The town of Mayfield in western Kentucky played an important role during the civil war. The local population was strongly in support of the Confederacy. Although this is unclear, there are claims that seven counties in western Kentucky wanted to join part of Tennessee to create a new state that would be part of the Confederacy.
In downtown Mayfield is the Confederate Memorial Monument and Fountain on the courthouse grounds. The original courthouse located there was captured by Union troops in 1864, yet was destroyed later that year. The present courthouse opened in 1889. The United Daughters of the Confederacy gathered enough money to build and dedicate the fountain in 1917.
At Maplewood Cemetery are the Confederate Memorial Gates. These are six stucco gateposts, situated in three pairs with spaces across them. The main gate pair at the entrance to Maplewood Cemetery have plaques made of bronze. When the gate is closed, a center sign reads: The United Daughters of the Confederacy Memorial.
In 1997, both the Confederate Memorial Monument and Fountain plus the Confederate Memorial Gates joined the National Registry of Historic Places. Both were among the sixty-one Civil War Monuments of Kentucky that joined the registry that year.