The Union Soldier

Just north of downtown Panama City, Florida in a neighboring suburb called Lynn Haven, a bronze union soldier looks north to his homeland atop a 26-foot tall pedestal and the story of why he's so far from home is as American as they come!

After the civil war, New York businessman W. H. Lynn wanted to develop a retirement community for veterans of the Civil War right here by our beautiful Bay, so in 1911 “Lynn Haven” was born. When word got out about Mr. Lynn’s haven, union veterans from all over made their way south to live out their days in the laid-back beauty of the Florida panhandle.

One such veteran, Dr. William Crape, had the idea to erect a statue paying tribute to his fallen comrades, so in 1920 he and his veteran brothers pulled together money from their pension checks and used it to pay for the construction of the Union Soldier.

The statue still stands and is the southern-most Union memorial in the United States. It was remarkable that this deep south Florida town embraced and cared for the memorial through the years, and it's quite fitting that just a couple of miles away in Mount Hope Cemetery both local rebels and relocated yankees lay side by side forever ,our beloved nation made whole again by the one thing we all have in common.