This has been restored for use as a community center. This is nearly identical to the old Montezuma depot, now located at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture in Tifton.
Atlanta Birmingham & Atlantic Railroad Depot, Circa 1906, Ideal
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Category Archives: –MACON COUNTY GA–
Hay & Stock Barn, Macon County
Andersonville National Cemetery
One of fourteen National Cemeteries administered by the National Park Service, Andersonville is still open for burials today. Few places will put into perspective the human cost of war more than the burial place of so many who paid the ultimate price in preserving our national interests and values.
I’ve visited here numerous times during my life and the impact is always the same. I’m awed by the beauty of the place yet saddened by the loss of so many.
The earliest burials at the site were trench graves of those who died at the adjacent prison at Camp Sumter, and these began in February 1864. In little over a year, over 13,000 men were interred here. The earliest graves are those visible when you first enter the cemetery.
After the war, the identify of the remains of many prisoners were confirmed and the deceased given proper markers.
Andersonville National Cemetery is still open for burials today, and the National Park Service tries to accommodate as many requests as possible. There are no waiting lists, so such a burial can only be arranged after a veteran’s death. Over 20,000 are interred here today.
Andersonville National Historic Site
Providence Spring House, 1901, Andersonville
Thousands of prisoners were literally dying of thirst when on 14 August 1864 a spring burst forth at this site within the prison stockade at Camp Sumter. Its appearance was providential and it was one of the treasured memories of many veterans who returned to the site in the years following the Civil War.
Pilgrimage to the spring was a regular part of Memorial Day activities here by the 1880s.
The prisoner’s cry of thirst rang up to Heaven. God heard, and with his thunder cleft the earth and poured his sweetest waters gushing here. These words are memorialized on a tablet inside the well house marking the site. The construction of the pavilion was a collaboration between the Woman’s Relief Corps and the National Association of Union Ex-Prisoners of War.
The site is among the most popular stops at Andersonville. Just don’t drink the water. Signs indicate it’s contaminated today. Oh, and watch out for rattlesnakes. They are common near the well house.
Andersonville National Historic Site
Monuments of Andersonville National Historic Site
With its notorious reputation as one of the worst Confederate prison stockades, the site of Camp Sumter inevitably became hallowed ground to the survivors and families of those who died here, including Confederate guards. Between 1899 and 1916, a series of monuments were placed by various states at the stockade site and within the cemetery, and their dedications were huge events, with survivors and regular citizens making the long journey to Andersonville by train. The Georgia Monument (above) was placed on Memorial Day 1976 at the entrance to the cemetery.
STATE MONUMENTS OF THE CEMETERY SITE
Illinois Monument
A collaboration of sculptor Charles Mulligan and state architect William Carbys Zimmerman, the Illinois monument is one of the nicest of all the memorials in the cemetery.
Dedicated in 1912, it features a bronze sculpture of Columbia pointing to fallen heroes, flanked by Youth and Maiden. It honors the 889 known Illinoisans who died at Andersonville.
Statues of anonymous Illinois veterans leaning on the words of Lincoln and saddened by the human loss of war, flank each wing of the monument.
Iowa Monument
Dedicated by Governor Albert Baird Cummins in 1906, Iowa Monument features a weeping woman (the biblical Rebecca) atop a red base. The front of the base features a relief of an Iowa infantryman and the words: Iowa honors the turf that wraps their clay. The Unknown. Their names are recorded in the archives of their country.
New York Monument
The New York Monument was placed in 1911, but wasn’t dedicated until 1914. It features bronze reliefs on the front and back of a tapered granite marker. According to the National Park Service, “For the monument dedication in 1914, the State of New York paid for 222 former prisoners to travel down to Georgia; the average age of these men was 72 1/2 years old. At the dedication service, 2,500 New York flags decorated the graves of the New York dead.”
The back relief features a young and old soldier sitting inside the stockade with an angel hovering above them. It’s one of the most moving sculptures at the site.
New Jersey Monument
The New Jersey Monument was among the first of the state monuments placed at Andersonville.
It features a soldier at parade rest, surveying the dead.
Connecticut Monument
The Connecticut Monument Commission chose a design by Boston sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt. It was dedicated in 1907.
It depicts a typical young Connecticut soldier.
Minnesota Monument
The Minnesota Monument is one of three identical monuments that Minnesota dedicated in 1916, the other two being located at the National Cemeteries in Little Rock and Memphis.
It was designed by St. Paul sculptor John Karl Daniels and depicts a young Union soldier in a winter coat.
Pennsylvania Monument
The impressive Pennsylvania Monument features a mournful soldier atop an arch.
It was installed by Miller & Clark Granite and Monumental Works of Americus and dedicated in 1905. Interestingly, the Pennsylvania commissioned tasked with choosing a designer chose the Americus company over two firms each from Pennsylvania and New York.
Maine Monument
The Maine Monument was erected in 1903. It was dedicated not only in memory of those who died here but to all who served.
The 36 foot obelisk, topped by an 8 foot sculpture, was designed and cut by C. E. Tayntor & Company of Hollowell, Maine.
Indiana Monument
The Indiana Monument was dedicated in 1908.
STATE MONUMENTS OF THE PRISON SITE
Massachusetts Monument
The Massachusetts Monument was dedicated in 1901, honoring the state’s 767 known dead at the site.
Michigan Monument
A favorite of many visitors, the Michigan Monument features a life-size weeping maiden.
It was created by the Lloyd Brothers Monument Company of Toledo, Ohio, and dedicated in 1904. Among those present at the dedication were ten carloads of former veterans from Fitzgerald, Georgia, the Union soldiers colony about an hour east of Andersonville.
Ohio Monument
At 40 feet, the Ohio Monument is the tallest at Andersonville. Dedicated in 1901, it is the second oldest monument in the park.
Like many of the others in the park, it features the motto “Death Before Dishonor”.
Wisconsin Monument
The Wisconsin Monument, accomplished in Georgia granite and topped by a bronze eagle, was dedicated in 1907. This view is from the rear of the monument.
Rhode Island Monument
The Rhode Island Monument was dedicated in 1903. As it’s the smallest state, its monument is also the smallest state monument at Andersonville. The 74 Rhode Island soldiers who are buried in the cemetery are all named on the monument. Among the is Charles F. Curtis, 5th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, who was one of the leaders of the despised Andersonville Raiders. These men were hanged by the other prisoners for terrorizing, stealing from, and even murdering some of their fellow captives.
8-State Monument
The 8-State Monument was placed by the Woman’s Relief Corps (auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic) in 1934 to memorialize the states that didn’t have a monument. It was dedicated in 1936. States listed are: Delaware, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, Vermont, West Virginia.
ASSOCIATION MONUMENTS AT ANDERSONVILLE
Lizabeth Ann Turner Monument
Lizabeth Ann Turner was a prominent member of the Woman’s Relief Corps (WRC) who were instrumental in securing and beautifying the grounds at Andersonville. She had been a volunteer nurse in Boston during the Civil War and in 1895 became the National President of the WRC. Mrs. Turner died while visiting the prison site on 27 April 1907 and this memorial was dedicated to honor her in 1908.
Clara Barton Monument
Clara Barton was a leader in the effort to identify the dead at Andersonville and to establish the site as a National Cemetery. This monument, commissioned by the WRC, was dedicated on Memorial Day 1915.
Women’s Relief Corps (WRC) Monument
On Memorial Day 1929, this monument commissioned by the Woman’s Relief Corps and authorized by President Hoover, was dedicated. It features two bronze tablets containing the words of the Gettysburg Address and General Logan’s Memorial Day Order of 1868.
There is also a monumental sundial, which isn’t pictured, and a well house at Providence Spring, which will be covered elsewhere.
Stalag XVII-B Prisoners of War Monument
On 3 May 1989, the anniversary of the liberation of the German prison camp Stalag XVII-B, this monument was dedicated to honor all prisoners of German camps throughout the European theater of World War II. It is the last monument dedicated at Andersonville and is located within the cemetery, unlike the preceding monuments which are located at the prison site.
SOUTHERN STATE MONUMENTS
Tennessee Monument
The Tennessee Monument is unusual in that it honors Southern natives who died at Camp Sumter in service to the Union. It was funded by contributions of Tennessee members of the Grand Army of the Republic and dedicated in 1915, within the prison site.
The monument features a patriotic eagle and shield with a banner reading “E Pluribus Unum” in the spirit of national reconciliation common with veterans groups of the day.
Georgia Monument
The Georgia Monument, dedicated on Memorial Day 1976, was the last state monument placed at Andersonville. Governor Jimmy Carter, who had worked to have Andersonville included in the National Park System, was instrumental in the monument being placed. It was created by Athens sculptor William J. Thompson. It commemorates lost prisoners of all American wars.
Andersonville National Historic Site
Historic Storefronts, Oglethorpe
The structure at left (above) was once a livery stable. I’m not sure as to the functions of the others, but they likely date to the late-19th or early-20th century.
Old Macon County Courthouse, 1850s, Oglethorpe
Though best remembered as Taylor’s Pharmacy, this is said to have been the first courthouse constructed in Oglethorpe. The long lost town of Lanier was the county seat when Macon County was created in 1837 and the courthouse there burned in 1857. Oglethorpe was assuming the status of new county seat at this time and that is when this structure is believed to have been constructed. Colonel George W. Fish was murdered on the west side of the building in 1871 after returning home from business in Macon. The first floor presently serves as the law office of Jon Coogle. [This information needs further documentation, but I believe it to be accurate at this time].
Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Oglethorpe
This was originally a Baptist church and was moved from Oglethorpe to its present location.
Oglethorpe Methodist Church, 1892
James Duke, Jr., notes that the church was organized in 1852. A memorial to the Reverend James Bradford Smith, placed in the churchyard in 1853, indicates that the congregation worshiped on this same property from its formation.
Mt. Zion-St. Luke Lutheran Church, 1911, Oglethorpe
This historic congregation is older than Macon County. From 1827 until the Civil War, Mt. Zion Church built at least three churches, with the first being built about nine miles west of present-day Oglethorpe in the Saint John’s community (known locally today as Cut-Off). By the early 20th century, there were more Lutherans in Oglethorpe than in the rural section of the county and St. Luke was organized to better serve them. Martin Luther (Luke) Shealy gave the land on which the present church was built and out of respect, the members chose St. Luke as the new name of their congregation. The two congregations merged in 1953.