Did you know? 10 things about Ivers Square Civil War statue, fountain

Workers on Monday, March 4, disassembled the Civil War fountain in Ivers Square in downtown Cape Girardeau near City Hall, as preparations were made to refurbish the monument.

The statue atop the pedestal dates to 2003, but the monument itself was erected in 1911 and honors the war dead from the Civil War.

Here are 10 things about the statue/fountain you may not know:

1. The Civil War fountain in Ivers Square was dedicated on Memorial Day, 1911.

2. The Women’s Relief Corps raised the funds — $3,000 — to install the statue/fountain.

3. Originally, the monument memorialized the Union war dead, but a later re-dedication recognized the loss of all of those who fought and died in the Civil War — Union and Confederate.

4. Fiske Ironworks of New York manufactured the original statue/fountain.

5. Vandals climbed the pedestal in 1971, wrenching the rifle from the soldier’s grasp and transferring it to a nearby flagpole. Employees of the Cape Girardeau Parks Department repaired the weapon and returned it to its rightful spot.

6. The original cast iron statue was smashed to smithereens May 12, 2003, when the branch of a nearby oak tree fell on it.

7. Dexter sculptor Alan Gibson replaced the statue with one he created in September 2003.

8. Cost of the 2003 statue was $13,200, with 80% of the cost being paid with Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster relief funds.

9. This wasn’t the first time extensive repairs were made to the Civil War monument. In 1961, it was reconditioned and again in 1982

10. The original statue, pieced back together by Gibson, found a temporary home at the county courthouse in Jackson. It is now in the Cape Girardeau Heritage Museum, 538 Independence St.