Federal forces occupying Athens built Fort Henderson on this site in 1863 as a five-sided earthen fort with some frame buildings and underground bomb-proofs. Abatis lined its fifteen-foot-deep perimeter ditch, a small portion of which is still visible. On September 24, 1864, after a brief fight and a clever ruse orchestrated by Confederate General Nathan B. Forrest, the fort and its 900-man garrison, mostly of the 110th U.S. Colored Infantry, surrendered. After moving the prisoners and captured supplies south, Forrest's campaign followed the railroad north to the Union fort at Sulphur Creek Trestle, which he took the following day, and federal forces reoccupied Athens shortly after his departure. In 1865 the American Missionary Association of New York established Trinity School, one of many schools in the South created to educate the children of freed slaves. Originally located east of the railroad, it moved here to the site of Fort Henderson in 1907. Rebuilt several times after burning twice at its first location and once here, Trinity School achieved accreditation and a tradition of educational excellence through the dedication of its principals and teachers. Its graduates included authors, artists, teachers, judges, and Patti Malone of the Fisk University Jubilee Singers, while Trinity Congregational Church, founded in 1871, long served as the school's spiritual partner.