Blue Star Memorial
Toccoa, Stephens County, Georgia
Marker Inscription
Blue Star Memorial. A tribute to the Armed Forces who have defended the United States of America. SPONSORED BY Horti-Floral Garden Club IN COOPERATION WITH Friend of Toccoa-Stephens County AND National Garden Clubs, Inc.
Erected by Horti-Floral Garden Club
The Story
Blue Star Memorials trace to 1945, when garden clubs in New Jersey planted dogwoods along a highway to honor the armed forces, borrowing the blue star of the wartime service flags families displayed at home. The National Garden Clubs spread the program nationwide, and this Toccoa marker, sponsored by the Horti-Floral Garden Club, joins that chain of roadside tributes to everyone who has served the United States.
Why it matters
It shows how ordinary communities chose living, growing memorials over monuments — a grassroots tradition of civic gratitude that spans every American conflict.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Blue Star Memorial A tribute to the Armed Forces
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Blue Star Memorials trace to 1945, when garden clubs lined a New Jersey highway with flowering dogwoods to honor World War II troops, later broadening to salute the whole of the armed forces. In Clarkesville, the Garden Club of Georgia and the Clarkesville Garden Club placed this marker with local support. The blue star recalls the service flags hung in the windows of homes with family in uniform.
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Blue Star Memorial Highways honor the armed forces with a symbol taken from the blue-star service flags of World War II. Begun by garden clubs in 1945, the program spread across the country through local clubs and city partnerships. This marker in Cornelia was placed by the Cornelia Garden Club, part of the Laurel District, with the City of Cornelia.
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Blue Star Memorial Highways honor the armed forces with a symbol drawn from the service flags of World War II. Begun by garden clubs in 1945 and maintained ever since with state transportation departments, the markers dedicate roads across the country. This one in Franklin County was placed by the Garden Club of Georgia with the Toccoa Garden Club.
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