An outstanding citizen of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County whose vision and love for our county heritage and its music led him to conceive and organize the first
Uncle Dave Macon Days
festival in July of 1977.
It was a tremendous . . . — — Map (db m159139) HM
1930s City water and sewer system and electrical system improved by New Deal agencies.
1940 Veterans Administration Hospital opens.
1946 Pumping station on Stones River with 16 inch line to Broad Street plant installed. . . . — — Map (db m207998) HM
(side 1)
From 1868 to 1914, the residence of James Daniel Richardson stood on this corner. He served as an officer in the 45th Tennessee Infantry Regiment, CSA, and was wounded at Resaca, Georgia. At age 22 he returned to Murfreesboro, . . . — — Map (db m76074) HM
James M. Buchanan, economist and author, received the 1986 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Grandson of a former governor, he attended Middle Tennessee State Teachers College, the University of Tennessee, and the University of Chicago. . . . — — Map (db m40549) HM
A brigadier general in the Confederate Army, he was born in this county in 1825, a state legislator at age 23, and mayor of Murfreesboro, 1855-59. Wounded six times during the Civil War, he led the Tennessee Brigade home from Greensboro, N.C., at . . . — — Map (db m146627) HM
Following the Civil War, local African American Methodists sought to establish their own church. In 1866, the Rev. Braxton James, formerly of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, led efforts to establish a new church – named James Chapel . . . — — Map (db m208596) HM
(Marker 1)
Allen, J. W. •
Anderson, Ed •
Andruman, R. E. •
Ardis, Calvin •
Arnold, F. W. •
Arnold, William •
Ballard, W. F. •
Barton, J. M. •
Batchelor, J. W. •
Beard, J. •
Beasley, J. B. •
Bellah, James •
Bennett, O. L. . . . — — Map (db m209502) WM
Donated to Cannonsburgh in 1988 by CSX Transportation Inc., this caboose recalls the days of the Iron Horse and the expansion of commerce and lifestyle that came about when the railroads were dominant form of overland transportation — — Map (db m90666) HM
The Leeman House is a two-story log structure from Eastern Rutherford County. The circa 1820s front section was made with cedar tree trunks fitted together by skillful notching. The second story rear was a circa 1870s addition.
The house layout is . . . — — Map (db m90669) HM
The citizens of occupied Murfreesboro had constant reminders of the powerful federal army entrenched here on their doorsteps. From January 1863 to April 1866, "the streets were crowded at all times with wagons and soldiers....Soldiers camping thick . . . — — Map (db m37889) HM
Originally built in the early 1800s in Rutherford County, this is a typical example of that era. Transported here to Cannonsburgh in 1975, it is authentic in every detail and now houses an early 1800s hand loom which can be seen in operation on . . . — — Map (db m90675) HM
Civil War fortifications were precisely designed. Every angle, every mound of earth, and every slope you see here in Lunette Palmer had a specific purpose. Lunette Palmer is a multi-sided, angled earthwork that projects outward from the basic . . . — — Map (db m37804) HM
[Our fortress] consists of a line of works called "lunettes" forming an irregular circle on both sides of Stones River. The "lunette" is a fortification having embankment, ditch, angles, and so forth in front, but open to the rear. Some of [the] . . . — — Map (db m37895) HM
Born in Alabama, in 1893 Mary Ellen Vaughn, a graduate of Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), Chicago Business College, and Tennessee A & I College (now Tennessee State University), lived in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the last thirty years . . . — — Map (db m160569) HM
Union artillerymen on the ridge ahead of you repulsed Confederate troops, leaving 1800 dead and wounded here on January 2, 1863. — — Map (db m168565) HM
As Union soldiers crouched here behind the breastworks of stone and rail, a battered advance division retreated back across the river, pursued by General John C. Breckinridge's hard-driving Confederate brigades. Union artillery batteries firing from . . . — — Map (db m37706) HM
The State of Michigan has erected this marker to her brave and courageous sons who fought at Stones River to preserve the union
This marker is dedicated to all the Michigan soldiers engaged in this great battle, to the 71 men who lost their . . . — — Map (db m37458) WM
The teacher-training school of Middle Tennessee State Normal School, now MTSU, was established in 1911. This model school still provides practice teaching experience, laboratory methods classes, and observation facilities. Cooperation . . . — — Map (db m151196) HM
In a home which stood here, Brig. Gen. John H. Morgan, CSA, was married to Miss Martha Ready December 14, 1862, by Bishop (also Lt. Gen. CSA) Leonidas Polk. Col. Basil Duke was best man. Among the groomsmen were Gen. Braxton Bragg, Lt. Gen. W.J. . . . — — Map (db m55484) HM
Holes in Geology
Beneath your feet is a vast system of caves and aquifers, formed in layers of limestone. From the surface, we see evidence of this karst landscape in sinkholes and springs.
The limestone, which varies in thickness . . . — — Map (db m207999) HM
Murfreesboro was occupied by both Union and Confederate forces during the Civil War. Union troops took control of the city on March 7, 1862, and camped at Oaklands. On July 13, 1862 Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest made his celebrated raid . . . — — Map (db m90680) HM
[Southwest side]
Murfreesboro
Capital of
Tennessee
June 1, 1818
to
April 30, 1826
Murfreesboro
[Southeast side]
Resolution making Murfreesboro state capital
“Resolved by the General Assembly . . . — — Map (db m151204) HM
Murfreesboro and Rutherford County, located in the center of Tennessee, became a major Civil War battleground from the summer of 1862 to late 1864. Union troops occupied the historic Rutherford County Courthouse on the Murfreesboro Square in the . . . — — Map (db m152089) HM
First settlers came in 1799; the settlement was first named Cannonsburg. It was actually founded in 1811 on land donated by Capt. William Lytle, who stipulated that the town should be named for Hardee Murfree, a Revolutionary veteran of Williamson . . . — — Map (db m26062) HM
Murfreesboro
First settlers came in 1799; the settlement was first named Cannonsburg. It was actually founded in 1811, on land donated by Capt. William Lytle, who stipulated that the town should be named for Hardy Murfree, a Revolutionary . . . — — Map (db m149642) HM
(east face)
In commemoration of the valor of
Confederate Soldiers,
who fell in the great Battle of Murfreesboro,
Dec. 31, 1862, and January 2, 1863,
and in minor engagements in this vicinity,
this monument is erected. . . . — — Map (db m69134) WM
Luminaries such as James K. Polk,
David Crockett and Andrew
Jackson walked the streets while
the Legislature was in session.
Public demand for a more centrally located seat of government in Rutherford
County had increased considerably . . . — — Map (db m208313) HM
(front):
Murfreesboro>
First settlers came in 1799; the settlement was first named Cannonsburg. It was actually founded in 1811 on land donated by Capt. William Lytle, who stipulated that the town should be named for Hardee Murfree, a . . . — — Map (db m168572) HM
In 1811 the Tennessee state legislature appointed town commissioners to select the site for a new Rutherford County seat to replace Jefferson, the county's first county seat. The site was selected in 1812 by the commissioners. The proposed new town . . . — — Map (db m146780) HM
“For historic drama, few events in the American Civil War can equal Nathan Bedford Forrest’s raid of July 13, 1862, on Murfreesboro, Tennessee.” –Kenneth Halfendorfer, Historian
A Critical Location
Throughout the Civil . . . — — Map (db m82516) HM
In the months after this fort was built, thousands of men from Middle Tennessee joined eight new federal infantry regiments. Black men in blue coats guarded the railroad that fed Fortress Rosecrans, and helped garrison Nashville and Chattanooga. By . . . — — Map (db m37867) HM
This antebellum mansion, begun about 1824 by Dr. James Maney, is located 1 1/4 miles N. on land acquired by Col. Hardy Murfree in 1789. Subsequently enlarged, it is an excellent example of architectural transition from frontier dwelling to . . . — — Map (db m26135) HM
(preface)
For two weeks in July 1862, Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest led 1,400 cavalrymen through Middle Tennessee to raid, scout, and disrupt the Union Army of The Cumberland’s operation there. Leaving McMinnville on July 13, Forrest fought . . . — — Map (db m82517) HM
The mansion before you, Oaklands, was the home of the Maney family from approximately 1815 to 1884. It began as a two-room brick house on property Dr. James Maney and his wife, Sally Hardy Murfree Maney, inherited from Sally’s father Lieutenant . . . — — Map (db m90995) HM
Bradley Academy was founded in the early nineteeth century as a school for white males. Among the earliest students was James Knox Polk. From 1884 until the 1960s, it was an elementary and secondary school for African-Americans in Rutherford County. . . . — — Map (db m76073) HM
The one-room schoolhouse shows the determination of
19th century settlers to provide their children with a basic
education. After a community had a building for classes,
its citizens would hire a teacher with money raised by
public . . . — — Map (db m90672) HM
The 200 Regular Army gunners of Batteries H and M set up their eight cannon from here all the way to the Nashville Pike. For four solid hours, at brutal short range they fired many hundreds of rounds of munitions into the rebel ranks. Their steady, . . . — — Map (db m168528) HM
The most powerful federal battery on this field armed with four 3" Ordnance rifles and four 12 pdr. howitzers. This battery of battle hardened regulars poured charge after charge of canister at less than 600 yards into the oncoming grey ranks - . . . — — Map (db m168527) HM
In fall 1818, over 11,000 Cherokee in nine organized groups passed by here as they continued on their Trail of Tears toward Indian Territory in the West. The Cherokee had been traveling for a few weeks but had already crossed the Tennessee River and . . . — — Map (db m90694) HM
The trenches before you were built by the Pioneer Brigade of the Union Army of the Cumberland. After the fighting on the first day of the Battle of Stones River, December 31, 1862, both armies piled dirt, logs, and stone to protect themselves from . . . — — Map (db m168512) HM
The first steam traction engine for farm use was made in 1869 by J.I. Case Company. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s tractors gradually replaced the mules and horses in Middle Tennessee as the primary
instruments for everyday farm work. Early . . . — — Map (db m90664) HM
... scattered about on the most commanding positions inside the [fortress] are four or five "redoubts" or small square forts, mounting heavy siege guns, which completely command the lunettes and also the surrounding country. These works are all . . . — — Map (db m37668) HM
The Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway played a major role in memorializing Civil War battlefields. The company bought land and installed signs along the tracks to identify battle locations. They erected monuments like the Artillery Monument . . . — — Map (db m168561) HM
"...around the spot where the monument was erected...to the best recollection 113 of our regiment were killed and wounded...it is hoped that the monument will remain standing as a memorial to the gallant and patriotic men of General Hazen's . . . — — Map (db m168549) HM
In 1855, W.S. Huggins and Company built a four-story brick mill building on this site. It was powered by two twenty-five horsepower engines with a capacity of 200 barrels of flour per day. In 1860, William Spence bought the mill. Both the . . . — — Map (db m90660) HM
In 1977, Murfreesboro Pediatrician, Dr. Robert Sanders and his wife Patricia, encouraged the Tennessee General Assembly to pass the nation's first law requiring child safety in automobiles. Because every state followed the lead of Dr. Sanders and . . . — — Map (db m146636) HM
Rutherford County was established on October 25, 1803 from portions of Davidson, Williamson and Wilson counties. The county originally extended to Alabama on its southern boundary. The county was named for Revolutionary War
General Griffith . . . — — Map (db m146773) HM WM
(Front): Rutherford County Established 1803; named in honor of Maj. Gen. Griffith Rutherford of the Revolutionary Army; appointed by President Washington as a Member of the Legislature for the Southwest Territory, which later became the . . . — — Map (db m82569) HM
Placed in memory of the
Rutherford County Boys
who gallantly served in the World War
by the
United Daughters of the Confederacy.
“The brave beget the brave” — — Map (db m151200) WM
The Rutherford County Courthouse is one of only six remaining antebellum courthouses in the state of Tennessee.
Erected between 1859 and 1861 at a cost of $50,000, the Greek Revival-style brick structure features classical columns on the east . . . — — Map (db m69135) HM
Honoring the men and women of Rutherford County who served our country in World Wars One and Two and dedicated to the everlasting memory of those who made the supreme sacrifice in those great conflicts for the freedom of all men thruout the . . . — — Map (db m158332) WM
Rutherford Hospital
On May 2, 1927, Rutherford Hospital opened to serve both whites and African-Americans. Simeon B. Christy, a local merchant, obtained funding for the hospital from the Commonwealth Fund of New York. The fund paid $161,620 for . . . — — Map (db m151197) HM
1783 North Carolina Legislature creates Davidson County, which includes parts
of present-day Rutherford County.
1786 North Carolina Legislature makes initial land grants in Stones River area.
1788 Last elk in county is killed . . . — — Map (db m207990) HM
By the middle of the night before the battle, General Sheridan saw signs that the Confederates might attack near here. By 4 a.m., Sheridan had visited all three of his brigade commanders. He gave orders for his men to be fed an early breakfast . . . — — Map (db m65883) HM
Here, General Phil Sheridan's Union division made a stand against the onrushing Confederates. His men, together with those of General George Thomas' divisions, hurled back repeated attacks before being forced to withdraw. The delaying action gave . . . — — Map (db m168517) HM
A tombstone can only tell so much about the life of a man. From the shape and standard design of the markers you see ahead, you can tell that two veterans of the United States military lie here in graves just outside of the wall of the Hazen Brigade . . . — — Map (db m82570) HM
Organized 1825 as "The Female Academy” by Misses Mary & Nancy Banks, & teaching rhetoric, philosophy, belles-lettres, painting, needlework & music, it was improved in 1852 & named for Bishop Soule of the ME Church, South. It closed
during the . . . — — Map (db m146633) HM
On came the sounds of battle...struggling blue-coats...falling back came into view through the trees. They were loading and firing as the retired...they passed over our...line and laid down behind it. The order ‘Battalion, rise up!’ . . . — — Map (db m69184) HM
In August 1822, a called session of the state assembly was held here in the First Presbyterian Church; the lower house met on the first floor and the senate in the gallery. It was used by the legislature as a meeting place after the county . . . — — Map (db m146629) HM
A tributary of the Stones River is named after Uriah Stone, an early explorer and long hunter. For centuries, the Stones River has played an important role in the lives of area inhabitants, first as an important fishing and hunting ground for Native . . . — — Map (db m37632) HM
On January 2nd, 1863 at 3:00 P.M. there were stationed on this hill fifty-eight cannon commanding the field across the river, and as the Confederates advanced over this field, the shot and shell from these guns resulted in a loss of eighteen-hundred . . . — — Map (db m192766) HM
“Scene of Battlefield, December 31, 1862, as viewed from this location and sketched by A.E. Mathews, 31st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. — — Map (db m168543) WM
Union dead from this battlefield and Middle Tennessee are buried here. Of the more than 6,100 Union burials, 2,562 are known but to God. Men and women who gave their lives in other wars or who have served in the Armed Forces are also buried here. . . . — — Map (db m168544) HM
The Stones River Region Car Club received a charter from
the Antique Automobile Club of America in January, 1973.
Search soon began for a permanent meeting place.
Cannonsburgh Pioneer Village was under development
at the time, and a 1920's-era . . . — — Map (db m90662) HM
1. Confederate and Union positions just before the battle—6 A.M.—are shown by the red and blue dotted lines.
2. During the first hours of battle the right of the Union line collapsed.
3. General Rosecrans anchored a new . . . — — Map (db m168546) HM
Constituted April 10, 1874, in the building of the First Baptist Church, Murfreesboro, then located 200 yards east on the north side of East Main Street. The Tennessee Baptist Convention is the channel through which Southern Baptist churches in . . . — — Map (db m76075) HM
On this site was Tennessee's only senior college for women for thirty-eight years, training students from throughout the United States to be educators, missionaries, and homemakers. The ideal of its Baptist founders was to offer the very best . . . — — Map (db m146625) HM
The fields you see here witnessed a full afternoon of ferocious fighting on the first day of battle at Stones River. Federal cannon raked the Confederates charging across the open cotton fields toward the Nashville Pike. Here Union regiments that . . . — — Map (db m90692) HM
“The troops found Oakland a pleasant place to camp. There being plenty of room to spread out for the first time to full, regular army distances, making it the handsomest and most comfortable camp we ever had, the large trees making it shady and . . . — — Map (db m209509) HM WM
Within this circle lies the remains of over 2,000 gallant Confederate soldiers who gave their lives in the battles in and around Murfreesboro during The War Between The States 1861-1865. They were first buried on the battlefield where they died . . . — — Map (db m69177) HM
Many of my Regiment got within 60 yards of the enemy guns, but were compelled to give back for want of support. It seemed the Commanders expected our Brigade and the Texas Brigade that fought beside us to rout the entire Federal army... at the . . . — — Map (db m82573) HM
1. The Union line was smashed by the Confederate onrush. Reserve troops rushed here to stem the tide. 2. Those Union soldiers, confused by the cedar thickets, fog and smoke, also fled. 3. Union infantry and artillery along the Nashville Pike . . . — — Map (db m37464) HM
Rutherford County was created in 1803 from parts of Davidson and Williamson counties. The county was named in honor of Griffith Rutherford, an Irish immigrant who rose to the rank of brigadier general in the Continental army during the Revolutionary . . . — — Map (db m69142) HM
With a family fortune built upon agriculture, land speculation, slavery, medicine, textiles, and other ventures, the Maneys were heavily involved in the economic, religious, and educational development of Murfreesboro. Like many wealthy Southern . . . — — Map (db m90996) HM
1862 Union troops camp at Murfree Spring from April to June. Confederate cavalry raid on the town and courthouse takes place during July. The Union occupation is lifted. Murfreesboro becomes headquarters for the Confederate army that winter. . . . — — Map (db m207993) HM
1865 Freedman's Bureau school and hospital are established in Murfreesboro.
1866 Board of Alderman enlarges the boundaries of Murfreesboro. The Mayor orders the removal of the American flag pole from the courthouse square. . . . — — Map (db m207994) HM
The Presbyterian Church of Murfreesboro was organized in April 1812 under the name of the Murfree Spring Church with eighteen members Joseph Dickson Mary Stewart Elizabeth Kelton Susanna Henry John Smith Margaret Dickson Margaret Jetton John Henry . . . — — Map (db m146736) HM
Murfreesboro's first experience with Federal occupation came in March 1862, shortly after the fall of Fort Donelson.
Headed by Brig. Gen. Ormsby M. Mitchel, Union cavalry entered the town, hoisted the United States flag to the top of the . . . — — Map (db m146745) HM
There was some talk [at Rosecrans’ headquarters] of falling back, I do not remember who started the subject, but…I said …my men would be very much discouraged to have to abandon the field after their good fight of the day… . . . — — Map (db m132001) HM
After the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the United States government forced tens of thousands of American Indians to leave their ancestral lands in the southeast for new homes in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). They traveled . . . — — Map (db m69123) HM WM
The poor sick Cherokee cannot stop, when sick & be refreshed by kind friends… but must be exposed and die." - Rev. Daniel S. Butrick in Murfreesboro (1838)
After passage of the Indian Removal act of 1830, the . . . — — Map (db m168540) HM
When the Battle of Stones River ended on January 2, 1863, over 3,000 Union and Confederate soldiers lay dead. Most were buried in hastily prepared graves on the battlefield. In October 1865 soldiers from the 111th United States Colored Infantry . . . — — Map (db m37601) HM
For six hours, the Confederates had been on the attack. Their relentless onslaught had pushed half the Union army back three miles. Tangled cedar woods and rock-filled terrain took their toll. A 1,800-man brigade of tired Tennesseans finally emerged . . . — — Map (db m71665) HM
For nearly five months, thousands of soldiers and African-American laborers worked around the clock to build Fortress Rosecrans - digging, shaping, and compacting the works. It was backbreaking, highly unpopular duty. "Feb. 1, 1863. [Building . . . — — Map (db m37847) HM
Entering Cannonsburgh you cross Town Creek by way of an early
iron bridge. This is the first iron bridge ever constructed in
Rutherford County and it originally crossed Stewart Creek.
From 1804 to about the time of World War I, every road out . . . — — Map (db m90661) HM
(Front):In Memory of the officers and enlisted men of the 15th, 16th, 18th, & 19th U.S. Infantry and Battery H, 5th U.S. Artillery, who were killed or died of wounds, received at the Battle of Stone River, Tennessee, December 31st 1862 to . . . — — Map (db m37527) HM
One of Tennessee’s early country music performers was the irrepressible singer and banjo player, Uncle Dave Macon, the “Dixie Dewdrop.”
David Harrison Macon, was born in the tiny hamlet of Smartt Station in Warren County, and spent . . . — — Map (db m90691) HM
First organized in 1834, and chartered in 1848 by the Baptist General Association of Tennessee, Rev. Joseph H. Eaton was its first president. Closed during the Civil War, its buildings were used by both armies as a hospital. Re-opened in 1868, it . . . — — Map (db m146623) HM
1800s residence with dogtrot. The dogtrot, also called possum or dog run, reached its peak in the South from 1780 to 1830. Since connecting log structures is difficult, a family in need of more space would often build a second room a few feet away. . . . — — Map (db m90673) HM
Locomotive and train arrived from Nashville today... The shrill whistle evoked hearted cheers from all quarters of our camps. It conveyed to us... that we are linked again with home and friends by an iron roadway over which may come plentiful . . . — — Map (db m82588) HM
The two armies, over 80,000 men, were now within killing distance of each other. As night settled in, a chilling wind rose. Through the cedar thickets and across muddy fields, the unsettling sounds of moving infantry and artillery could be heard. . . . — — Map (db m168535) HM
“Wetlands are among the most important ecosystems on Earth.”
-William J. Mitsch and James Gosselink
Natural resource and environmental ecologist
Bottomland Hardwood Forest
The wetlands at Oaklands are characterized as . . . — — Map (db m90687) HM
