Alabama, Madison County, Huntsville
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(south side)
After the Civil War, the future of African-Americans in the United States Army was in doubt. In July 1866, Congress passed legislation establishing two cavalry and four infantry regiments to be made up of African-American soldiers. The mounted regiments (9th and 10th Cavalries) conducted campaigns against Native-American tribes on the Western Frontier, where they were nicknamed “Buffalo Soldiers” by Native-Americans. Their service also included subduing Mexican revolutionaries, outlaws, and rustlers, and building frontier outposts, roads and telegraph lines. In 1898, the Buffalo Soldiers were sent to Cuba to participate in the Spanish-American War. They fought alongside Teddy Roosevelt in the charge up San Juan Hill. (Continued on other side) (north side) (Continued from other side) After the Buffalo Soldiers finished service in the Spanish-American War, one of the four regiments returned to the U.S., serving first in New York and then in Huntsville. They were sent to Huntsville's Monte Sano to escape the scourge of yellow fever and to recuperate from wounds and other diseases they brought back from the war. After an incident between black and white soldiers, African-American and white troops were separated. The Buffalo Soldiers were moved to what is now known as 10th Cavalry Hill, named by the residents of the area.
(African Americans • Native Americans • War, Spanish-American • War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
(south side)After the Civil War, the future of African-Americans in the United States Army was in doubt. In July 1866, Congress passed legislation establishing two cavalry and four infantry regiments to be made up of African-American soldiers. The mounted regiments (9th and 10th Cavalries) conducted campaigns against Native-American tribes on the Western Frontier, where they were nicknamed “Buffalo Soldiers” by Native-Americans. Their service also included subduing Mexican revolutionaries, outlaws, and rustlers, and building frontier outposts, roads and telegraph lines. In 1898, the Buffalo Soldiers were sent to Cuba to participate in the Spanish-American War. They fought alongside Teddy Roosevelt in the charge up San Juan Hill. (Continued on other side) (north side) (Continued from other side) After the Buffalo Soldiers finished service in the Spanish-American War, one of the four regiments returned to the U.S., serving first in New York and then in Huntsville. They were sent to Huntsville's Monte Sano to escape the scourge of yellow fever and to recuperate from wounds and other diseases they brought back from the war. After an incident between black and white soldiers, African-American and white troops were separated. The Buffalo Soldiers were moved to what is now known as 10th Cavalry Hill, named by the residents of the area.
(African Americans • Native Americans • War, Spanish-American • War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
Hereabouts stood the old French trading post kept by Cassoway and Gibson. When the first white settlers came to Three Rivers in 1829. This post was probably established before the Revolutionary War. The French traded with the Indians of the St. Joseph River as early as 1680.
More than one million people visit Peninsula State Park every year but most days Eagle Terrace is quiet. Congratulate yourself for discovering a place less traveled!
The Core Arboretum was part of the Krepps Farm until 1948, when West Virginia University purchased land for the Evansdale campus. The WVU Department of Biology manages the 91 acre arboretum as a place for research, study, exercise and quiet recreation. Three miles of arboretum trails provide access to 300 kinds of trees and 300 species of herbaceous plants. 180 species of birds have been seen at the arboretum. Interpretive signs provide information about plants, wildlife, human history and geology. The Arboretum is named for distinguished botanist Earl L. Core (1802–1984), a member of the faculty of the Department of Biology from 1828 to 1972.
Established 1933,-'34 under Federal
Homestead Act, one of several model
planned-communities nationwide, and
a pet project of Eleanor Roosevelt,
to assist unemployed through self-sufficient farming and handicrafts.
Town built on 2,400 acres, included
165 homes on 4-acre plots; schools;
chicken and dairy farms; furniture,
pottery, metal and textile shops; a
store, community hall and an inn.
Colonel John Fairfax’s old plantation. He was aide to General Washington in the Revolution and at one time was superintendent of Mt. Vernon. The mansion was built in 1818. Federal homestead project here was model for others.
Built by Harrison Hagans in 1852. This furnace and others were used to cast iron in frontier days. Early castings were made here for the Brandonville stove used by the early settlers west of the Ohio River.
Harrison Hagans opened the Virginia Iron Furnace you see here in 1854. Except during the Civil War, the furnace operated intermittently until 1888.
The massive sandstone, the “Cow Run Sand” of the driller, is the Saltsburg Sandstone and was used in construction near here. It produces oil and natural gas at depths of about 600 feet in northwestern West Virginia.
(preface)
This replica of the original depot was built in 1993 with monetary donations as well as donations of materials and labor from many different organizations and individuals. Materials were selected to comply as nearly as possible with the original structure.
Moving from this area, Cox's Division led Stanley's XXIII Corps in a rapid retreat to Columbia. They arrived in time to prevent Forrest's Cavalry Corps, which had run over Union cavalry outposting the town, from seizing the bridge over Duck River and cutting off Schofield's retreat from Nashville.
Here on February 10, 1867, James Knox Polk Blackburn and Mary “Mackie” McMillan Laird were married on the porch of the Lairdland farm house. She was the daughter of Robert H. and Nancy Mildred Gordon Laird, who owned the thousand-acre farm called Lairdland. Blackburn, born in Maury County on February 20, 1837, moved with his parents to Texas in 1856 and taught school there. In September 1861, he enlisted in the 8th Texas Cavalry, known as Terry’s Texas Rangers. He later attained the rank of captain and fought in the battles of Shiloh, Murfreesboro, and Chickamauga, among others.
With orders from Gen. Sherman, Gen. Lovell Rousseau left Decatur with 2,700 cavalry, beginning his raid into East-Central Alabama. That raid ended successfully in Opelika July 19, 1864, after miles of track were destroyed along with other railroad equipment, two depots, and several warehouses brimming with supplies for Confederate forces defending Atlanta. They then turned northeast to join Sherman's Army advancing towards Atlanta.
obverse
Dr. John Wesley Darden, was the first African American physician to treat patients within a 30-mile radius of Opelika. He built the Darden House in 1904, and later married Maude Jean Logan of Montgomery. Dr. and Mrs. Darden shaped many lives through their commitment to the community by providing better health care and education. The Darden House became the social and political center of the African American community in Opelika. Dr. Darden sometimes saw patients in a clinic on the main floor and many gatherings and events were held here over the years. Prominent visitors to the Darden House included Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, and A.G. Gaston.
Organized in 1858, Trinity Mission was admitted to the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama on May 5, 1860. When the first church was consecrated on this site in 1862, it was renamed Emmanuel, meaning "God With Us." That building was destroyed by a tornado in 1869. The cornerstone for the present church was laid on Easter Day 1872. Built of native fieldstone from the Nelson and Sarah Carruthers Clayton Plantation north of Opelika, Emmanuel is the oldest public building in Opelika. Born of hope during Reconstruction, this little stone church stands as a testament to pioneer faith and endurance and remains a living monument to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Dallas “Dal” Smith was a veteran of the First World War. During his time of service, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Purple Heart and a Regimental Citation. He commanded the 3rd Battalion of the 167th Regiment. After the war, Lieutenant Colonel Smith served in several regional and national positions with the Veterans Insurance Program. The Armory was named in his honor in 1938. He is remembered for his community service in the Rotary Club, the Boy Scouts of America and the Masons.
