Monument to James Harvey French
First Principal of Concord State Normal School
The monument to James Harvey French, first principal of Concord State Normal School, is shown in its former location over the grave of Capt. French on the former campus, now the site of the Athens Schools. In 1937, during Mercer County’s Centennial celebration, the monument was moved to its present location on campus. Capt. French’s remains, however, which had originally been buried in 1891 behind the second normal school building, were relocated twice on the old school grounds to accommodate construction of new buildings before finally being interred for a fourth time at the present-day site of the monument on campus in the mid-1950s when two new wings were added to the high school.
