Fort Benning Historic Trail Site

Fort Benning Historic Trail

Historical Site 4. Legacy Boulevard Gate and Sign
Legacy Blvd at Installation border

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The stone gates and sign at the entryway to Fort Benning are historically important components that contribute to the natural scenic beauty of Legacy Boulevard.  The gates were originally brick single-pillar, but rebuilt as three-column stone gates in the mid-1930s.  The sign was built in 1964 and replaced a smaller, more traditionally styled sign that was built in the early 1950s.  The styles of the 1930s and 1964 structures reflect the architectural tastes of their respective times.  Most “stones” of these structures are not natural but man-made.  They are dark-tinted concrete filled with small rocks of various sizes and formed into random shapes.   The columns that form the gates are topped with finial balls, which was popular in the 1930s.  The sign is a double slab with angles – a conservative version of mid-century forms of the 1950s and early ‘60s.  It is flanked by man-made stone piers with random angles, suggestive of natural, rock outcroppings and cliffs.  The effect was to set the tone for the pastoral views one enjoys on the mile-long Legacy Blvd.  The stone gates and entry sign are eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places, as contributing elements of the Main Post Historic District.  The sign was so admired that it inspired the designs of seven other Ft. Benning signs built between 1979 and the 1990s.