On Santa Fe Pike at Royal Oaks Drive, on the right when traveling south on Santa Fe Pike.
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 . . . — — Map (db m151183) HM
On East 8th Street, on the left when traveling east.
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
On Pulaski Highway (U.S. 31) 0.2 miles south of Sheegog Lane, on the left when traveling south.
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
Near Cemetery Street at Whatley Street, on the right when traveling north.
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
On South Main Street at Public Square when traveling north on South Main Street.
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
On West 7th Street (Business U.S. 412) west of South Garden Street.
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
On Main Street just south of General Motors Visitor Center Entrance.
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
On Carters Creek Pike at B Dodson Road, on the right when traveling north on Carters Creek Pike.
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
On Graham Street south of Hardwick Avenue, on the right when traveling south.
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
Near Cemetery Street at South Glade Street, on the right when traveling north.
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
Near Cemetery Street at Whatley Street, on the right when traveling north.
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
On Bridge Street south of East 10th Street, on the left when traveling south.
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
On South Garden Street at Carmack Boulevard (U.S. 31), on the right when traveling south on South Garden Street.
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
On West 7th Street (Business U.S. 412) at Academy Heights, on the left when traveling west on West 7th Street.
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 New Lewisburg Highway (Tennessee Route 50) at Pleasant Mount Church Road, on the right when traveling west on New Lewisburg Highway.
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
On Trotwood Avenue (State Highway 243), on the right when traveling east.
(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
Near Cemetery Street at Whatley Street, on the right when traveling north.
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
Near Cemetery Street at Whatley Street, on the right when traveling north.
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
On Iron Bridge Road, 0.4 miles east of Frierson Court, on the right when traveling west.
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
On Mooresville Pike at Morrow Lane, on the right when traveling south on Mooresville Pike.
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
On Trotwood Avenue (State Highway 234), on the right when traveling east.
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
On North Main Street at East 6th Street, on the right when traveling north on North Main Street.
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
On Hampshire Pike (U.S. 412) 0.4 miles east of North Cross Bridges Road, on the right when traveling east.
(side 1)
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 . . . — — Map (db m97094) HM
On Santa Fe Pike, 0.1 miles north of U.S. 412, on the left when traveling north.
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
On West 4th Street at North Main Street, on the right when traveling west on West 4th Street.
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
On James M Cambpell Boulevard (State Highway 50) at Mt. Pleasant Pike (State Highway 243), on the right when traveling east on James M Cambpell Boulevard.
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
On Trotwood Avenue (Tennessee Route 243) north of Old Sunnyside Lane, on the right when traveling north.
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
On Public Square at West 7th Street, on the left when traveling east on Public Square.
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
On North Main Street at Public Square when traveling south on North Main Street.
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
On South High Street at West 7th Street (Business U.S. 412), on the right when traveling south on South High Street.
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
On West 7th Street (State Highway 99) near South High Street.
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 home . . . — — 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
Near Park Plus Drive, 0.3 miles south of East James M Campbell Boulevard (Tennessee Route 50), on the left when traveling south.
(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
On Nashville Highway (U.S. 31) at the Duck River, on the right when traveling south on Nashville Highway.
Congressional Medal of Honor awarded to John Harlan Willis, Pharmacists Mate First Class, U.S.N. by the president for conspicious gallantry, exceptional fortitude and courage above and beyond the call of duty while under fire on Iwo Jima, he having . . . — — 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
Near Cemetery Street at Whatley Street, on the right when traveling north.
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
Near Cemetery Street at South Glade Street, on the right when traveling north.
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
Near Cemetery Street at Whatley Street, on the right when traveling north.
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
On East 7th Street east of Water Street, on the right when traveling east.
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
On Public Square at North Main Street, on the left when traveling south on Public Square.
(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
On East 8th Street at South Glade Street, on the right when traveling east on East 8th Street.
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
Near Cemetery Street at South Glade Street, on the right when traveling north.
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
On North Main Street south of East 6th Street, on the right when traveling north.
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
On Nashville Highway just north of Imperial Drive.
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
Near Cemetery Street at South Glade Street, on the right when traveling north.
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
On East 5th Street, on the left when traveling east.
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
Near Trotwood Avenue (Tennessee Route 243) 0.3 miles west of Country Club Lane, on the right when traveling west.
(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
On North Frierson Street just south of Church Street, on the right when traveling south.
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
On Nashville Highway (U.S. 31) at Walnut Drive, on the right when traveling south on Nashville Highway.
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
Near Zion Road at Old Zion Road, on the right when traveling south.
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
Near Cemetery Street near Whatley Street, on the right when traveling north.
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 West 7th Street at North Garden Street, on the right when traveling west on West 7th Street.
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
Near Trotwood Avenue (Tennessee Route 243) at Polk Lane, on the right when traveling east.
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
On West 7th Street (Business U.S. 412) at Walker Street, on the right when traveling east on West 7th Street.
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
Near Cemetery Street at Whatley Street, on the right when traveling north.
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
On N Main Street at West 4th Street, on the right when traveling north on N Main Street.
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
On Public Square, on the left when traveling north.
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
On East 8th Street at South Glade Street, on the right when traveling east on East 8th Street.
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
On Depot Street east of South High Street, on the right when traveling east.
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
On Hampshire Pike (U.S. 412) at Zion Road, on the left when traveling west on Hampshire Pike.
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
