Signers' Monument - Augusta, GA
N 33° 28.296 W 081° 57.697
17S E 410648 N 3703984
Obelisk dedicated to the 3 signers of the Constitution from Georgia. It also houses 2 of the bodies.
Waymark Code: WM759Q
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 09/03/2009
Views: 9
"(1) Signers' Monument, Green St, between 5th and 6th Sts., is an imposing fifty-foot granite shaft rising from the center of the green. At night indirect lighting turns the stone to a warm, ple amber color against the dark sky. Begun with the laying of the cornerstone on July 4, 1848, it was erected by the State of Georgia in honor of its three signers of the Declartion of Independence. The bodies of Lymn Hall and George Walton are buried beneath the monument. Plans were made to reinter here the body of Button Gwinnett, killed in a duel with Lachlan McIntosh, but his burial place was never found."
--Georgia: A Guide to its Cities and Countryside, 1940
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The monument is a little closer to the road, but still secure in the median. a historic marker stands nearby, its text is below.
Dedicated July 4, 1848, in honor of the signers of the Declaration of Independence for Georgia: George Walton, Lyman Hall and Button Gwinnett. The first two lie buried in crypts beneath this shaft. The burial place of Gwinnett, whose body was to have been reinterred here, has never been found.
George Walton, born in Virginia, settles in Georgia, and was a Colonel in the Revolutionary Army, twice Governer of Georgia, Judge of Superior Court and Chief Justice of Georgia, six times elected to Congress and served one term as United States Senator; wunded and captured by British at Savannah.
Dr. Lyman Hall, born in Connecticut, was one of the group of ardent revolutionaries from Midway, Georgia, who helped lead Georgia into open rebellion in 1776. He represented Georgia in the Continental Congress.
Button Gwinnett, born in England, settled in Savannah shortly before the Revolution and was a magnetic and fiery figure in the early days of the War. He was President of Georgia in March 1777. A quarrel with General Lachian McIntosh, arising out of the ill-fated expedition to Florida, resulted in a duel in May 1777 on the outskirts of Savannah in which Gwinnett was mortally wounded.
