History of Grandstand in Old City Cemetery
Built by United Confederate Veterans
Confederate Grandstand Restored by Kirby-Smith Camp #1209 in 2008
It would not be possible to tell the history of the United Confederate grandstand without telling the history of the Confederate Burial Section Six plot in Old City Cemetery. Confederate Memorial Day Services have been held at Confederate Section Six for over 100 years starting in 1902. From late 1900’s Confederate Memorial Services were held on April 26, and were listed as an event recorded in the Florida Times Union Newspaper the day before and the day of the Service. Even during the U.S. World Wars the Memorial Services continued to be observed at Old City Cemetery and continues to be observed on the Sunday closest to April 26 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and Sons of Confederate Veterans.
In early 1900 (first burial 1902), the Martha Reid Chapter No. 19 United Daughters of the Confederacy headed by Charter Members Maria C. Murphy, Mrs. Georgia Maxwell Cook, Mrs. Mary E. Bessent , Miss Lou Brig and others, besought and acquired from the Jacksonville City Council a tract in the old City Cemetery to be used for the burial of Confederate soldiers from the Florida Confederate Soldier and Sailors Home located on Talleyrand Avenue. The city gave them Section Six that now makes up the Confederate burial area and the Grandstand. The Martha Reid Chapter U.D.C., United Confederate Veterans (R.E. Lee Camp No. 58) and Sons of Confederate Veterans (Stonewall Jackson Camp No. 83) held their Confederate Memorial Services at the Old City Cemetery grave site starting 1903, and later in 1905 sharing the service with their U.D.C. sister chapters, the Jacksonville Chapter No. 1128 and the Anne Perdue Sebring Chapter
No. 1136.
Judge J.L. Doggett gave the 1908 Confederate Memorial address at the
Confederate Section Old City Cemetery and is documented in the Confederate
Veteran Magazine July 1908
Late in 1925, due to the number of spectators and the respect for the event it was determined that a grandstand was need in Old City Cemetery. The Grandstand was started in the beginning of 1926 and was used for the first time for the Confederate Memorial Service on April 26, 1926. The grandstand was built in such a way that the speaker box of the grandstand would overlook the Confederate Soldiers buried in Section Six. The Grandstand was not completed by April 26, as is evident by the photograph posted in the Florida Times Union Newspaper on April 27. 1926. The photograph shows the Daughters of the Confederacy decorating the grandstand but it also clearly shows the steps used to enter the grandstand are wood and temporary. The masonry steps were later blocked in along with the marble inserts commemorating the Confederate Veteran Organizations. A few of the pieces of the step inserts were found during restoration, being used along with other broken marble as curbing for flowerbeds surrounding the grandstand. All the broken marble and broken curbing has been replaced during restoration.
The Confederate Memorial Day Speaker has addressed the crowds from the grandstand speaker box overlooking the Confederate graves since 1926. The Mayor of Jacksonville addressed the Confederate Memorial Day spectators from this grandstand on April 26, 1949. The Rev. Stephen T. Harvin can be seen addressing the crowd from the speaker box in a photograph posted in the Florida Times Union Newspaper on April 30, 1956. A photograph of the American and Confederate Flags can be seen posted on either side of the speaker box. The permanent flag holders were found during restoration but were in such a condition that we were unsalvageable
Confederate Grandstand before Kirby-Smith #1209 Restoration
Confederate Grandstand After Kirby-Smith #1209 Restoration
The 2008 Confederate Memorial Day Services were recorded on the front page of the Florida Times Union on April 27 and can be seen at www.scv-kirby-smith.org.