Small Town To Finally Get Civil War Memorial
WASIOJA, Minn. (AP) -- Residents of the tiny southern Minnesota town of Wasioja will mark Veteran's Day by dedicating a Civil War memorial that was first proposed for construction 143 years ago.
The granite memorial engraved with the image of two union soldiers will be dedicated in a Thursday evening ceremony. The Post-Bulletin in Rochester reports the memorial is at the site of a former seminary where 10 students and three faculty members were among the first to enlist in the Second Minnesota Regiment, Company C, soon after the Civil War erupted in 1861.
Locals first discussed building a Civil War memorial in 1867, two years after the war ended. But Dave Hanson, chairman of the memorial committee, says there were disputes over where to put it and lack of momentum on the plans.
Wasioja is about 20 miles west of Rochester, in Dodge County.
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