The Grand Army of the Republic Monument, in the Linden Grove Cemetery

Linden Grove Cemetery

' is located along Holman Street, between 13th and 15th streets in Covington, Kentucky, United States. It is the second public cemetery in Covington, the city's first public burial ground being Craig Street Cemetery, which dates to 1815. Craig Street Cemetery closed in 1872...

 of Covington, Kentucky

Covington, Kentucky

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 43,370 people, 18,257 households, and 10,132 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,301.3 people per square mile . There were 20,448 housing units at an average density of 1,556.5 per square mile...

, was built in 1929 by the O. P. Sine of Garfield Post No. 2 of the Grand Army of the Republic

Grand Army of the Republic

The Grand Army of the Republic was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army, US Navy, US Marines and US Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War. Founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois, it was dissolved in 1956 when its last member died...

, a group comprising the remaining veterans of the Union army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

.

This was the second memorial built by the Grand Army of the Republic in the commonwealth of Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, with the first being built in Kentucky's capital city of Frankfort, Kentucky

Frankfort, Kentucky

Frankfort is a city in Kentucky that serves as the state capital and the county seat of Franklin County. The population was 27,741 at the 2000 census; by population it is the 5th smallest state capital in the United States...

, the Colored Soldiers Monument in Frankfort

Colored Soldiers Monument in Frankfort

The Colored Soldiers Monument in Frankfort, Kentucky's Green Hill Cemetery, at the corner of US-60 and US-127, is the only Kentucky monument to black soldiers that participated in the American Civil War, and one of only four in the entire United States...

. Most GAR monuments are built in courthouse squares, but both in Kentucky are in cemeteries. By the time interest in building such memorials to the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 had waned; most G.A.R. had been built long before Covington's. It is the only monument related to the war in Kentucky shaped like a sarcophagus

Sarcophagus

A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...

. It measures three feet high, three feet tall, and is ten feet long. It is made of concrete

Concrete

Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...

, and was painted white.

Most monuments to the War in Kentucky were made to honor Confederate soldiers/veterans/memories. Though many regions in the state were pro-Union during the war, by Reconstruction Kenton County, Kentucky

Kenton County, Kentucky

Kenton County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, United States. It was formed in 1840. In 2010, the population was 159,720. It is the third most populous county in Kentucky behind Jefferson County and Fayette County. Its county seats are Covington and Independence...

 was one of the few places in Kentucky where sentiment was still decidedly pro-Union, which is why the Grand Army of the Republic chose Covington in particular for this monument.

On July 17, 1997, it was one of sixty different monuments to the Civil War in Kentucky placed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

, as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky Multiple Property Submission. It is a few feet from the Veteran's Monument in Covington

Veteran's Monument in Covington

The Veteran's Monument, also called the War Between the States Veteran's Memorial, in Linden Grove Cemetery of Covington, Kentucky was built in remembrance of both Union and Confederate veterans of the American Civil War. It is one of only two memorials in the Commonwealth of Kentucky that...

, which was also on the same MPS, but was built four years after the G.A.R. Monument was.