Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Organization Seeking To Restore Monument

Two organizations seeking to restore the tornado-battered Confederate monument on the courthouse lawn in Arkadelphia are looking for two key pieces that have been missing since the statue was toppled March 1.

Cathy Slater, director of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, said a section of the rifle and the soldier's head are still missing.

"The United Daughters of the Conferacy and Sons of the Conferate Veterans have gathered and stored most of the pieces of the munument," she said, "but a section of the rifle and soldier's head are still missing.

"The organizations want to restore the statue, if possible, and are hoping that anyone knowing what happened to the missing pieces will come forward with that information," Slater said.

Anyone with information on the missing sculpture pieces can contact the Arkansas Archeological Survey office in Arkadelphia at 870-246-7311. The pieces can also be turned in at the Stone House HSU Museum at Tenth and Henderson in Arkadelphia.

The Arkadelphia Confederate Monument waserected on the grounds of the Clark County Courthouse by the Harris Flanagin Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1911. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the country's official list of historically significant properties, on May 3, 1996.