In a city of monuments the Michigan Soldiers and Sailors memorial in Detroit may stand out among them. Sitting at the south end of Campus Martius Park the monument commemorates those how served and lost their lives in the Civil War. It was erected in the late 1860s as the war ended and officially unveiled in 1872.
While there are many similar Soldiers and Sailors monuments throughout the state, the one standing in Detroit is intended to be a statewide memorial.
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And that’s why it could be moved out of Detroit.
The obscure little bit of history about the memorial is buried in the 1865 campaign to erect the statue. The governor at the time decreed the statue would be placed in Detroit, the largest city in the state.
The 1865 Decree: A Stipulation for Displacement
However, it the monument is ever displaced, then Detroit loses it to the state’s second largest city, Grand Rapids. That almost happened in the 1930s. HistoricDetroit points out:…