Are you a traveler looking for an exciting new destination? Looking to explore beautiful monuments and sites of historic importance? Join the other strange people who have visited The Wooldridge Monuments in Mayfield, Kentucky.
About Colonel Henry G. Wooldridge
Henry G. Wooldridge was a passionate man. There were two loves in his life: racing horses and his beloved wife.
When Colonel Wooldridge tragically became a widower because of a riding accident in Tennessee, he lived a simple life of breeding horses while living with the remainder of his extended family. Around 1880, he came to Mayfield, KY of Graves County to live and it was there that he stayed until his death in 1899.
The stories about Col. Wooldridge are varied. Some say he was an egotistical man, evidenced by the fact that his image is displayed in the Wooldridge Monuments twice at the Maplewood Cemetery.
Others say that this lifelong bachelor was a devoted family man and that he commissioned these monuments in order to have some semblance of sanity in the years after 1892 when his last sister passed away.
Whether it is a lasting legacy that you see in these monuments, an unwritten novel of life perhaps, or maybe just a tribute to a family that was loved immensely, what you will find here is a tale that is as old as time: the need to take something with you when death arrives at your door.
What are the Wooldridge Monuments?
The Wooldridge Monuments are a set of three marble and granite sculptures located in Mayfield, Kentucky in Graves County. The eighteen monuments were commissioned by the Mayfield Women’s Club in honor of Dr. and Mrs. T.B. Wooldridge and their son, Lt. Col. T.B. Wooldridge Jr. The sculptures were created by sculptor Harry Bertoia and installed in 1951.
The Wooldridge Monuments are a popular tourist attraction, and they have been featured in the opening credits of the TV show “Justified.”
Wooldridge Monuments Today
The monuments were restored by the Monument Conservation Collaborative, a reputable historic monument restoration firm based in Connecticut. They were rededicated in October 2010 after being rebuilt with the help of that organization.
In 2012, the Kentucky General Assembly passed a resolution designating the Wooldridge Monuments as a Kentucky landmark. The monuments are a popular tourist destination, as they are one of the only remaining physical reminders of the town’s history. The pillars are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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The Strange Procession Which Never Moves…
To see the Wooldridge Monuments, you’re basically just coming to Mayfield, KY to wander through the Maplewood Cemetery that you would normally find in every community.
Maplewood Cemetery is expansive, yet there is one within the town so you can easily reach it on a visit. It’s not the biggest town, with a population of just over 10,000, but it is steeped in history.
The area was purchased in 1818 by Andrew Jackson and you’ll hear each footstep ring with the echoes of history as you explore the town and make your way out to the lonely plot where Col. Wooldridge is buried along with the monuments he personally inspected during the final delivery and their installation in 1894 in a strange procession which never moves.
All of the monuments are placed on Henry Wooldridge’s 17×33 foot plot, which means they are packed in there tightly.
So tightly, in fact, that when a 2009 ice storm blew into the area and an oak tree snapped, it literally decapitated all of the monuments, with only the dogs and the three female statues surviving unscathed.
The community rallied for a restoration effort for a year to get the money to restore the monuments, which has now been completed thanks to Federal disaster funds that were awarded and the strange procession that never moves continues to await your arrival.
The final bill? About $100,000 for a complete restoration and now it’s a part of the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky. Henry Wooldridge spent $6,000 to have them created, which means the restoration cost as much today as it did back then to have them carved in the first place.
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Did Wooldridge Have Issues With His Father?
It is interesting to note the family members that are included in this monument. His mother, his sisters, two of his nieces, and his brothers are all included in the procession, but not his father. There’s even a fox and a dog!
According to the local stories, there are a couple of reasons why this might be. First, and the most common reason cited, is that Wooldridge’s father left his mother when he was a boy and because Wooldridge was such a passionate family man, he kept the resentment burning for his father until the day he was entombed in the metal vault with shotgun barrels there with his family.
Another story suggests that Wooldridge only wished to memorialize in limestone those family members who had already passed away. In 1984, Jack Palance visited the Maplewood Cemetery in Mayfield with a film crew for Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! to talk about the Wooldridge Monuments.
If you’re an American, maybe a visit is worth your while as well if you happen to be in the area. After all, you helped to pay for it to be restored!
What is Mayfield, Kentucky known for?
Mayfield of Graves County is known for several things such as woolen mills, loose-leaf tobacco, and the Wooldridge Monuments. The Wooldridge Monuments are a set of Confederate monuments from the Civil War located at the Maplewood Cemetery in Mayfield of Graves County, Kentucky.
The Wooldridge Monuments are a source of controversy and have been the subject of protests and vandalism. In June 2017, the city council voted to move the monuments to a local cemetery, but this decision was later overturned by a judge. As of February 2019, the monuments remain in their original location.
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