Many helped get Carter County Veterans Monument ready for Veterans Day

ELIZABETHTON — The Veteran's Monument in front of the Carter County Courthouse has been restored just in time for Veterans Day. It was hard to get a good look at the monument last Veterans Day because of the heavy traffic going around the monument. That traffic was the result of detours around damaged caused by Hurricane Helene, primarily the closure of the Broad Street Bridge. The traffic was so bad, the county eventually had to remove the cannons from the monument because they were getting hit be large trucks having trouble making the sharp turns of the traffic circle. The detour traffic finally ended with the reopening of the Broad Street Bridge. After traffic returned to normal, work began on the monument. The vegetation in the traffic circle was improved and the cannons were returned. The restoration work was done by the Maintenance Department of the Carter County Mayor's Office and by local craftsmen. While the cannons sustained only minimal damage, the pedestals and surrounding area required extensive restoration. The Carter County Maintenance Department, led by Supervisor Ron Kirby, with assistance from employee Roy Silvers, constructed the new cinder block mounts to support the heavy bronze pieces. The Carter County Highway Department assisted with reinstalling the cannons, using a Gradall to safely hoist them back into position. Once the cannons were reinstalled, Ron Wagenseller of Ron's Masonry completed the finishing stonework around the bases, while Chantz Demoss of Sycamore Gardens Landscaping revitalized the surrounding area with new landscaping. The Maintenance Department also replaced all flag poles and flags encircling the monument as part of the project. The work carries on a tradition that is now more than a century old of honoring the county's veterans at the location with hard work and craftsmanship. The Veteran's Monument was built to honor the Veterans of the Civil War, both those of the North and the South. In his autobiography, Carter County lawyer George Dugger Sr. wrote that when the work began in 1912, most of the veterans were too old to help with the construction, but the veterans from both the North and the South many would gather together to watch the work being done and offer encouragement to the workers. In 1916, the War Department in Washington, D.C. donated the two cannons that were installed at the base of the monument. The site was later refurbished by the United Veterans Committee of Carter County and dedicated "in honor of the veterans of all wars." In reflecting on the latest restoration work, Carter County Mayor Patty Woodby said "I'd like to thank everyone involved in helping restore this very important and sentimental site so that the historic cannons could be returned. This monument honors those who sacrificed so much, and I'm grateful it has been preserved so people can visit and pay tribute to those who served."