O'Bannon House
Russellville, Logan County, Kentucky
Marker Inscription
O'Bannon House. Lt. Presley N. O'Bannon, USMC, the first American to raise our flag on foreign soil, April 17, 1805. Barbary coast pirates who were holding 180 American seamen for ransom were overcome in an attack led by O'Bannon. He came to Logan County in 1807. Served in state legislature 1812, 17, 20-21, and Senate 1824-26. Died in 1850. His remains moved to Frankfort, 1920.
Erected by Kentucky Historical Society
The Story
Lieutenant Presley N. O'Bannon of the U.S. Marines is remembered as the first American to raise the flag on foreign soil, on April 17, 1805, when his attack helped overcome Barbary Coast forces holding American seamen for ransom. He settled in Logan County in 1807 and served in the state legislature and senate before his death in 1850.
Why it matters
His exploit on the Barbary shore became an enduring emblem of the young Marine Corps and the nation's first fights overseas.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Presley N. O'Bannon
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Blue Star Memorial By-way A tribute to the Armed
Nashville, TN
Founded in 1945, the Blue Star Memorial program honors America's armed forces, its emblem taken from the blue-star flags families displayed for loved ones in uniform. Sponsored by District II of the Tennessee Federation of Garden Clubs, this marker brings that national tribute to Nashville. It is one of thousands placed along American byways by the National Garden Clubs.
Blue Star Memorial Highway – Hart County
Hart County, KY
Sponsored by the Dogwood District of Garden Clubs with the Garden Club of Kentucky and the state highway department, this Blue Star Memorial Highway marker honors the armed forces that have defended the nation. The Blue Star program began in the mid-1940s as a garden-club tribute to World War II servicemembers and grew to embrace all who have served. Its emblem recalls the service flags displayed in family windows during wartime.
Blue Star Memorial Highway
Smith County, TN
Blue Star Memorial Highways began in 1945 when garden clubs planted living tributes to honor those who served in World War II, taking their name from the blue-star service flags hung in family windows. The idea spread through garden-club federations into a coast-to-coast system of markers. This Tennessee marker, placed by a district of the state garden clubs with the transportation department, extends that tradition into the hills of Middle Tennessee.
Town of Troy Veterans Memorial Wall
Troy, IN
This memorial wall in the small town of Troy, Indiana, honors local men and women who served in the nation's armed forces. Its simple dedication, "To All Who Served," reaches across generations of veterans without naming a single war. Community memorials like it are gathering places on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, where a town's collective sacrifice is remembered.