Phil Newman, left, a member of the Col. Benjamin Cleveland Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, helps sculptor Joshua Coleman align a veiled bronze statue of the city’s namesake while Danny Coleman lowers the 500-pound creation onto its pedestal in First Street Park in Cleveland, Tenn. The statue will be unveiled on April 19, Patriot’s Day.STATUE UNVEILINGWhat: Statue of Col. Benjamin ClevelandWhere: First Street Square, Cleveland, Tenn.When: 10 a.m. April 19What else: Reception to follow at Museum Center at Five Points, 200 E. Inman St.
CLEVELAND, Tenn. – A 500-pound bronze statue of Cleveland’s namesake, American Revolutionary War hero Col. Benjamin Cleveland, will be unveiled on Patriot’s Day, April 19.
Earlier this week, the covered statue of Cleveland, also known as “Old Round About,” was mounted on its pedestal in First Street Square, with his veiled gaze facing toward the Bradley County Courthouse.
“We realized that most people — children and adults — didn’t know anything about the city’s namesake, so we decided to embark on a major program to create a statue of him,” said Claude Hardison Jr., president-elect of the Colonel Benjamin Cleveland Chapter of the Tennessee Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.
The statue was cast from a work sculpted by Cleveland artist Joshua Coleman and is the only statue of a Revolutionary War hero erected by a Tennessee SAR chapter.