The El Dorado Confederate Monument is located on the grounds of the Union County Courthouse in

El Dorado, Arkansas El Dorado ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Arkansas, Union County, on the southern border of Arkansas, United States. According to the 2020 census, the population of the city is 17,755. El Dorado is headquarters of the Ark ...

, near the corner of North Main and South Washington Streets. It consists of a statue of a

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...

soldier in mid-stride, mounted on top of a temple-like structure supported by four cannon-shaped Ionic columns. The columns support a lintel structure bearing inscriptions on three sides, above which is a tiered roof with cannonballs at the corners. The temple structure is high, and square; the statue measures by by . Both the statue and the temple are constructed of gray/blue striated marble. The monument was built in 1910 at a cost of over $2,800, and was paid for by the local chapter of the

United Daughters of the Confederacy The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, a ...

. It is believed to be the first fountain-style Confederate monument in the South. The front (south) side of the monument is inscribed "CSA 1861 - 1865 / ERECTED BY THE HENRY G. BUNN CHAPTER / UNITED DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY / 1909". The north side is inscribed "'TRUTH CRUSHED TO EARTH SHALL RISE AGAIN.' / 'EVEN DEATH CANNOT SEVER THE CORDS OF MEMORY.'" The western lintel reads "'IN HONOR OF THE CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS / OF UNION COUNTY, ARK.'". The eastern lintel has a pair of crossed swords on it. The monument was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1996. It was included in the El Dorado Commercial Historic District in 2003. The statue was one of several monuments that became the center of controversy during the

2020 Black Lives Matter protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests, riots, and demonstrations against police brutality that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The protests and civil unrest began in Minneapolis as reactions to the mu ...

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures completed in 1910 Buildings and structures in El Dorado, Arkansas Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Arkansas Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas National Register of Historic Places in Union County, Arkansas Neoclassical architecture in Arkansas 1910 establishments in Arkansas United Daughters of the Confederacy monuments and memorials in Arkansas

See also

References