What do a button, bullet and part of a harmonica have in common?
If you’re standing inside the newly opened Chickamauga Battlefield Museum & Relics in Fort Oglethorpe, they’re all from the Civil War.
Relic hunters frequent the store carrying their weekly finds from metal detecting, said owner and proprietor Stephen B. McKinney. Sometimes the items go into Riker cases for sale – like that button, bullet and harmonica piece, which share their case with a round ball and part of a buckle.
Chickamauga Battlefield Museum & Relics owner Stephen B. McKinney stands beside this Civil War-era American flag in front of his store.
Photo by Katie Ward Hamilton“I’ve been involved in Civil War history since I was a kid,” said McKinney, who used to travel to the state of Alabama Archives and History Department with his grandmother growing up. These days he keeps a library of Civil War books by his desk so he can look up items people bring in to trade or sell, though he has a degree in military history specializing in the American Civil War.
“There’s not another Civil War museum in this area,” he said. “Our goal is to educate the public about the battles fought, the Chattanooga campaign and to turn a profit.”