Southern Culture
Centre
P. O. Box 24803, Columbia, S.C. 29224
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P. O. Box 24803, Columbia, S.C. 29224
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The Original Confederate Monument in Abbeville South Carolina Please help us bring it back home to Secession Hill in Abbeville South Carolina.
Bring Our Confederate Monument Home Abbeville, South Carolina CSA Help us bring back to Abbeville her first Confederate monument. On 23 August 1906, the Secession Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the town Abbeville, South Carolina, dedicated the forty foot tall Confederate Monument to the brave and loyal men who served the Confederacy from the Abbeville District. The monument was placed in the center of Abbeville’s beautiful square. It stood there in honour of the citizens of the Abbeville District who had stepped forward to defend their country of South Carolina from the foreign invaders. In the mid-1950s the town of Abbeville started building a large scaffolding structure around the monument, attaching cedar boughs and creating a large Christmas “tree”. The UDC protested and for awhile the activity was ceased, but after a few years the town continued building the “tree” around the monument. The town was warned that if the “tree” should ever catch fire the monument could be badly damaged. In the early morning hours of 28 December 1991 the “tree” did catch fire and the monument was indeed severely damaged. The obelisk was removed within days and then there occurred an argument between the town and the local UDC chapters as to ownership and the responsibility of repairing or replacing the monument. Eventually both the town and the UDC chapters provided the approximately $350,000.00 required to replace an exact replica of the 1906 monument. The obelisk that had been removed shortly after the fire was stored on town property. The rest of the monument was taken to Elberton, Georgia; therefore it could be used as a template for the replacement monument. The unveiling of the new monument occurred on 14 December 1996. It was learned by members of the Southern Cultural Centre that a part of the monument still existed and after we had purchased Secession Hill, we thought that perhaps that part could somehow be used in the park we planned for Secession Hill. We approached Abbeville’s mayor who sent us to the town manager who told us that the UDC and not the town owned the part of the monument and if we wanted it we would need to secure a release from them. When we contacted them we then learned that other parts of the monument were perhaps still in Elberton, Georgia. When the UDC learned what we planned to do with the monument, they were more than happy to release to the ownership of the Southern Culture Centre what remained of the monument. A trip to Elberton has confirmed that all parts of the monument have been located. It is the desire of the Southern Cultural Centre to bring the monument back home to Abbeville and place it on Secession Hill in the park to be established there. The estimated cost of bringing the monument back and reconstructing it on Secession Hill is $10-15,000.00. The Southern Cultural Centre has started a fund raising drive in order to accomplish this goal. We ask your help in bringing back to Abbeville an important piece of her history and place it on a very important piece of historic property. You may make a contribution by sending a cheque to the Southern Cultural Centre and mail it to the Southern Cultural Centre, 107 North Main Street, Abbeville, South Carolina CSA 29620. Please help us bring home to Abbeville our Confederate Monument.
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