{"nrhp_refnum":"80001094","name":"Davis, Jefferson, Capture Site","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"N of Irwinville","address_restricted":false,"city":"Irwinville","county":"Irwin County","state":"GA","lat":31.66527338350005,"lon":-83.38674894143806,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-04-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 12.668-acre site about one and a half miles north of Irwinville, Irwin County, Georgia, where Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured in 1865. It is partly wooded swamp with a trace of the Old Abbeville Road and partly a county-maintained park with a museum.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the site is nationally significant in American political history as the place where the Confederate president was captured at the close of the Civil War, an event with strong psychological meaning for the nation. It also holds significance for the long local veneration of the site, supported by research confirming the location through reports, maps and oral tradition.","narrative":"Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, was captured on this site about one and a half miles north of Irwinville, Georgia, in May 1865. Union cavalry from the Fourth Michigan and First Wisconsin closed in on his camp at first light; in the confusion the two Union units skirmished with each other, and two Union soldiers were killed. The party taken included Davis, his wife, his private secretary, and the Postmaster General. The 12.668-acre tract holds woods, a swamp crossed by a trace of the Old Abbeville Road, a granite memorial with bust, and park facilities including a museum and caretaker's house. Research using newspapers, official reports, period maps, and local tradition placed the capture here. The land has been publicly owned since 1920, first by the State of Georgia and then by Irwin County from 1976. Local families preserved and showed the site long before formal programs existed, adding to its importance.","period_of_significance":"1865","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Public park owned by Irwin County, with a museum, caretaker's house, pavilion, restrooms and picnic area; condition rated good. These buildings are described as intrusions that do not contribute to the site's significance.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:40.47213-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/80001094.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001094/98cd72bcfd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001094/98cd72bcfd-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"JERRYE &amp; ROY KLOTZ MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JEFFERSON_DAVIS_CAPTURE_SITE.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ MD</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JEFFERSON_DAVIS_CAPTURE_SITE.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93208684","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Davis_Memorial_Historic_Site","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6175458"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/irwin-county/davis-jefferson-capture-site-80001094/"}