Officials dedicate Camp Douglas site

The former site of a Civil War training and prisoner of war camp on the South Side of Chicago has received formal recognition.

State and local officials dedicated the site with a historical marker Monday morning. It once housed black soldiers who were recruited for the Union Army, as well as Confederate soldiers who were captured during the war.

The site, which is located in the Gap neighborhood, was once a part of Camp Douglas. About 6,000 Confederate soldiers died there throughout a four-year period.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports the property is now owned by Prologue Inc. When it purchased the land in 2007, the alternative school network agreed to open a Civil War museum that honors black soldiers. The future museum will be developed by the Camp Douglas Foundation.