Lynn Haven, FL news and local guide

The veterans made their mark with a monument. In 1913 the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic, led by Dr. William W. Krape, a veteran and later mayor of Lynn Haven, began planning a memorial to their fallen comrades, paid for largely out of soldiers' pension checks with contributions from almost every state. Lynn donated the land on condition that it be called Grand Army Park. Local men hoisted the bronze soldier, cast by the W. H. Mullins Company, onto its pedestal using the town fire department's 1915 Model T Ford hook-and-ladder truck, and the monument was dedicated on February 12, 1921, the 112th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth. Standing 26 feet above its base and facing north toward the veterans' old homes, it is described as the only statue of a Northern soldier below the Mason–Dixon line facing north. In 1956 it was rededicated to American veterans of all wars. On October 10, 2018, Category 5 Hurricane Michael made landfall nearby, displacing thousands of Lynn Haven residents. On May 18, 2021, pastor Jesse L. Nelson was elected the city's first African American mayor. Sources The Historical Marker Database: Union Soldier Monument (Lynn Haven Heritage Committee) The Historical Marker Database: Union Soldiers Monument G.A.R. Park Wikipedia: Lynn Haven, Florida