Image: A bust of David Crockett was unveiled at the Tennessee Capitol in 2016. By early 2027, a full statue will grace the entrance to the building. Image Credit: Tennessee Arts Commission
By Sam Stockard [The Tennessee Lookout -CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] –
Tennessee is planning to install a bronze statue of legendary frontiersman David Crockett by fall 2026 in front of the State Capitol.
The estimated $1 million project is going through the design phase, then will face a state committee evaluation before being erected late next year, in time for the inauguration of the state’s next governor in early 2027, according to state Architect Ann McGauran. She updated the State Building Commission’s Executive Subcommittee on the schedule Monday.
The Tennessee Capitol Commission previously approved the Crockett statue project after the Edward Carmack statue in front of the Capitol along Martin Luther King Boulevard was toppled during 2020 protests that roiled the nation following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The statue of Carmack, who died in a 1908 shootout with political rivals, was put up in 1927. The former U.S. representative and newspaper executive who clashed with civil rights activist Ida B. Wells over his support for lynching, was considered a martyr for the prohibition movement at the time.
A bust of Crockett already sits on the second floor of the State Capitol, signifying his importance in the history of Tennessee, where he was born in the eastern part of the state and gained a reputation as a hunter, fighter and story teller before serving in the state legislature and Congress.
Crockett joined the Texas fight for independence from Mexico and died at the Alamo in 1836.
