATION, REPRESENTS THE CIVIC DEVELOPMENT OF GRANT COUNTY. INITIATED BY A SUGGESTION FROM A PLATTEVILLE RESIDENT WHO, IN 1862, PRESENTED HIS IDEA IN A LETTER TO THE GRANT COUNTY HERALD, THE COMMEMORATIVE WORK WAS FINANCED BY BOTH PRIVATE SUBSCRIPTIONS AND BY PUBLIC FUNDS GENERATED BY A SPECIAL COUNTY TAX. A PROCESSION OF GRANT COUNTY'S CIVIL WAR VETERANS OPENED THE DEDICATION PROCEEDINGS WHICH ATTRACTED APPROXIMATELY 10,000 PEOPLE FEATURED SPEECHES BY GOVERNOR LUCIUS FAIRCHILD AND MATTHEW H. CARPENTER. (A) SINCE THAT TIME, THE MONUMENT HAS BEEN THE FOCUS OF NUMEROUS PUBLIC GATHERINGS (IT WAS RECENTLY REDEDICATED JULY 4, 1967) AND HAS COME TO SYMBOLIZE AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF GRANT COUNTY'S CIVIC DEVELOPMENT. THIS MONUMENT IS A WISCONSIN REGISTERED LANMARK (1978). "Courthouse square is home to several historical monuments. The oldest monument on the Courthouse lawn is the Soldiers' Monument, located in the northeast corner. It was one of the first monuments erected in the nation to memorialize those who died in the Civil War. Dedicated on July 4, 1867, approximately 750 names of the Grant County soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice are inscribed on it. For several decades following its dedication, it was adorned with wreaths and black and white bunting by local ladies for Decoration Day activities." Lancaster's Historic Courthouse Square |
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| Bibliographic References: | GRANT CO. HERALD INDEPENDENT 7/9/1992. MONTFORT RURAL REGISTER 11/16/1995. A. GRANT COUNTY HERALD 9 JULY, 1867. B. WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL 29 JANUARY, 1954. C. Lancaster's Historic Courthouse Square, Lancaster Historic Preservation Commission, 2006. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |