Henderson and Transylvania Counties Union Soldiers Monument, Etowah
The marker is stone and masonry construction in a style common for rock walls throughout the Western Carolina Mountains. It is 5 feet tall and 3 ½ feet wide. Inset into the marker is a black granite or marble tablet 3 ¼ foot tall by 2 ¾ foot wide. It stands on a concrete base and has a concrete cap. It honors 69 Transylvania and 149 Henderson County men known to have served in the Union Army and the women who stayed at home.
IN HONOR OF / UNION VETERANS OF THE CIVIL WAR. / 1861—1865 HENDERSON AND TRANSYLVANIA / COUNTIES. NORTH CAROLINA. / WITH GREAT RESPECT FOR THE WOMEN / WHO CARRIED ON AT HOME WHILE / HUSBANDS AND BROTHERS WERE FIGHTING / TO PRESERVE THE UNION. / FUNDED AND ERECTED IN 1985 / BY THE DESCENDANTS AND FRIENDS OF / THE UNION VETERANS.
Henderson County
September 14, 1985
35.322250 , -82.594770
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"Civil War Monument, Etowah, NC," Waymarking.com (accessed November 17, 2014) Link
Eliston, Jon. "For Historians Documenting WNC Civil War Monuments Past not Always Set in Stone," June 10, 2011, Carolina Public Press, http://www.carolinapublicpress.org (accessed November 17, 2014) Link
Scruggs, Kathy. “Union Army Vets Memorial Planned,” Asheville Citizen-Times (Asheville, NC), May 29, 1984
Walton, Daniel. “Small Stones, Big Stories,” Bold Life October (2017), 26-27 Link
Yes
Stone, cement base
James B. King, with descendants and friends of Union veterans
James B. King who had relatives that fought on both sides during the war and who was responsible for the memorial made welcoming remarks. Former state senator Betty Ann Wilkie gave the address after which King announced a roll call of Union veterans.
The Union Civil War monument in Etowah was commemorated to honor Western North Carolinians who fought and died to preserve the Union, as well as the women who stayed at home while their husbands went off to war. More than 200 soldiers from Henderson and Transylvania counties served in the Union Army, many with the 2nd and 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry. There are about 10 Union monuments in North Carolina and Henderson County has two.
County officials considered moving the monument to downtown Hendersonville after the Etowah library moved to a new building and the monument got relegated to a spot between a pine tree and the storage shed for a childcare facility’s playground. However moving the monuments proved impractical, so the county erected a smaller, simpler monument to Union troops next to the county heritage museum in 2008.
Monument is located at 245 Brickyard Rd, Etowah NC. The monument originally stood next to the Etowah Branch of the Henderson County library. In 2008, the Etowah library moved to a new building about a half-mile up the road. The monument now stands next to a daycare facility, on the very edge of the daycare parking lot. The monument faces south.
The monument is crowded into a tight space between a storage shed and a growing pine tree. A fence across the backside of the monument separates the daycare parking lot from an outside play area. The driveway into the daycare facility sits to the right of the monument if facing the daycare from the road (west). The land around the monument is flat.
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