The city’s only Civil War monument was destroyed long before remembrances from that part of U.S. history became a national debate. A cannon from the USS Kearsarge — a warship best known for its defeat of a Confederate commerce raider during the Civil War — adorned what was known then as West Park on Main Street from 1901 until 1942, when it was removed for scrap by Luders Marine Construction Company.

In the 1960s, West Park was renamed Columbus Park and placed there was a granite statue of the 15th Century Italian explorer that still stands there today — the city’s only monument to a prominent historic figure.