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Franklin, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Franklin Memorial Park

 
 
Franklin Memorial Park Monument Plaque. image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cynthia L. Clark, August 16, 2017
1. Franklin Memorial Park Monument Plaque.
Inscription.
Dedicated to those who gave their lives
in defense of our state and our nation

Originally a part of the James L. Camp homeplace,
the park was given to the town of Franklin in 1946
by the children of Mr. and Mrs. James L. Camp.

Rena Camp Rawls • Sallie Camp Ray • Elizabeth Camp Smith
James L. Camp, Jr. • William M. Camp • Hugh D. Camp

 
Erected by Children of Mr. and Mrs. James L. Camp.
 
Topics and series. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: Parks & Recreational AreasWar, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Time Capsules series list.
 
Location. 36° 40.868′ N, 76° 56.126′ W. Marker is in Franklin, Virginia. Memorial can be reached from the intersection of Clay Street (Business U.S. 58) and Meadow Lane, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Franklin VA 23851, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Camp Family Homestead (approx. ¼ mile away); Pauline Cauthorne Morton (1912-2004) (approx. half a mile away); Lyons State Theatre (approx. 0.9 miles away); The Flood of September 1999 (approx. 0.9 miles away); Franklin (approx.
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one mile away); Recovery and Progress (approx. one mile away); The Age of Gasoline (approx. one mile away); "Can't Is Not in the Camp's Vocabulary" (approx. one mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Franklin.
 
More about this marker. Picturesque Franklin Memorial Park is home to two war memorials, two centenary commemoratives, and a stone water fountain (Exhibit A). The park embodies one of many philanthropic contributions made by the Camp family to Franklin and surrounding areas.

The park’s principal memorial – its namesake – is a tall brick wall monument that bears an inscribed plaque centered between the seals of Virginia and City of Franklin. The other memorial, a transplanted Confederate Monument, was originally erected in the intersection of 2nd and High streets in 1911.

One of the two centenary commemoratives, a small stone tablet-topped monument, was installed on March 15, 1976 to mark Franklin’s 100th anniversary as a chartered town. Buried beneath is a bicentennial time capsule, dated for opening in 2076. See Exhibit B. The second one – a plaque – commemorates the founding of Union Camp Corporation
Detail of the Seal of Virginia. image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cynthia L. Clark, August 16, 2017
2. Detail of the Seal of Virginia.
Inscription: Virginia. sic semper tyrannis (English translation: Thus Always to Tyrants).
(Exhibit C).

In 1946, when the Camp family donated their land for the park, Franklin was classified as a town in Southampton County, Virginia. The locality was incorporated as an independent city in 1961, according to the City of Franklin Seal. Another source, marker number U-126, “Franklin” has 1960 as the year of incorporation. That marker was erected in 1988 by the Department of Conservation and Historic Resources.

See the Related Markers section for more information about Franklin, James L. Camp, the Camp family, and Camp Manufacturing, the company they founded.
 
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker.
 
Additional keywords. Blackwater River, Camp Mfg Co, Union Camp Manufacturing Company
 
Detail of the City of Franklin seal. image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cynthia L. Clark, August 16, 2017
3. Detail of the City of Franklin seal.
Inscription: Town 1876 – City 1961. City of Franklin, Virginia.
Franklin Memorial Park Monument. image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cynthia L. Clark, August 16, 2017
4. Franklin Memorial Park Monument.
The memorial plaque holds center stage between the seals of Virginia (left) and City of Franklin (right).
Franklin Memorial Park. image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cynthia L. Clark, August 16, 2017
5. Franklin Memorial Park.
The viewer is standing in front of the park, near the intersection of Clay Street (BUS 58) and Meadow Lane. In the far background, the Franklin Memorial Park and Confederate monuments are framed by the United States and Virginia flags.
Confederate Monument in Franklin Memorial Park. image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cynthia L. Clark, August 16, 2017
6. Confederate Monument in Franklin Memorial Park.
Exhibit A: The stone water fountain image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cynthia L. Clark, August 16, 2017
7. Exhibit A: The stone water fountain
Exhibit B: Franklin Centennial Tablet. image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cynthia L. Clark, August 16, 2017
8. Exhibit B: Franklin Centennial Tablet.
Inscription: Beneath this tablet is a sealed box containing messages from citizens of Franklin in 1976 addressed to the citizens of Franklin in the year 2076. The box was placed here on March 15, 1976, the one hundredth anniversary of Franklin’s Charter from the Virginia General Assembly. It is to be opened in public ceremony by the mayor of Franklin on March 15, 2076. John A. Murray, Mayor; A. B. Harrison, Vice Mayor; W. M. Delbrouck, Councilman; George H. Hedgepeth, Councilman; William J. Rhodes, Jr., Councilman; Harold S. Atkinson, City Manager
Exhibit C: Commemorative plaque from Union Camp Corporation. image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cynthia L. Clark, August 16, 2017
9. Exhibit C: Commemorative plaque from Union Camp Corporation.
Lying at the United States Flag pole’s base, the plaque is inscribed with: “The Seals of Virginia and Franklin and the flag poles were presented to the people of Franklin by the employees of Union Camp Corporation commemorating the one hundred anniversary of the founding of the Company and the fiftieth year of paper production here. December, 1987. 50/100”
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on October 25, 2018. It was originally submitted on March 11, 2018, by Cynthia L. Clark of Suffolk, Virginia. This page has been viewed 378 times since then and 25 times this year. Last updated on October 24, 2018, by Cynthia L. Clark of Suffolk, Virginia. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on March 11, 2018, by Cynthia L. Clark of Suffolk, Virginia.   7, 8, 9. submitted on October 24, 2018, by Cynthia L. Clark of Suffolk, Virginia. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 29, 2024