Confederate Monument in Georgetown

Confederate Monument in Georgetown
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Georgetown, Kentucky
Coordinates
Built	1888
Architectural style	No Style Listed
MPS	Civil War Monuments of Kentucky MPS
NRHP Reference #	97000669
Added to NRHP	July 17, 1997

The Confederate Monument in Georgetown is within the Georgetown Cemetery of Georgetown, Kentucky. It is an unpolished granite obelisk that is twenty feet tall, surrounded by the graves of eighteen former Confederate soldiers. The various reliefs upon the obelisk include crossed cannons, crossed muskets, a drum, and flags. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997 as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky Multiple Property Submission.

The dedication of the monument took place in June 1888. The Ladies Monument Association, in association with the women of Scott County, Kentucky, was responsible for the attainment of the funds necessary to erect the monument. They had eighteen fallen Confederates, from graves around the county, reinterred around the monument, in a manner similar to other such monuments in Kentucky. Two of these were victims of Stephen G. Burbridge's Order 59, which called for the murder of four Confederate prisoners of war whenever one Union civilian was killed. The dedication was presided by Dr. John A. Lewis, with a parade preceding the dedication containing thousands from around the state of Kentucky.

Scott County had provided 1,000 troops for the Confederacy, while only providing 118 men to the Union Army. George Johnson, the first of two Confederate governors of Kentucky, is also buried within the cemetery. He fell due to a stray bullet at the Battle of Shiloh.

The Georgetown Cemetery, while not on the National Register itself, is nevertheless historic, noted for its Victorian era monuments. It was established in 1850, but its 31 acres (130,000 m²) were finalized in 1860. There are many graves which date back prior to this time; they were moved to the cemetery after its foundation. Aside from the aforementioned George Johnson, two other Kentucky governors, Joseph Desha and James F. Robinson, are buried within the cemetery.

Gallery

• Confederate Monument in Georgetown close-up.jpg

  Closeup of the flag relief.