Civil War Monument, South Park

    Most Mansfielders and many residences of Richland County have observed the silent sentry and relics at the Brinkerhoff St entrance to South Park, but few know their history.

    The statue is in memory of the men who served in the 12oth Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War from 1862 to 1865.

    The three relics, two old mill stones and a Native American stone mortar, are of local historical and archaeological significance.

    In 1880 Dr. J. Park White, of Ashland County, while roaming the farm of Samuel Urie in Ashland County, just two and a half miles northwest of Ashland, discovered in a ravine hidden by thicket one of the largest Native American Mortars ever found in Ohio. After much research Dr. White was convinced that the stone was authentic and had been used by Native Americans in this area to grind or pound their corn into corn meal for "Johnny cakes" and other food uses.

 Knowing that a colleague in nearby Mansfield, Dr. J. W. Craig, was knowledgeable concerning archaeology , Dr. White showed him the find and eventually in 1881 procured the mortar for Dr. Craig who collected such items.