WIP · World in Pocket

Confederate Monument

Portsmouth, Italy

Confederate Monument

The Confederate Monument in Portsmouth, Virginia, was built between 1876 and 1881. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1997. The monument was a 35-foot obelisk of North Carolina granite. It was located at the town square of Portsmouth, on Court Street at the corner of

High Street. Also on the town square where the monument was formerly located are the Trinity Episcopal Church dating from 1828 and the Portsmouth Courthouse dating from 1846, which are also NRHP-listed. It was erected by the Ladies Memorial Aid Association of Portsmouth, Virginia, which was founded in 1866 with one purpose "being the erection of a monument to the Confederate dead of Portsmouth and Norfolk County." The design was by topographical engineer Charles E. Cassell. The cornerstone was laid in 1876.The monument's capstone was not placed until 1881, and the monument as a whole was not completed until 1893. The four cast white bronze figures that surrounded the obelisk, including their heads and facial features, were largely generic. The sailor figure, for example, also appeared outside the G.A.R. Memorial Hall in Wabash, Indiana. The city of Portsmouth "gave 1,242 men to the Confederacy...

Listen to the audio guide for Confederate Monument Free on WIP — starts by itself when you arrive, even with the screen off

Nearby