The Trail of Tears in the 1830s was a forced relocation and movement of American Indians from their homelands in the Deep South to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma.

Countless Indians suffered from exposure, disease and starvation while journeying to their new destination, and Giles County is paying tribute to their courageous efforts.

The Giles County Trail of Tears Interpretive Center is located on Stadium Street in a building that once housed the congregation of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. The building was also once home to First Baptist Church, when the same building was actually located three blocks away.

“First Baptist donated the church to the Trail of Tears project, so the entire building – all 400 tons of it – was moved by truck to its present higher-traffic location on Stadium Street. Today the beautiful building has become known as the Giles County Trail of Tears Interpretive Center,” says Dan Speer, mayor of Pulaski and director of the Giles County Economic Development Commission. “So we now have the building but must wait for Congress to allocate additional funding that will allow us to complete the interior of the center. It will be an amazing tribute once the project is finally completed.”

Speer says Giles County was a key strategic point in the Trail of Tears pilgrimage because Pulaski was where two individual paths crossed – the Bells and Benge’s routes. Those were two of the main routes that Cherokees and Choctaws traveled in their quest to ultimately reach the western United States.

“A life-size statue of a Cherokee family was unveiled outside the center in June 2009, and there is interpretive signage that has been erected to explain the plight of American Indians,” Speer says. “This is all an ongoing effort that will be quite inspirational once completed.”

Officials estimate that the cost of properly outfitting the interior of the interpretative center will be around $1 million.

“The former church is a beautiful example of Gothic architectural design constructed of native limestone, and we want to make sure that the interior of the building is just as incredible as the exterior,” Speer says.