Forest City Confederate Memorial, Forest City
The monument consists of a large irregular shaped granite boulder approximately five feet tall with a metal plaque on the west facing side. It was placed there to draw attention to the town square being used as the muster ground for local companies preparing to depart for service with the Confederate Army.
Images: Inscription | View of the memorial facing east
ERECTED JUNE 3, 1932 / BY THE / LEE-EAVES-MCDANIEL CHAPTER / OF THE / UNITED DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY / TO THE MEMORY OF / CAPT. H. D. LEE / AND COMPANY D 16TH REGIMENT, / WHO WERE THE FIRST TO LEAVE FROM / RUTHERFORD COUNTY FOR THE / WAR BETWEEN THE STATES / JUNE 3RD, 1861, AND / CAPT. J. B. EAVES / AND COMPANY I 50TH REGIMENT, / WHO LEFT IN APRIL 1862. / BOTH COMPANIES DEPARTED FROM THIS SACRED SPOT. / ALSO TO THE MEMORY OF / A. H. MCDANIEL / CO. I 50TH REGIMENT, / COMMANDER OF THE DAVIS-DICKERSON-MILLS / CAMP OF RUTHERFORD COUNTY / CONFEDERATE VETRERANS. / THIS SITE WAS THE MUSTER GROUND OF / THE BURNT CHIMNEY VOLUNTEERS. / NOW FOREST CITY.
Forest City
June 3, 1932
35.333810 , -81.865290
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Butler, Douglas J. North Carolina Civil War Monuments, An Illustrated History, (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2013)
“Dedicate Monument In Impressive Ceremony, Forest City Courier (Forest City, NC), June 9, 1932, 5
“Forest City Confederate Memorial,” The Historical Marker Database, HMdb.org, (accessed August 16, 2015) Link
“U.D.C. Chapter to Erect Monument,” Forest City Courier (Forest City, NC), December 17, 1931, 1
Yes
Granite, metal
Lee-Eaves-McDaniel Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy
$150
Forest City was “gaily” decorated for the late afternoon dedication that saw several hundred people in attendance. The ceremony was 71 years to the date that Company D, 16th Regiment, NC Troops became the first Rutherford County company to leave in service of the Confederacy. The day had additional significance for those gathered as it was also the birthday of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy. The United States flag that flew in the square was lowered to half-mast in his honor.
Mrs. Charles D. Flack, president of the Lee-Eaves-McDaniel Chapter, UDC presided over the ceremony which opened with the high school band playing “America” and an invocation by Reverend J.W. Williams. Professor Charles D. Erwin was the featured speaker and accepted the monument on behalf of the Forest City. During his speech which was printed in full in the Forest City Courier he urged that “no citizen, looking upon this monument, be incited to a militant patriotism unless in defense of his own beloved country. May he look upon this monument as a grim reminder of settling disputations by bloody wars.” After the speech the band played “Dixie”. A wreath was placed at the monument and two children drew aside a large Confederate flag that draped the monument as the band played the Star Spangled Banner. The ceremony ended with a prayer by Dr. A.C. Ayers and the playing of taps.
Other speakers included Dr. W.C. Bostic Sr., Robert S. Eaves and Mrs. Glen Long, president of the NC Division of the UDC. Mr. A.H. McDaniel one of two surviving members of Company I 50th Regiment was a guest of honor as was W.M. Nanney a Confederate Veteran from Spindale, NC.
The stone for the monument was placed in a ceremony on December 19, 1932. The stone was quarried from a large rock ledge at Flat Rock swimming pool and donated by C.C. & O. Railroad Company.
The marker is located in the median that divides East and West Main Streets in the section between Depot Street and Thomas Street. There used to be a public square as described in newspaper accounts and shown on the Sanborn map of 1916. Nearby, further east and also in the median feature is the Rutherford County World War I Memorial and a monument to law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.
The memorial which faces west stands under a tree in a grassy area with seasonal plantings. Two and three story buildings line both sides of the street.
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