The Confederate monument that was once located on the lawn of Denton County's historic courthouse is finally on display inside the Courthouse-on-the-Square Museum.
The Denton County Commissioners Court unanimously approved a resolution to remove, clean and relocate a portion of the Denton County Confederate Soldier Memorial in June 2020. In the decades leading up to that decision, the monument stoked local controversy as social justice movements gained steam nationwide. By June 2020, discourse was fervent, with advocates pointing out the statue's historical significance and detractors noting its ties to slavery and racism.
After an overnight removal was completed by an Arlington-based art preservation company, Denton County put the monument in climate-controlled storage. The Texas Historical Commission unanimously approved the county's plans to create an exhibit with pieces of the monument in April 2021.
After the Courthouse on the Square closed in January 2024 for heating and air conditioning system repairs, a portion of the original monument was installed in a new museum exhibit before the building reopened in December 2025.
"The display inside the Courthouse-on-the-Square Museum includes the soldier, a cannonball — a portion of the larger memorial — and a plaque describing the history of slavery in America and its causal impact on the Civil War," Denton County spokesperson Dawn Cobb said in a statement.
"The plaque also includes a description of the African American experience as related to the legacy of the Civil War at the time of the memorial’s initial construction in 1918."
According to the plaque, this additional information provides a new interpretation of the memorial. The text includes information about the original memorial and an account of its relocation, and states that relocating the memorial was necessary due to public safety concerns.
According to the plaque, this additional information provides a new interpretation of the memorial. The text includes information about the original memorial and an account of its relocation, and states that relocating the memorial was necessary due to public safety concerns.
For decades, the monument was a focal point in many protests.
Local activist Willie Hudspeth, who has been protesting the monument since 1999, expressed concern about whether or not public funds were used to pay for repairs to the statue.
"[Those of us who protested the monument] told [Denton County officials] early on, before they even took it down, that we didn't want our money spent on that," Hudspeth said. "The way Eads plans to get around it is to put it in the museum, fix it ... and at the right time he's going to display it somewhere for those people who didn't want it removed in the first place."
Cobb said the work was paid for under the professional services line item in the county’s general budget, which is funded by taxpayer dollars.
When the Texas Historical Commission approved the county's plans to display parts of the monument in 2021, County Judge Andy Eads said, “The thing that I had in mind was stewardship.
“This is county property, and we have to be good stewards of county property, which is a core function of county government. Future generations can either appreciate or learn from it — we believe that that is part of our role.”
CAMILA GONZALEZ can be reached at 940-566-6830 and cgonzalez@dentonrc.com.
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