• North HillSide Photomerge

    Andersonville

    National Historic Site Georgia

There are park alerts in effect.
show Alerts »
  • New Operating Hours for the National Prisoner of War Museum

    Beginning Monday, May 13, 2013, the National Prisoner of War Museum will adopt new operating hours of 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. More »

New York Monument

A tal granite monument rises in the distance, with an exhibit panel in the foreground.

The New York monument. The exhibit panel shows a photograph from the 1914 monument dedication ceremony.

NPS/Andersonville National Historic Site

Built in 1911 but not dedicated until 1914, the New York monument rises prominently over the southwest quadrant of the cemetery. Reaching a height of twenty-one feet, the monument is constructed of granite with the New York State coat of arms affixed to the front and back. On the front of the monument is a bronze panel featuring dedication text and a female figure bearing a mourning wreath. On the rear is a bronze panel featuring a prison scene. Two prisoners, one old and haggard, the other young and hopeful sit inside the prison, the stockade wall and a guard tower clearly visible. Above them is an angel with an olive branch in her right hand.

For the monument dedication in 1914, the State of New York paid for 222 former prisoners to travel down to Georgia; the average age of these men was 72 1/2 years old. At the dedication service, 2,500 New York flags decorated the graves of the New York dead.

Did You Know?

A replica prisoner shelter

The shelters built by prisoners were known by many names: tents, huts, shelter tents and blanket tents. The phrase "shebang" was used by a small number of prisoners but through post-war and Twentieth Century popular writings has become the most commonly used term for the prisoner shelters. More...