Ripley’s missing Liberty Monument. Photo by Greg Haitz
Throughout history, there have been many famous mysteries involving missing people and/or objects. Amelia Earhart, the stolen art from the Gardner Museum, and of course Where’s Waldo. Ripley now has a part of its history that is missing, but thankfully there is no mystery, as The Liberty Monument at Main and Front Streets has been removed- for repairs.
Many readers may know that the monument has been slowly deteriorating. The current monument was made in 1962, and replaced the 1912 version of the monument, although the plaques on the monument are believed to be original from 1912.
Betty Campbell, Ripley Heritage President had this to say about the monument, “This is a plan by the village to restore the monument. It has gotten very hard to repair the monument. The monument was removed before the Memorial Day weekend. In 1962, the street was widened a little and the monument was moved a few feet to its current location. At that time a new monument was made, to look like the 1912 monument. It was handled by Huck Gill and Tim McCaughey. The plaques are in storage and may be mounted to display to the public while a new monument is being made. A new monument maybe made from light gray granite, and it will be made to look like the 1912 monument. Georgetown Marble and Granite will possibly make the new monument. Grant money for the new village dock is paying for the new monument, so no tax dollars are being spent.”
Village Administrator, Wayne Gates, said, “The removed plaques are at the village office, they will be cleaned and restored. A short-term plan is to display the plaques somewhere in Ripley. The long-term plan is to build a new monument with grant money from the new dock. We want to clean the plaques and then display them, and later replace the monument. Wood display cases are being made to show the plaques up to when the new monument is made. The plaques are 110 years old, the monument, which was in bad shape, was sixty years old. This is one of the earliest monuments to the Abolitionist Movement in the United States.”
The plaques honoring the abolitionist movement were made at the behest of Frank Gregg. Gregg grew up in Ripley, who as an adult was a newspaper man in Cleveland. In 1902, Gregg paid a visit to Ripley and had a conversation with John Parker that lasted all night with Gregg finding out many things about the Underground Railroad and his hometown that he did not know. Later, in preparation for Ripley’s Centennial in 1912, Gregg had plaques made honoring the people of Brown County that fought for freedom. The monument and tablets were dedicated during the Centennial celebration. In 1962, the Liberty Monument was restored in time for the Ripley’s Sesquicentennial, and a concrete platform and wrought-iron railing were set around the monument.
It will be wonderful to see the new monument in place to honor our fellow citizens. And with the new dock, we can proudly share our history with all the new people that will visit.
