Confederate Park

During the 1870s the lot on which Confederate Park is now located was the site of the Methodist School. According to 0. R. Porter in his "Greenville Reminiscences" the lot was surrounded by a fence and in the front section facing toward Commerce Street were located "Flying Jennies" for amusement. Further up the lot was a large one-story frame building that was later torn down for the erection of a two-story brick school building. This school was properly named the Greenville Collegiate Institute but was more commonly known as the "Methodist School" and was founded by James H. Dunklin in 1872. The large two-story building was later destroyed by fire.

In 1902 the Father Ryan Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy began work on the erection of a memorial to the Confederate Soldiers of Butler County to be located on the vacant lot owned by the Methodist Church. The chapter signed a 99-year lease with the church for the lot on which the monument was to be erected.

The chapter met with a representative of a Columbus, Georgia marble works on December 6, 1902, to discuss the plans for the purchase of a suitable commemorative statue. The statue agreed upon was to be a total of sixteen feet in height including the base foundation, stone steps, and the statue. In June 1903 this statue was unveiled in a ceremony at the park.

After the statue was in place the Father Ryan Chapter turned their efforts toward the beautification of the park grounds. A landscape gardener was employed by the group with the responsibility of caring for the grounds. The beautification plans were delayed because of the debris left on the lot following the extensive renovation of the First Methodist Church which faced the park on the Walnut Street side. The U.D.C.'s plans included the planting of several hundred shrubs for use as hedges and the planting of several shade trees. In March 1909 Mayor Claude E. Hamilton donated the fountain which is now located in the park and the Eliza Parks Chapter of the U.D.C. donated iron benches for use as seating. Mr. W. J. Beeland donated the construction of a sidewalk on the Commerce Street side of the park and later the Father Ryan Chapter and the Methodist Women's Missionary Society had walkways constructed diagonally through the center of the park which was located between the monument and the fountain, R. S. Corry was the engineer who surveyed the park for the placement of the walks. Before these walks were constructed the park grounds were leveled off with dirt and other debris.

In 1928 the Father Ryan Chapter employed landscape architect S. E. Washburn of Bolling Farms Nursery who was in charge of the planting of evergreens and flowering shrubs within the park. During this period the upkeep of the park became a joint U.D.C. city project where previously the care had been the responsibility of the U.D.C.

At present, the park is still owned by the First Methodist Church and still under the original base of the U.D.C. but the upkeep is now the responsibility of the city of Greenville.