Jefferson Davis Monument {& other sites in Kentucky}

Julie writes: I decided to post this oral report with hopes that in the event that someone travels to or near Kentucky for the holidays they would seek out one of these places.  The first 25 years of my life were in Kentucky and I didn't know there was Jefferson Davis Monument there until recently.  It's HUGE.  And I'm happy to post reports from other students.  :)

My name is John Isaac and my report is on the Jefferson Davis Monument.

I drove to the Jefferson Davis Monument last week with my dad while I was in Kentucky.  Jefferson Davis was the President of the Confederacy during the American Civil War.  His monument is located in the small town of Fairview, Kentucky - really, in the middle of nowhere.

I recognized a line from Hamlet's soliloquy that we memorized last year,  in the last few words in this quote.

"...a consummation devoutly to be wished."  Jefferson was a Shakespeare fan!

The Jefferson Monument is similiar to the Washington Monument except it is 200 feet shorter and made of concrete instead of marble and granite.  They have the same white shape of an oblisk.  Inside of both are elevators and for emergencies there are steps.  There was a giant party in 1924 when the last piece, which was a pyramid, was lifted onto the top of the Jefferson Davis Monument.  An interesting fact about Davis: when the US Union was hunting him after the Civil War he gave all his treasury to his wife and only took a $50 bill with him.  And we inspected the $50 bill when we toured the museum.  I also purchased a coin at the museum.

{Julie interjects - if you'd like an interesting book that compares the lives of Jeff Davis and Lincoln, then read Bloody Crimes: the chase for Jefferson Davis and the death pageant for Lincoln's corpse.  The two men's lives had many odd similarities - starting with Kentucky births!  This book is written by the same author of Manhunt, about the chase for JW Booth.}

Two other places I scrutinized in Kentucky were Daniel Boone’s gravesite and the capitol building in the capital, which is Frankfort.  Daniel Boone’s grave reminded me of the Jefferson memorial except that it was only about seven feet tall.  The capitol building was a huge building like the capitol building in Little Rock except some of the marble in one of the rooms was fake.  We also glanced at but did not enter the governor’s mansion.

Daniel Boone's Gravesite

Capitol building in Frankfort, Kentucky.