Free Hills (also known as Free Hill), Tennessee was a antebellum Black community. It was founded in 1816 by the newly freed men and women once enslaved by Virginia Hill and her wealthy planter family. Hill purchased the hilltop land and turned it over to them to create a community.
The Free Hills Rosenwald School was built in 1929 and served the community until 1949. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
Fort Gaines, Clay County
Located in Fort Gaines, Georgia, the monument is for Colonel James Bennett (1800-1868). He was originally buried in Alabama, but he was moved at the request of the great grandson.
The monument features the winged hourglass. The hourglass represents the marching on of time. The wings represent a descent to heaven.
Founded in 1860, New Park Cemetery is one of the early cemeteries in Fort Gaines, Georgia. The cemetery contains many examples of markers representing the years it’s been active. One of the more unusual aspects of the cemetery is that there is a Victorian gazebo built in 1880 that sits atop a Native American burial ground, believed to be at least 1000 years old. Like the Kolomoki Mounds, it is believed this was built by the Swift Creek and Weeden Island people.
