Welcome to (possibly) the only town in America that wants a new Civil War memorial

It would seem an unthinkable proposal right now, what this small and quaint town in rural Maryland is considering. 

Because while the rest of the nation is having a deep reckoning with the statues and monuments of the Civil War, this picture-perfect town is thinking of building a new one.

A big one. One officials hope will attract buses and tourists and bring prosperity to their small town.

Except what they get may be notoriety.

The proposed memorial — imagined by a sculptor who is on the let-the-Confederate-battle-flag-fly side of the argument — could be the only one in the nation to include both a president and his assassin.

“To think you’d put a portrait of John Wilkes Booth that’s the same size as Lincoln, as Grant here,” Taneytown City Council member Bradley Wantz said. “I just can’t support that. Booth’s family didn’t even want to mark his grave.”