 Photos:
Above: Suzanne Sink, Charlotte, North Carolina. Right: Kerrie Carter, Charlotte, North Carolina. |
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CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA
N 35° 13.298 / W 080° 50.326
Copyright version 1920, pressed copper.
Smithsonian Art Inventory Control Number: NO ENTRY.
Copyright version 1920, pressed copper.
Smithsonian Art Inventory Control Number: NO ENTRY.
On City Hall lawn a few yards in from the corner of South Alexander and East 4th Street.
Plaque inscriptions on the front and rear of the base read:
Front:
FOR GOD AND COUNTRY
IN HONOR OF
THE MEN OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY,
NORTH CAROLINA
WHO SERVED THEIR COUNTY
DURING THE WORLD WAR
1917 - 1919
Rear:
THIS MEMORIAL
ERECTED BY
CITIZENS OF THIS COMMUNITY
IN APPRECIATION OF
WAR SERVICE IN THE CAUSE
OF WORLD-LIBERTY AND JUSTICE
Inscriptions on the Doughboy’s left and right read:
THERE IS NO HIGHER SERVICE
TO ONE’S COUNTRY
THAN DUTY WITH THE FLAG
and
THEIR MANHOOD PREVAILED:
THEIR CAUSE TRIUMPHED.
Front:
FOR GOD AND COUNTRY
IN HONOR OF
THE MEN OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY,
NORTH CAROLINA
WHO SERVED THEIR COUNTY
DURING THE WORLD WAR
1917 - 1919
Rear:
THIS MEMORIAL
ERECTED BY
CITIZENS OF THIS COMMUNITY
IN APPRECIATION OF
WAR SERVICE IN THE CAUSE
OF WORLD-LIBERTY AND JUSTICE
Inscriptions on the Doughboy’s left and right read:
THERE IS NO HIGHER SERVICE
TO ONE’S COUNTRY
THAN DUTY WITH THE FLAG
and
THEIR MANHOOD PREVAILED:
THEIR CAUSE TRIUMPHED.
Information received about a former location isn’t clear and the original dedication date hasn’t been supplied, nor has the date of its move to the current location. It’s been described as having originally been at the old County Courthouse, and at Park Center, which was earlier the site of the Armory. (The old County Courthouse might have been at Park Center.) Pictures that have been seen of it appear to show two different pedestals in three locations. It’s estimated that it was originally dedicated in 1923, and believed that a local American Legion post was involved in its acquisition and dedication.
According to information provided by Charlotte resident Jay Clontz, the statue's original location was near the old Central High School which had its last classes in 1959. Afflicted by polio as a child, Jay reports he used to stop and rest on a ledge on the statue's pedestal while on the way to and from school in the early '50s. It was in an inverted "V" island at the North Cecil Street entrance to the American Legion Memorial Stadium area via Park Drive. Cecil Street no longer exists in that area - it has roughly been replaced by Kings Drive. It was probably moved to its current location in the early 1960s.
The Doughboy is believed to have been restored in the 1990s and, while the bayonet, rifle sling and barbed wire are missing, is in relatively satisfactory condition. The statue has been painted a brownish color since the above photo was taken.
According to the minutes of the December 14, 2009 meeting of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historical Landmarks Commission, there are now plans to move the statue back to "a prominent place at American Legion Memorial Stadium".
According to information provided by Charlotte resident Jay Clontz, the statue's original location was near the old Central High School which had its last classes in 1959. Afflicted by polio as a child, Jay reports he used to stop and rest on a ledge on the statue's pedestal while on the way to and from school in the early '50s. It was in an inverted "V" island at the North Cecil Street entrance to the American Legion Memorial Stadium area via Park Drive. Cecil Street no longer exists in that area - it has roughly been replaced by Kings Drive. It was probably moved to its current location in the early 1960s.
The Doughboy is believed to have been restored in the 1990s and, while the bayonet, rifle sling and barbed wire are missing, is in relatively satisfactory condition. The statue has been painted a brownish color since the above photo was taken.
According to the minutes of the December 14, 2009 meeting of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historical Landmarks Commission, there are now plans to move the statue back to "a prominent place at American Legion Memorial Stadium".
