Rees Park

Dr. Albert Rees, a pioneer local physician, deeded the land for this park to the citizens of Americus in 1846. Two decades later, after the battlefield death of his son Lieutenant Lucius Gibson Rees, C.S.A. (1841-1864), near Petersburg, Virginia, the park was set aside as a permanent memorial. Lieutenant Rees served in Company A, 11th Georgia Artillery of the Army of Northern Virginia, known as the “Sumter Flying Artillery,” and took part in many major battles of the War Between the States under the overall command of General Robert E. Lee. Against horrendous odds, an enslaved family servant who accompanied him to war single-handedly returned his body to his grieving family in Americus for burial in nearby Oak Grove Cemetery.

Americus, Georgia · United States