The Enemy Is Behind Us!

March 7, 1862 - Mid-Morning

It was still below freezing at 10:30 a.m. March 7, 1862, when an alarmed messenger thundered into Union headquarters. The news he carried was startling: Confederates were moving down the Telegraph Road a mile north of ...

Lourdes Church and Convent

Here once stood the first permanent house of the Franciscan Capuchin friars in 1891. First chapel built in 1892. Dedicated to our Lady of the Divine Shepherd (Divina Pastora). Statue of Our Lady of Lourdes carved by Filipino sculptor Manuel ...

Former Federal Court Building and Post Office

Discover Downtown Walking Tour A

When it was completed in 1887, this building was the first federal district courthouse and post office specifically built for those purposes in the city. A magnificent example of the Romanesque Revival style, the building was ...

The Defense of the Oconee Bridge

On Nov. 19, 1854, Maj. A. L. Hartridge, CSA, arrived from Savannah with 186 men and 2 guns [CS] to defend the railroad bridge against raiding parties from Gen. Sherman’s army [US], then on its destructive March to the Sea. ...

Battle of Griswoldville

On Nov. 22, 1864, the Right Wing (15th and 17th Corps) of Gen. Sherman’s army [US] moved SE from Clinton (near Gray) towards Gordon and Irwinton on its destructive March to the Sea. Walcutt’s brigade, with two guns of Arndt’s ...

Digging the Mine

“We could blow that damn fort out of existence if we could run a mine shaft under it.”

- A private of the 48th Pennsylvania June 23, 1864

Spurred by the offhand suggestion of a former coal miner, on June 25, ...

Columbia Triumphant Park and Statue

Liberty Triumphant

Monmouth County Historical Site

Columbia Triumphant Park

This granite carving of Columbia Triumphant–also known as Liberty Triumphant–was part of the original statue placed atop the monument located on nearby Court Street commemorating the June 28, 1778 Battle of Monmouth, a major ...

Trail Discovery

On July 18th, during the Black Hawk War of 1832, Little Thunder – a Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Indian guide to the U.S. Militia – discovered Black Hawk’s Band crossed the Rock River in this vicinity. After receiving the news, Gen. James ...

DeSoto Caverns

Named for the famous Spanish explore who traveled through this area in 1540. Over its rich history it offered shelter for native Indians for centuries (a 2,000-year-old Woodland Period burial was excavated by archeologists in the mid-1960s), became the first ...

Chapel of the Franciscan Venerable Third Order

Here once stood the Chapel of the Franciscan Venerable Third Order. Housed the Congregation of the Third Order of Saint Francis established in 1611 by Fr. Jose de Santa Maria, O.F.M. Chapel built in 1618. Stone edifice built in 1678. ...