Franklin, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Franklin Memorial Park
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 Areas • War, 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. 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 (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
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.