Betty Lee Erwin McCord (1925-1953), a Maury County, TN native, was dedicated to the health and well-being of the youth of this area. Our beloved “Betty Lee” was a physical education teacher and girls basketball coach at Columbia Central High . . . — — Map (db m151183) HM
1946 Columbia Race Riot. In February 1946 a struggle between an African American World War II veteran, James Stephenson, and a white shopkeeper over a radio repair order sparked a riot, fueled by law enforcement officers who raided the African . . . — — Map (db m97098) HM
In this house, Lt. Gen. Hood established his command post while bypassing Maj. Gen. Schofield's force at Columbia, Nov. 24, 1864. Here also, Dec. 20, Maj. Gen. Forrest issued orders for covering the retreat southward of the Army of Tennessee. On . . . — — Map (db m75040) HM
Born in Williamson County, A.O.P. Nicholson attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at the age of fifteen. When he graduated four years later, Nicholson studied medicine and, later, law. He was admitted to the bar in 1831 and began . . . — — Map (db m196593) HM
Walking from Decatur, Alabama to Columbia in the 1820s as a poor illiterate boy in his teens, Andrew Johnson came to Columbia to seek work as a tailor's apprentice. Not much is known about his time spent here. We know his home was on or near 207 . . . — — Map (db m168626) HM
After the Rev. Franklin Gillette Smith took charge of the Columbia Female Institute in 1837, he moved his wife and family into the rectory (completed in 1835) to your left. In 1852, he started his own school here, the Columbia Athenaeum. When the . . . — — Map (db m168638) HM
Bethel House Hotel
On this site stood the stately, historic Bethel House Hotel, built by W. D. Bethel. Construction was the commercial center of Columbia. The first floor was devoted to stores, restaurants and offices. The second floor held a . . . — — Map (db m140724) HM
This horse, which set a mile pacing record of 1:55 in 1938, was foaled here in 1931. His dam was Gay Forbes. His sire, Napoleon Direct (1:59 3/4), is buried here. Here, also, is buried Haynes' Peacock, champion Tennessee Walking Horse, 1940 and . . . — — Map (db m75049) HM
J. Percy Priest, the son of George M.
and Axie Priest, was born on April 1,
1900, one mile west on the old Theta
Road. From January 3, 1941 until his
death on October 12, 1956, he served
as U. S. Congressman from the Fifth
District. Priest . . . — — Map (db m172072) HM
Born in Waynesboro, Georgia, John Carpenter Carter attended the University of Virginia from 1854 until 1856 when he began the study of law at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee under the tutelage of Judge Abram Caruthers. Carter would later . . . — — Map (db m196620) HM
"Miss Camille" was a Maury County native and lifelong resident of West Seventh Street in Columbia, Tennessee.
She was a graduate of the Columbia Female Institute, where she taught a number of years. She studied organ music at the Cincinnati . . . — — Map (db m151179) HM
Born near Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1763, John Gordon settled in Nashville about 1782. On the frontier, Gordon made a name for himself as an Indian fighter. He was commissioned by Territorial Governor William Blount as a militia captain in 1793. . . . — — Map (db m196621) HM
Born to a wealthy and distinguished Maury County family, Frierson graduated from Columbia Military Academy at the age of sixteen with the highest scholastic honors the young school had ever seen. A very talented writer, Frierson spent his summers . . . — — Map (db m196827) HM
The Columbia Military Academy Cannon and Caisson were manufactured in the 1890s and shipped to Columbia Arsenal from Rock Island, Illinois as part of the military equipment that was located on the arsenal. When the Army transferred the land and . . . — — Map (db m263061) HM
College Hill School, originally known as the
Colored Public School, was the first public school for African Americans in Maury County. Established in 1881, the school's first principal was J.H. Kelly. In 1885 W.I. Lewis, who served as principal . . . — — Map (db m151169) HM
Since its beginning in 1868, under the command of Captain Thomas A. Butler, the Columbia Fire Department has answered the call to serve the Columbia community. It has become one of the top-rated fire departments in the country, thanks to the hard . . . — — Map (db m151173) HM
In 1888, local residents gave 67 acres to the U.S. Army for an arsenal. The Bowling Green stone buildings quartered troops in the Spanish–American war. Columbia Military Academy was founded in 1904 and opened formally August 23, 1905 with 167 . . . — — Map (db m63117) HM
On June 22, 1965, the Tennessee Board of Education approved sites for three community colleges. Plans ensued with a groundbreaking ceremony for Tennessee's first community college in Columbia, Tennessee, held on October 20, 1965. On March 15, 1967, . . . — — Map (db m262475) HM
About 1½ miles northeast, the Army of Tennessee, less S.D. Lee's Corps and most of the army's artillery, crossed Duck River on a pontoon bridge. Cavalry, under Forrest, crossed here and at other points, screening the movement. Gen. Lee's Corps . . . — — Map (db m75042) HM
(Preface): In September 1864, after Union Gen. William T. Sherman defeated Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood at Atlanta, Hood led the Army of Tennessee northwest against Sherman's supply lines. Rather than contest Sherman's "March to the Sea," . . . — — Map (db m28688) HM
The Derryberry Log House originally stood on the waters of Derryberry Branch near the Duck River in eastern Maury County. Built of hand-hewn native hardwood logs in the dogtrot style with an open central passage typical of the early nineteenth . . . — — Map (db m262477) HM
This Tennis Complex is dedicated to Dr. Lewis E. Moore Jr. for all his years of service to Columbia State Community College. He served as the Tennis Coach from 1968 - 1974. As the first Community College faculty member hired in the State of . . . — — Map (db m263063) HM
Known as the “Silent Man from Tennessee” and the “Grand Old Man of the Turf,” Ed Geers was born just west of Lebanon, Tennessee in Wilson County. There in Wilson County, he made a name for himself training and racing horses, and that is what . . . — — Map (db m196598) HM
Carmack was born in Sumner County, Tennessee. Just a few years after his birth, his father died, leaving his mother to care for the small family. She found employment at the fledgling Webb School in Culleoka and brought her young family to Maury . . . — — Map (db m196614) HM
In September 1864, after Union Gen. William T. Sherman defeated Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood at Atlanta, Hood led the Army of Tennessee northwest against Sherman's supply lines. Rather than contest Sherman's "March to the Sea,” Hood then moved . . . — — Map (db m202159) HM
In May 1938, the City of Columbia purchased 7.81 acres of land from Mrs. Ida L. Padgett in the amount of $585.75 for the first park dedicated to the African American community.
Mr. Henry ‘Chick’ Shelton, a member of the City Park Commission, . . . — — Map (db m156525) HM
Maury County was created by act of the General Assembly of Tennessee Nov. 16, 1807
Organized Dec. 21, 1807 in the log home of Joseph Brown about 400 yards west of this point.
The county seat was moved to Columbia Dec. 21, 1808
First . . . — — Map (db m156895) HM
Forrest's cavalry, screening the advance of Stewart's Corps on Columbia met Capron's Cavalry Brigade in this locality and chased it back to Columbia, where the presence of Stanley's XXIII Corps behind entrenchments gave them protection and prevented . . . — — Map (db m28659) HM
In 1865, the U.S. Congress chartered the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company, known as the Freedmen's Bank, to aid freed persons in their transition from enslavement to freedom. In 1870, Samuel M. Arnell and J.P. Baird established the Columbia, . . . — — Map (db m151176) HM
Given by Willis Frierson to his slaves. Oldest marker is Milly Embry, 1861. Jim Frierson who was stolen from his family as a child is buried here with his wife Vinnie and many descendents including Napoleon Frierson for whom the famous pacer . . . — — Map (db m97094) HM
GrafTech Internaitonal
Since 1937, GrafTech has called Maury County home, welcoming multiple generations of employees and supporting thousands of families. The site was chosen in part because of the newly formed Tennessee Valley Authority, . . . — — Map (db m151182) HM
Land for this cemetery was part of a North Carolina grant to Nicholas Long; John White deeded to the city of Columbia in 1808. Here are buried, among pioneers of the "Territory South of the River Ohio" and other early settlers, Major Samuel Polk and . . . — — Map (db m148447) HM
Arriving at Columbia ahead of the Confederates, Schofield entrenched around the town. Hood, arriving Nov. 26, demonstrated against his position, with Lee's corps and most of his artillery, while the rest of the Army of Tennessee crossed Duck River . . . — — Map (db m28671) HM
Sending Lee's Corps and the bulk of his army's artillery toward Columbia to engage and hold Schofield in check, Hood moved the Confederate Army of Tennessee east along this road to Davis's Ford of Duck River. Here he crossed, to place himself across . . . — — Map (db m152136) HM
James Carpenter was born in Columbia during the Civil War. He was educated in Columbia, and in preparation for a professional career, studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He . . . — — Map (db m177497) HM
Prior to his presidency, James K. Polk was a successful lawyer in Columbia. He was admitted to the Maury County bar in 1820 following his graduation from the University of North Carolina.
Polk's first case ended successfully when he defended his . . . — — Map (db m168615) HM
This house, constructed in 1816, is the only surviving Tennessee residence associated with the nation's eleventh president. James Knox Polk (1795-1849) lived here from 1818 to 1824. When Polk's mother died in 1852, the house passed to his younger . . . — — Map (db m97096) HM
The parents of the eleventh President of the United States occupied this property in 1816, at which time young Polk was 21. From that time, except for periods of absence due to holding public office, or his extensive law practice, this was his . . . — — Map (db m28951) HM
Organized in April 1895, the Jane Knox Chapter was named in Honor of Jane
Knox Polk whose father, James Knox, was a Captain in the Revolutionary War,
her husband, Samuel Polk who was a Colonel in the Revolutionary War, and her
son, James Knox . . . — — Map (db m151181) HM
(Front)
Jefferson Davis
President of the Confederate States of America
1861 - 1865
Before the War Between the States, he served with distinction as a United States Congressman and twice as a United States Senator. He also . . . — — Map (db m206002) HM WM
Congressional Medal of Honor awarded to John Harlan Willis, Pharmacists Mate First Class, U.S.N. by the president for conspicious (sic) gallantry, exceptional fortitude and courage above and beyond the call of duty while under fire on Iwo Jima, he . . . — — Map (db m168597) WM
About 1/2 mile east Joseph Brown lived. Enroute to the Cumberland Settlements by river from North Carolina in 1788, he was captured by Indians from Nickajack Cave. He escaped and in 1792 led the Ore expedition back to destroy the town. Settling . . . — — Map (db m75039) HM
Born in Maury County, James Council Wooten, II was named after his grandfather – the first James Council Wooten, a Confederate colonel. Young Wooten's parents were John and Emma Wooten. Together they owned Maury Dry Goods and were very civic-minded . . . — — Map (db m196616) HM
Late in the War Between the States, a group of Confederate officers won the hearts and sympathies of the South. They were known as the “Immortal 600.”
The Federal navy had tightened its grip on the South. Every Southern port was blockaded. It was . . . — — Map (db m196628) HM
The Cheairs Family moved to northern Maury County in 1811. The Cheairs patriarch (also named Nathaniel) purchased three hundred acres of land just south of present-day Spring Hill. It was on this land that young Nathaniel was born in 1818. He was . . . — — Map (db m196619) HM
In 1923 A.J. Armstrong, W.L. Brown, J.H. Kelly,
Dr. C.E. Jones, the Rev. W.H. Lampley, J.H.
Sanders, and Albert Wright founded the Maury
County Colored Hospital to serve African Americans
in Maury and surrounding counties. The . . . — — Map (db m151168) HM
(Center plaque)
The Major General William E. Potts Veterans Memorial Plaza
Named in honor of
Columbia native
M. G. William E. "Billy" Potts, USA
1936-2004
For his service to community, state and nation
Military Attache, . . . — — Map (db m224349) WM
In 1856 Alfred H. Burney founded McCain's Academy which he successfully ran for 5 years. At the death of his wife, Martha M. Davis and his infant son, he left the Academy. Burney joined the Confederate Army. Burney was appointed to the Commissary . . . — — Map (db m263020) HM
McCain's Cumberland Presbyterian Church was established circa 1810. In 1817, Eli McCain donated the property for the church and cemetery. Originally a log church and noted campground and meeting place, the present brick building was erected in 1840 . . . — — Map (db m262466) HM
The most famous minister is Col. Joseph Brown. Col. Brown was an early pioneer, Indian fighter, and minister. When he was a young man, he was captured by Indians near what is now Chattanooga, and held captive for over a year before escaping. Col. . . . — — Map (db m262594) HM
In October 1843, free blacks in Columbia established Mount Lebanon Missionary Baptist Church, the oldest black Baptist congregation in Tennessee. Edmund Kelly was its first pastor. The original church was built several blocks southeast of this site, . . . — — Map (db m148450) HM
An orphan apprenticed by the court to James Purcell "to learn the trade of cabinet maker" Vaught learned his trade during Columbia's early growth period. The high quality and lasting beauty of his buildings earned him the "Master Builder" title. . . . — — Map (db m168610) HM
Born August 13, 1799; died
April 9, 1880.
A founder of Rose Hill Cemetery,
dedicated Mason, devoted
Methodist, Confederate patriot.
He built more fine houses
than any man ever in Maury County.
Married Lucretia J. Journey
and Sarah . . . — — Map (db m196634) HM
This naval gun was taken from the wreck of the Spanish armored cruiser Vizcaya, which was built in Bilbao, Spain and launched in 1891. Vizcaya was on a goodwill tour in New York, when the U.S.S. Maine exploded mysteriously in Havana, Cuba, . . . — — Map (db m297458) HM
On June 26, 1863, Confederate Lt. Andrew Wills Gould, son of a prosperous Nashville merchant and an artillerist in Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry, died here at the Nelson House Hotel. He had been badly injured in a clash with . . . — — Map (db m156894) HM
Columbia's historic Pillow Park has a long and rich
history of providing recreational opportunities
to its citizens. Pillow Park was established in
1914 by the Pillow Athletic Park Association.
Dr. Robert Pillow deeded the park to the City . . . — — Map (db m308728) HM
The first house here was built by Maj. Samuel Polk, who came here from North Carolina in 1806. In his family was the ten-year-old son, James Knox Polk, who was to become the 11th President of the United States. He spent his boyhood here. — — Map (db m75046) HM
Born in Vermont, Franklin G. Smith moved to the South once he had completed his formal education at Middlebury College and the Princeton Theological Seminary. He worked as a teacher in Georgia before settling in Lynchburg, Virginia. There, he was . . . — — Map (db m196631) HM
This concrete Bridge replaced a steel girder structure built in 1889. The plaque from the old bridge is below
City Council Accepting Bridge 1974
J.A. (Buddy) Morgan - Mayor, Barbara Harwood - Vice Mayor, Councilmen: James L. Bailey - 1st . . . — — Map (db m209693) HM
(preface)
In September 1864, after Union Gen. William T. Sherman defeated Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood at Atlanta, Hood led the Army of Tennessee northwest against Sherman’s supply lines. Rather than contest Sherman’s “March to the . . . — — Map (db m75035) HM
Saint Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church was originally a group of black people who
held weekly meetings in the basement of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Early in 1840 they formed their own organization and erected their first church on the . . . — — Map (db m156529) HM
In a cabin here the escort with the body of the "Boy Hero of the Confederacy" stayed overnight while returning to his home in Smyrna, Tenn., for burial. A member of Coleman's Scouts, Army of Tennessee, he had been executed by the Federal commander . . . — — Map (db m208774) HM
Samuel Rush Watkins and his wife, Virginia (Jenny) Mayes Watkins, who worshipped here at Zion Presbyterian Church, are buried in the cemetery. In his book Company Aytch: or, a Side Show of the Big Show, Watkins left an incomparable memoir of . . . — — Map (db m85997) HM
Rose Hill Cemetery was established in 1853, with the earliest graves at the top of the hill. During the Civil War, when the Federals occupied Columbia, its location next to the Nashville & Decatur Railroad made it a significant outpost. Several . . . — — Map (db m156527) HM
On this site stood the first law office of
James Knox Polk
1795-1849
Lawyer, State and National Legislator
Speaker, House of Representatives in Congress
Governor of Tennessee and
Eleventh President of The United . . . — — Map (db m189432) HM
Consecrated Sept. 4, 1842, by James Hervey Otey, first Episcopal Bishop of Tennessee, this church was built by Leonidas Polk, then Missionary Bishop of Southwest and his three brothers, George, Lucius, and Rufus, who divided a grant received from . . . — — Map (db m28651) HM
Erected in 1842 for worship and spiritual instruction of white and negro people. Built under supervision of the Rt. Rev. Leonidas Polk, Bishop of Louisiana, on land given by him and with labor and materials contributed by him and his brothers, . . . — — Map (db m85996) HM
Parish organized 1831
This building erected 1861
“Lord I have loved the habit-
ation of Thy house and the place
where Thine honor dwelleth” — — Map (db m196647) HM
The Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation was founded and shaped by farmers in 1921 to serve as the voice of agriculture across “The Volunteer State.” Mr. Joe Frank Porter, a farmer from Williamsport was elected the first president and established the . . . — — Map (db m297460) HM
The city of Columbia would like to acknowledge O'Reilly Auto Parts for their generous donation of the propety located behind this fence during the fall of 2003, while working to replace an older building with a new store, their contractor uncovered . . . — — Map (db m299720) HM
The Columbia Military Academy Water Fountain was manufactured by the Murdock Company, an early manufacturer and installer of water delivery systems throughout the country. While there is no way to know, when this Water Fountain was installed on the . . . — — Map (db m263062) HM
At the close of the War Between the States, the Confederate dead buried in various places around Columbia and in the outlying communities were disinterred and reburied in this one section. There are over 120 Confederates buried in this section, but . . . — — Map (db m196613) HM WM
The river runs as a narrative through our history - its thread plays within the stores of farming, war, food, recreation, contemplation, and relaxation. It has been both a barrier and a road, for many it is a blessing , for a few it has been a . . . — — Map (db m209412) HM
General Nathan Bedford Forrest was known for his hot temper and he met its match in young Lt. Andrew Gould. At the Mason's hall, (7th & Garden Street) Forrest blamed
Gould for the capture of two cannons by the Union troops in an ambush, which later . . . — — Map (db m168602) HM
Knoxville was the capital of Tennessee and John Sevier was Governor when Maury County was created by the Tennessee Legislature on November 24, 1807, and named for Abram Maury, a pioneer surveyor. The site of Columbia, the county seat, was land . . . — — Map (db m189310) HM
This is the final resting place of the parents and seven of nine siblings of James Knox Polk. Revolutionary War Major Samuel Polk and Jane Gracey Knox were married on Dec. 25th, 1794 at Hopewell Church, located in Mecklenburg County, North . . . — — Map (db m151180) HM
The Reverend Edmund Kelly was born in Columbia, Tennessee in 1817. At age 16, he went to work at a boy’s school. With a strong desire to learn to read, he paid boys with candy to teach him how to read. In 1843, Kelly co-founded and was the first . . . — — Map (db m189427) HM
Columbia's Union Station Train Depot was built in 1902 by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad and opened in November 1903. Designed in a vernacular Romanesque style, it is one of the city's most imposing landmarks. The two-story brick and stone . . . — — Map (db m151171) HM
About 1 mile south, in 1807, a Presbyterian colony from South Carolina built a log meeting house and established a community around it. A school soon followed. A brick church was built in 1815, the present structure in 1847. Many descendants of the . . . — — Map (db m63118) HM
Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2, 1908, in
Baltimore, Maryland, to William and Norma
Marshall. He attended Lincoln University in
Pennsylvania and then Howard University
School of Law in Washington, D. C., graduating
as valedictorian in . . . — — Map (db m299733) HM
On February 25, 1946, racial tensions in Columbia, Tennessee, erupted following a dispute at a downtown department store involving James Stephenson, a young Black Navy veteran, and a White store clerk.
As lynching rumors spread, Black . . . — — Map (db m305663) HM
Sarah Childress Polk was born September 4, 1803, near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She attended the Moravian Academy in Salem, North Carolina. Upon her return to Tennessee, she met and married the young Columbia lawyer, James Knox Polk, on January 1, . . . — — Map (db m262473) HM
In 1860, Maury County had just over 32,000
residents, of whom 14,654 were enslaved. The
lives of White and Black people were closely
connected though shaped by profoundly
unequal conditions.
The end of the Civil War and the abolition . . . — — Map (db m299727) HM
Vaudeville blues singer Lillie Mae Glover, often known professionally as Big Memphis Ma Rainey or Baby Ma Rainey, was at the heart of the Memphis blues scene for several decades and recorded one of the earliest releases for Sun Records.
Born . . . — — Map (db m299726) HM
On this site, on June 26, 1977, a fire broke out in the
Maury County Jail, claiming the lives of forty-two
people, both inmates & visitors. The tragedy began
when padding in a cell was set ablaze and smoke
rapidly filled the building. Despite . . . — — Map (db m308388) HM
Gilbert Dowell 1863 • John Courtney 1868 • Clinton Drake 1868 • Tom Jourdon 1868 • Marvin Mayberry 1868 • Alf Rainey 1868 • Simon Peter 1868 • John Warner 1868 • Tom Kelly 1877 • Frank McGhee 1890 • Green Wells 1891 • Robert Wilson 1924 • Henry . . . — — Map (db m299722) HM
James Knox Polk was born in Mecklenburg, North Carolina in 1785. The Polk family moved to Tennessee's Duck River Valley in 1806 when he was eleven years old. His father, Samuel Polk, was instrumental in the creation of Maury County and the town of . . . — — Map (db m262470) HM
The names of men who were arrested and charged following the events in Columbia in 1946 are listed below.
Twenty-five were brought to trial in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. Of those, 23 were acquitted by an all-white jury.
James Bellanfant •
Saul . . . — — Map (db m299736) HM
In 1906, U.S. Congressman Lemuel Padgett sponsored a bill in Congress to have Columbia’s first permanent U.S. Post Office constructed. It was completed in 1909. The U.S. Post Office operated in this building for over 30 years before it was . . . — — Map (db m297459) HM
The home of James Knox Polk and his wife Sarah Childress Pok once stood on this site. Married on New Year’s Day 1824, the couple rented the home for a year before deciding to purchase it in 1825. The modest house, which Polk called a . . . — — Map (db m297456) HM
Brothers Erastus and Hardy Park, founders of
the Culleoka Produce Co., brought prosperity
to the farmers of the surrounding area in the
early part of the twentieth century in the form
of cantaloupes. The founders shipped cantaloupe
varieties . . . — — Map (db m151166) HM
The Culleoka Institute began in the basement of
the Methodist church in 1869. William R. ("Old
Sawney") Webb assumed management of the school
in 1870, laying the foundation for what became
Webb School. In 1876 a large school building . . . — — Map (db m281991) HM
The store at McCain's was started by М.Е.
Gabard in 1892. The store was in operation until it burned in 2007. The Dollar General store now occupies the site. A blacksmith and repair shop was located next to the store. The Howell . . . — — Map (db m263056) HM
After the battle of Nashville in December 1864, Federal Brig' General George Thomas used this church as his headquarters while pursuing the Confederate Army under the command of General John Bell Hood. While here, General Thomas received the news of . . . — — Map (db m263057) HM
Land donated by Richard "Kettle Dick" Anderson from 2,000 acre land grant he settled in 1810. Named "Old Well" for well at NW corner of cemetery dug by Andrew Jackson's army returning from the battle of New Orleans. Early settlers used the well as . . . — — Map (db m102063) HM
Tobacco Farm- You see here a typical early 1900's tobacco farm. A 10-minute loop walk takes you through the field and to the barn where you see tobacco hanging to dry.
Old Trace- From here you may drive north on a narrow 2 -mile section of the . . . — — Map (db m60218) HM
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