Fort McPherson
Named for Maj. Gen. James Birdseye McPherson, U. S. Vol. the Union Commander of the Army of Tennessee, during the Battle of Atlanta, this area was used as a state militia drill ground as early as 1835. It housed several temporary Confederate and Union military encampments.
The U. S. army established McPherson Barracks at a site appositely three mi1es north of here in l867 but abandoned it in 1881. In 1885, the army bought 236 acres along the Georgia Central R. R. and began erecting a permanent post under the direction of engineer Capt. Joshua West Jacobs. It was official1y named "Fort McPherson" on May 4. 1889, indicating a permanent Army Installation. The original garrison quadrangle of 42 buildings built between 1889 and 1910 is listed on the National Register.
Fort McPherson has served as a .general hospital command, war prison barracks supply depot, reception and separation center, and has been the home of major Army combat commands including Third U. S. Army and U. S. Army Forces command.
GHM 060-172 - GEORGIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION - 1987
Plaque courtesy Lat34North.com.
Original page, with additional info, here.
Photo credit: David Seibert.