In April 2007, a statue was unveiled in downtown Clarksville, Tennessee, honoring Lenora “Nora” Witzel, who has been described as a pioneer and a rebel. Witzel (1875-1968) photographed Clarksville’s architecture and people for nearly three decades. She worked out of her photography studio at the ML Clothing Store on Franklin Street and is considered a pioneer of early 20th century small-town photography. Andrea Lugar of Lugar Art and Bronze Foundry in Arlington, Texas, created the life-sized bronze cast of Witzel and her dog Nettie.
A stone cabin on this site is said to be stone blockhouse of the Valentine Sevier Station. On Nov. 11, 1794, Native Americans attacked the outpost, killing six; a seventh was scalped, but recovered. Valentine Sevier was a brother of Tennessee’s first governor, John Sevier.
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Clarksville firefighter and sculptor Scott Wise created “The Day After,” also known as “The Seated Piece.” Main Street Clarksville commissioned the public art, the group’s last. The statue’s title refers to January 23, 1999, the day after a tornado struck downtown Clarksville. The statue, described by the artist as “Joe Public,” is reading a replica of the January 23, 1999 edition of The Leaf-Chronicle newspaper, which is located across Commerce Street from the statue. The statue was formally unveiled on October 30, 2003, and Main Street Clarksville donated it to Montgomery County after its unveiling.
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The Doughboy statue on display in downtown Clarksville dates to 1929. It features an American soldier holding a grenade in one hand and a rifle in the other and honors the soldiers who fought in World War I. For more than 40 years, it stood guard in front of Clarksville High School and was moved to the armory on Ft. Campbell Boulevard in 1972. On April 15, 2010, city and civic leaders rededicated the statue at its new location in front of the Transit Station on Legion Street in downtown Clarksville. In 2015, it moved to a new location at the Tennessee State Veterans Home.
The Upland Trail is a walking path in the heart of downtown that dates to the late 1990s. The trail currently links the Riverwalk to an overlook bridge at the north end of Valleybrook Park. The initial portion of the project extended the trail from the pedestrian overpass on Riverside Drive and College Street, alongside many of Clarksville’s historical buildings and homes, and uses a former railroad bridge near the park. The remainder of Phase II will eventually continue the trail into Valleybrook Park.
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