The Civil War's Camp Lawton

Shortly after the Civil War ended, Camp Lawton’s few permanent structures, including its prisoner stockade, burned, and the grounds quickly returned to use as farmland. Over time, nature and human activity erased nearly all visible traces of the prison site except its earthworks. Because many Confederate records were destroyed and the camp existed only briefly, the exact locations of the stockade, its defenses, and related structures have remained difficult to determine. In 2006 and 2007, archaeologists used ground penetrating radar at Magnolia Springs to search for faint remains below the surface. Their work revealed the outline of a large squarish structure beneath the park’s main parking lot, which analysis suggests may be all that survives of the stockade’s main gate. Archaeologists also laid out survey grids, recorded radar data across several parts of the park, and made a small excavation that exposed possible traces of the pointed wooden spikes that formed a defensive barrier around the camp’s gun emplacements. Future excavations may uncover charred remains that would indicate the stockade and other buildings were burned.

Georgia · United States