Andersonville Prison Camp, GA

Place: Andersonville National Historic Site, GA
Weather: Sunny 58/82F
Route: From Atlanta 125 miles south on I-75, then GA-42 south, then US-341 south.

Time Period of Interest: 1864-1865
Significance: This one is not exactly a pick-me-up.  For 14 months near the end of the Civil War, Camp Sumter - more commonly known as Andersonville, was the site for Union prisoners.  It was a camp open to the skies - 26.5 acres enclosed by 15 foot high stockade walls. It was designed to hold 10,000 prisoners - at its height it had 33,000 prisoners.  Shelters were made from whatever the prisoners brought with them - mostly tents made of blankets.  The only water available was from a creek that ran through the camp. Over 12,000 men would eventually die from disease there.
Website: National Park Service
Further Reading: 
Futch, Ovid and Gray, Michael. History of Andersonville Prison.
Ripple, Ezra and Snell, Mark. Dancing Along the Deadline: The Andersonville Memoir of a Prisoner of the Confederacy.



Photos: 

Artist rendering of the camp (from history.com)

The camp today (from thesga.org)

Videos

From Discerning History