Jefferson Davis Monument

When we were in Montgomery, Alabama we learned that the Jefferson Davis Monument was in Fairview, KY, less than an hour from Paducah. The site was created to preserve the birthplace of Jefferson Davis, the first president of the Confederate States of America, the focal point of the which is a 351-foot tall concrete obelisk. Here are some interesting factoids:

• The monument is the tallest unreinforced concrete structure in the world. No steel was used to reinforce the concrete. As one pour was completed, large chunks of limestone were left projecting up to connect it to the next pour above.
• The monument is the tallest concrete obelisk in the world. (All of the taller obelisks are constructed with blocks of stone.)
• It is the third tallest obelisk in the world (behind the San Jacinto Monument and the Washington Monument). (Because its cross section is octagonal and doesn't have a pyramidal top, the San Jacinto Monument could be considered a column instead of an obelisk.)
• It is the fifth tallest monument in the United States (behind the Gateway Arch, San Jacinto Monument, Washington Monument, and Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial). (The Crazy Horse Memorial, with a planned height of 563 feet, will become the second tallest monument upon completion.)
• Elsewhere in the world, the Great Pyramid of Giza, Khafre's Pyramid, and Ushiku Daibutsu are taller monuments.

On the way home we stopped to see the Kentucky State Penitentiary, also known as the "Castle on the Cumberland." Completed in 1886, it is Kentucky's oldest prison facility. It was also the site of the last Civil War skirmish in Kentucky.