Turner's Pass Tablets - Boonsboro, MD
N 39° 29.083 W 077° 37.193
18S E 274680 N 4373845
At Turner's Gap, there are six cast iron tablets describing the battle which were placed along the National Road in 1897. The tablets were moved to a safer distance from the road in 1987, now thirty-four feet from the edge of the road.
Waymark Code: WMDFYD
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 01/10/2012
Views: 5
In 1897 the War Department erected six cast iron tablets which described the Battle of South Mountain. At that time a person could read them and not even have to get out of their horse drawn buggy. Kind of hard to imagine a time when automobiles did not use this road, but it is true, when these tablets were placed, horses were the main way to get around these parts. I had to get out of car and walk a bit in some nasty summer heat to read them as they are far back now, much safer.
In 1862, Union and Confederate forces in the early September days leading to Antietam would march along the National Road through the town. The old National Road crosses South Mountain at a point called Turner's Gap. It was at Turner's Gap, along with nearby Fox and Crampton's Gap, that the Battle of South Mountain was waged on September 14, 1862. The battle which was a Union victory is called by some the "Prelude to Antietam" which would occur three days later near Sharpsburg.
In 1987 (Almost 100 years after they were erected) the Central Maryland Heritage League in cooperation with the National Park Service had the Cast Iron tablets relocated to a safer position. Now the visitor to Turner's Gap can read the tablets without having to worry about being hit by a speeding automobile. At that time it is hoped the visitor will find a better place to come and visit. And perhaps in the quietness of the moment, "in the evening dews and damps," they will witness the march of history, and hear the sounds of days gone by. The whoops of the red men, the tramp of the settlers, the ring of axes as the land was cleared and the National Road was built. Perhaps the visitor can catch a glimpse of marching men, long columns of blue and gray, and officers such as Stonewall Jackson, D.H. Hill, John Buford, and George Meade. SOURCE
Curiously, these tablets, while in the Turner's and Fox's Gaps Historic District, are not mentioned in the nomination form, and therefore do no contribute. They are not even mentioned as non-contributing objects. Weird.