Historical marker at 'Confederate Park' tells of Greenville's past

Marker at Confederate Park in Greenville, Ala.

This week’s featured historical marker is the “GREENVILLE CITY HALL SITE OF PUBLIC SCHOOL / CONFEDERATE PARK” marker in Greenville, Alabama. The marker is located just west of the intersection of East Commerce Street and South Park Street in Greenville.

This marker was erected by the Alabama Historical Association in 2000. There’s text on both sides of this marker, but both sides are unique. What follows is the complete text from the marker.

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“GREENVILLE CITY HALL, SITE OF PUBLIC SCHOOL: A two-story brick Greenville Public School was built in 1897 on this site. In 1921, the upper story was partially destroyed by fire and the school was remodeled into a grammar school. In 1927, the entire school burned to the ground. The current Greenville City Hall was constructed in 1936-37 as a WPA Project and houses administrative offices for the City of Greenville. Sponsored by the Sasanqua Garden Club of Greenville.”

“CONFEDERATE PARK: Confederate Park was created in 1897 as a joint effort of the Father Ryan Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the City of Greenville, with First United Methodist Church providing the park site. The sixteen-foot marble statue of a Confederate soldier was erected in the center of the park in 1903 and is a well-known landmark. The park serves the community as an outdoor center for concerts and festivals. Sponsored by the Sasanqua Garden Club of Greenville.”

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Greenville is the county seat of Butler County, and it’s a charming old town with a lot of interesting history. If you’ve never been to Greenville, I highly recommend that you check it out. The local Chamber of Commerce there offers a self-guided historical walking tour, and you can download a copy of it off their Web site.

I’ve never taken this walking tour but plan to do it sometime next year, maybe in the spring. Greenville’s very “walker friendly,” and the best way to really see the town is to get out of your vehicle and just walk the streets. If you’re physically able to, I recommend that you park at the old train depot in town, a building which now houses the local Chamber of Commerce’s offices, and walk from there all the way down Commerce Street to the Butler County Courthouse. Come down the other side of the street on your way back to the depot. It’s a nice, long stroll, but I think you’ll enjoy it.

The marker described above is just one of many in downtown Greenville, so if you make a visit to Greenville to see this marker, be sure to check out the other markers that you’ll find along Commerce Street. I’ve written about some of those in earlier posts and have a few more to talk about in the coming weeks and months.

In the end, visit this site next Wednesday to learn about another historical marker. I’m also taking suggestions from the reading audience, so if you know of an interesting historical marker that you’d like me to feature, let me know in the comments section below.