Purchased through public donations from the Chicago Bronze Company, the Civil War Soldier statue was dedicated on Decoration Day, May 30, 1890, in a public ceremony at the original courthouse on Cass Street, where more than 300 Civil War veterans and 4,000 citizens gathered for its unveiling and Traverse City Mayor Perry Hannah gave the keynote address. The statue honors the 171 volunteers from the Grand Traverse Region who went to war and the 32 who died, and the names inscribed on its sides recall battlefields where the region's soldiers fought from 1861 to 1865, including Winchester, Petersburg, Williamsburg, Vicksburg, Wilderness, Hatcher's Run, Cold Harbor, Ream's Station, Antietam, Port Hudson, Cedar Mountain, and Gettysburg. In 1893 it was moved to the grounds of the newly built District Courthouse. By 2000 the Old Soldier had deteriorated badly, with a bulging zinc base that left it tilting backward at a 20 degree angle, and in December 2003 Grand Traverse County commissioners authorized Robert Finch Camp No. 14, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, to organize fundraising and restoration. Support from businesses, charities, citizens, students, and the U.S. National Park Service Save America's Treasures program provided enough money for the statue to be disassembled in December 2004 and taken to Mercene Karkadoulias Bronze Art in Cincinnati, Ohio, for restoration. In April 2005 a new red granite foundation was installed, and on Memorial Day, May 30, 2005, exactly 115 years to the hour after its dedication, more than 1,500 citizens assembled to welcome back the refurbished statue as Michigan Senator Carl Levin honored the original soldiers and also spoke about supporting those then serving in the war on terrorism.