Memorial Fountain and Statue

In 1878 Franklin County, Pennsylvania citizens erected the Memorial Fountain and Statue to honor the more than 5,000 county citizens who served in the Civil War.

In 1876 Franklin County, Pennsylvania residents proposed commemorating local soldiers who had served in the Civil War. Disagreements about the type of structure that would be erected delayed the project. A women’s committee in the Ladies and Soldiers Monumental Association favored a fountain, whereas a committee of veterans favored statuary. In 1878 a compromise was reached in which both a six-tiered memorial fountain and a life-sized soldiers’ statue would be built. The Memorial Fountain and Statue was dedicated on July 17, 1878 in the “Diamond Square” of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Financed by donations from citizens of the county, 15,000 people attended the ceremony. The statue of a Union soldier faces south, symbolizing the vigilant sentinel defending the town from the return of Confederate troops. Chambersburg was occupied by southern forces in 1862, 1863, and 1864, and in the latter year Confederate cavalry burned the town when it was unable to supply a ransom. Ironically, in spite of what the soldiers’ statue implies, on each occasion the Confederates occupied the town with little or no opposition.

A series of markers around the fountain honors local residents who served in the other wars as well. Another commemorates the meeting of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and A. P. Hill at this location prior to the Battle of Gettysburg. The fountain and statue were restored and rededicated on October 5, 1979.