Supporters and opponents will meet in downtown Huntsville Saturday in dueling demonstrations over a Confederate monument that has sat on the Madison County Square for nearly a century.

Supporting the statue's spot on the square will be the "Third Annual Dixie Rally Rally on the Square; Liberty Fest" at noon and opposing will be the "Huntsville Rejects Racist Symbols" rally from noon-3 p.m.. Facebook "Event" pages late Friday showed 57 people planning to rally for the statue and 28 planning to protest.

The statue is a familiar sight across the South: a uniformed Confederate soldier with a rifle. It was erected in 1905 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and has remained on the property since, although its presence has receded in prominence as the courthouse lawn has receded in size. Today, the statue sits partly obscured by a large magnolia tree.

This postcard shows the monument in front of the Madison County Courthouse Building that preceded the current version.

"It's hard to stomach," Catherine Hereford of Huntsville said. "It's at our courthouse."

Hereford said the statue would be better located at nearby Maple Hill Cemetery, where Confederate soldiers are buried and where its history could be put in context by historical interpreters.

"Moving the statue won't make anyone forget the Confederacy," Hereford said. But having it on the square "is a form of bullying that is doing a lot of our citizens a disservice."

The organizer of the Dixie rally declined to comment.