Georgia Natural Wonder #132 - Hard Labor Creek - Morgan County (Part 1). 939

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Georgia Natural Wonder #132 - Hard Labor Creek - Morgan County (Part 1)

Searching for Classic South Natural Wonders and we come to Hard Labor Creek State Park. It is a 5,804 acre Georgia state park located between Fairplay and Rutledge in Morgan County. The park is named after Hard Labor Creek, a small stream that cuts through the park.



The creek's name comes either from slaves who once tilled the summer fields, or from Native Americans who found the area around the stream difficult to ford.


My images.


Internet signature image for Hard Labor Creek.

I found this 100 yard stretch just below the dam really fun for this part of the state.



Visited recently to document the Natural Wonder for today.



Some kids back here fishing I parked beside road like them.



Wonderful trail for a stretch along the creek.







A worthy top 150 natural Wonder for Georgia.





Not much whitewater other than this spot.



Mellow elsewhere.



Right below the Dam for the lake.



View of Dam from bridge.



There are six trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding. One trail talks about some boulders I missed.



A review on All Trails says one trail was so much fun and really beautiful! lots of places to explore the small river nearby. Close to marker 305 there is a huge rock where we stopped and had our lunch.



The Red Loop is a more challenging 5.25-mile loop that will take the rider up and down gently sloping terrain, and crosses older hardwood forest of mixed pine and hardwood stands.



Along the way are lush fern covered stream bottoms, boulder formations, and cascading streams. This trail is rated more for the intermediate/advanced riders.



The park plays host to an 18-hole public golf course, which offers a pro shop, driving range, rental cars, and senior citizen discounts.



Rocky Creek provides many of the water hazards on the course including the 14th hole with its signature water wheel.



Hard Labor Creek State Park is the home of two group camps, Camp Rutledge and Camp Daniel Morgan, both centered on the 275-acre Lake Rutledge.



A second lake, Lake Brantley, occupies the northwestern area of the park. This lake was named for a Brantley family killed by Native Americans in 1813. Both the camps and the lakes were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.



Camp Daniel Morgan, was the filming location of four movies, Summer of My German Soldier (1978),



Little Darlings (1980),



Poison Ivy (1985),



and Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986).



Kristy McNichol starred in the first two. Cynthia Nixon of Sex and the City fame, who played "Sunshine" in Little Darlings returned to the nearby town of Rutledge, Georgia in 2005 to film a part in the Emmy winning HBO movie Warm Springs; a part in which she too was nominated for an Emmy award.



Camp Rutledge is also the location of the long-running summer camp for the youth of Peachtree Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, Georgia, the largest Presbyterian Church (USA) in the United States. Camp Rutledge is also used by the youth of Roswell Presbyterian Church.


Not the GNW Gal of the day.

Hard Labor Creek State Park is the location of Hard Labor Creek Observatory; a facility of Georgia State University, Atlanta Georgia.



Camp Rutledge was leased for many years by the Atlanta Jewish Community Center during the 1950s up through 1962 as a site for its summer camp program serving Jewish youth from the Atlanta area as well as the southern United States. Its use by the AJCC was ended with the acquisition and development of Camp Barney Medintz near Cleveland, Georgia.



The Camp Rutledge facilities were recently examined by the TAPS Ghost Hunters team to see if the camp and the surrounding forest is haunted by nature spirits.



While this park may be best known for its golf course, it also offers a wide range of recreational opportunities in a beautiful wooded setting. A lakeside beach is popular with swimmers during summer months.



More than 24 miles of trails are available for hikers and horseback riders.



Horse owners even have their own private camping area near stalls.





Other overnight guests can choose from fully equipped cottages or a modern campground.



With so many ways to relax, it is ironic that the park’s name is thought to come from slaves who tilled summer fields or American Indians who found the creek difficult to cross.



Located between Madison and Covington off I-20, The Creek Golf Course provides one of Georgia’s best golf values, along with a pro shop, driving range, rental carts and special rates for seniors and children.



The 18 hole course is a favorite for its challenging layout and well maintained greens combined with a pristine, natural setting.



I only really saw the Putt Putt Course and it was crowded.



Don't forget fishing.



OK, that was relatively short Natural Wonder way down here at #132, but it gives us a wonderful opportunity to tangent on Morgan County and the fabulous town of Madison.



Morgan County, in central Georgia, was created from Baldwin County by an act of the state legislature in 1807. It was named in honor of Revolutionary War (1775-83) general Daniel Morgan. The Hero of the Battle of Cowpens.


Morgan.

In 1809 the town of Madison was incorporated and named the county seat. Until 1818, when Walton County was created, Morgan County was a part of the western frontier of Georgia—all lands to the west of it being Creek Indian territory. This situation was forcibly brought home in 1813, when Creeks attacked settlers in the western portion of the county, in what is now Hard Labor Creek State Park, northwest of the town of Rutledge. Some ten or eleven people were killed in the attack, which may have been made in conjunction with the Creek alliance with the British in the War of 1812 (1812-15).



The 1820 census lists "13,520 souls" for Morgan County, of whom 44.7 percent were slaves. The next few decades saw a general decline in the white population, while the slave population increased with the coming of large cotton plantations. By 1890 the county's population was up to 16,041, but the cotton boll weevil crisis of the 1910s and 1920s, and the Great Depression of the 1930s, led to a drastic decrease. The 2000 census showed Morgan County's population to be 15,457—still less than that of 1890. By 2010, however, the population had climbed to 17,868.



By 1841 the Georgia Railroad had reached Madison and, soon after that, Rutledge, bringing businessmen and early tourists to the county, with hotels and boardinghouses springing up to accommodate them. Before the Civil War (1861-65) two colleges for women were founded in Madison: Georgia Female College, incorporated in 1849 as the Madison Collegiate Institute, and Madison Female College, established in 1850. These colleges, which no longer exist, along with private academies, placed Morgan County among the educational centers of Georgia at that time. The early 1870s marked the beginning of public school education in the county and the decline of private academies.



During the American Civil War, the county provided the Panola Guards, which was a part of Cobb's Legion.


Morgan County Civil War Veterans.

Near the end of the Civil War, the Union troops of General William T. Sherman's army swept through the county on the March to the Sea, burning railway depots, cotton gins, and warehouses, and wrecking the railroads for miles. Sherman's men set afire an old cotton mill that had once been a prison for Union officers, though it did not burn completely. Most houses were spared, including the plantation house of the anti secessionist Joshua Hill, former senator from Georgia.



By the late 1880s another railroad, the Macon and Northern (originally the Covington and Macon), came to Morgan County. The towns of Rutledge, Godfrey, Apalachee, and Buckhead, as well as Madison, were serviced by these two railroads. A third railroad, now defunct, served the town of Bostwick. In the post–Civil War era cotton remained the county's principal product, though on a smaller scale. This continued into the twentieth century, until the devastation caused by the boll weevil brought another agricultural endeavor: dairying. From the 1930s through the 1960s Morgan County became one of the principal milk producers of Georgia. In the 1970s and 1980s timber production also became an important income source for Morgan County landowners.



The coming of Interstate Highway 20 through the county in the early 1970s accelerated the growth of industry and tourism in the area. Lake Oconee, a Georgia Power Company facility, also has been a significant catalyst for growth in the county. The county's economy is becoming more diverse: cotton farming is making a comeback, dairying is still going strong, timber production continues, and tourism is booming. One of the largest employers is Georgia-Pacific.



Incorporated cities

Apalachee

The community was named after the Apalachee Indians.[ A post office called Apalachee was established in 1889, and remained in operation until 1957. By 1900, the community had 47 inhabitants.The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Apalachee as a town in 1907. The town was officially dissolved in 1995.


Apalachee School, 1911

From the Morgan County Bicentennial Historic Marker, placed here in 2007: The name Apalachee is derived from the Indian Tribe that was part of the Creek Confederation, though there is no evidence that this tribe had ever settled in this area. The town of Apalachee was incorporated by the Georgia Legislature in 1907. However, this community has roots that are much older. The area around Apalachee was settled prior to 1820 and is considered to be one of the oldest communities in Morgan County. The community of Dogsborough predates the formal incorporation of Apalachee, and was the site of an early post office and dry goods store. Additionally, references to the community of Shields and Hulletto identify their locations in proximity to Apalachee along the railroad.


Apalachee Baptist Church

The Apalachee community has also been referred to as Florence. The Central Railroad came through Apalachee, the station was name Florence Depot in honor of local citizen; however, by the time of incorporation, the name “Apalachee” had been chosen. Subsequent references to the post office location, schools, churches and civic organizations identify this area with the name Apalachee. The railroad brought commercial development, including three general merchandise stores, a cotton gin, a cotton oil refinery, and a seed house by 1920. In the early 20th century, Apalachee boasted of several documented cultural societies, including a Glee Club, a Players´ Club (for music), a Literary Club, and the Apalachee Improvement Club, all of which supported the betterment of the town.


Apalachee Methodist Church, 1925

Bostwick

Bostwick was incorporated by the Georgia General Assembly in 1902. The community was named in honor of John Bostwick, a founding resident.




Bostwick Supply Company

This large commercial block is symbolic of Bostwick’s agricultural prominence.



The place is a step back in time. Unfortunately, structural collapse on the end of the Bostwick Supply Company could threaten this view.


Susie Agnes Hotel, 1902, Bostwick

Built by John Bostwick, Sr., to accommodate burgeoning railroad traffic in the area, the Susie Agnes remains the crown jewel of Bostwick. Mr. Bostwick had purchased a large tract of land in the area and, encouraged by rapid growth, divided a portion of it into lots which became the town bearing his name.


Dixie King Cotton Mill and Warehouse


James A. Nolan House, 1906

The house is all boarded up now. Rumors swirl around this house as to its preservation status. I was led to believe that restoration of the property is imminent, though many have told me that this is always “in the works”. Whatever its future, it’s a tangible link to the plantation era in the Piedmont, when large numbers of laborers were required to support self-contained economies. The Nolan family worked this land (as much as 2000 acres) from about 1856 until 1970. A commissary and several outbuildings still dot the plantation grounds; some maintain that a slave cabin exists on the property, though this is apocryphal. The building in question is a tenant house with boards that are clearly not old enough to date to the antebellum era.

Buckhead

One of the earliest settlements in Morgan County, the area around Buckhead was still in close proximity to Native American Territory in the early 1800s. According to local lore, a group of hunters tracking game crossed the Oconee River from Greene County and found this area to be ideal for settlement. To attest to their good fortune, the head of a buck deer killed by the hunters was hung in a tree.



Though the town of Buckhead was formally incorporated by the Georgia Legislature in 1887 and recorded in 1908, the earliest document reference to this community dates to 1819 in an account ledger for a general store located here.


T.L. Bell's

By 1823, a post office had been constructed, and by the 1830s, the Georgia Railroad came through Buckhead.



A Methodist Church was organized in 1824, and a Baptist Church in 1890. A four-room schoolhouse that had ten grade levels, employed eight teachers, and possessed an auditorium was constructed in 1900.


Methodist Church

Buckhead also enjoyed a thriving commercial center that included four general stores, two drug stores, a bank, a cotton buyer’s office, three restaurants, a barber shop, a livery stable and a hotel. Industries included a cotton gin, a grist mill, and a blacksmith shop.



Several large fires have taken their toll on Buckhead through the years destroying many of its old buildings. Additionally, the agriculture economy has shifted from cotton production to dairy operations.

Rutledge

In the 1840s, the heirs of Hezekiah Rutledge deeded right-of-way to the Georgia Railroad. The farm came to be referred to as "Rutledge Place” by the railroad workers, which probably gave rise to referring to the town as "Rutledge."



In the early years of the railroad, Rutledge served as the terminus of the line, and a turn table (or round house) was located here to turn engines back toward Augusta.



As with many Georgia towns, the railroad brought development to the area, and a thriving civic and commercial center emerged. There was Civil War Action here.



The city of Rutledge was formally incorporated on December 13, 1871 by act of the Georgia legislature.



Early religious institutions included a Baptist Church founded in 1845 and a Methodist Church in 1902. By 1915, a six-room brick school building had been constructed in Rutledge.



After the Great Depression in the early 20th century, Rutledge became the site of two Civilian Conservation Corps camps created as part of the public works program initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.



Their task was to create Hard Labor Creek Park, north of the city, which was originally a federal recreation demonstration area.



The recreational opportunities offered by Hard Labor Creek Park brought tourists to the Rutledge area, and it is still enjoyed by visitors in the 21st century as part of the Georgia State Parks system.



Unincorporated Morgan County

Antioch Baptist Church

Three miles from here in a grove of oaks Antioch Baptist Church was established in a primitive log cabin, Sept. 18, 1809. Soon a building 40 x 60 was erected on 4-1/2 acres of land including the original site. In Sept. 1827, 4,000 people including many ministers attended a session of the Ocmulgee Association in the churchyard. A sermon by Antioch’s minister, Dr. Adiel Sherwood, started a revival that swept through about 22 counties bringing 16,000 converts in two years. Dr. Sherwood preached 333 sermons in 30 counties in that period.


In 1845 Antioch Church moved to its present location.

Fairplay

One of the older communities in Morgan County, Fairplay is identified on county maps as early as 1839. Fairplay did not have a railroad line in the community, but it appears to have developed on an old post road. Post office records from the 1880s identify the community as a village with about 40 inhabitants.



In addition to a store and post office, Fairplay also had a cotton gin to serve adjacent farmers. Prospect Church and Prospect School (also known as Fairplay School) are located in proximity to the original site of the store, and both are still recognized at the beginning of the 21st century. A second crossroads community existed to the north of Fairplay, around Malcom’s Store and Rock Springs Primitive Baptist Church. According to published accounts, the congregation of Rock Springs was established as early as 1840. Chestnut Grove Church and school, located west of Fairplay, served the African American community in that area.


The Ponder House is the most prominent remnant of the community of Fairplay. It is within site of the marker, on Prospect Road. The house was built around 1850 by George Ponder.


The Ponder family cemetery is located on Fairplay Road, southwest of the marker.

Flat Rock

Identified with the Flat Rock Church and School that existed in the early 20th century, Flat Rock has African American roots that extend back many generations. This area located around present day Bostwick Highway, Sandy Creek Road, and Nolan Store Road in the Harris Militia District, has long had an agricultural character, which included the cultivation of cotton, livestock, and fruit and nut orchards. African Americans were essential to the success of the agrarian economy, and as the economy thrived, so did these communities.



Prior to the organization of Flat Rock, several schools and churches served the African American communities in this area. By 1894 there were two schools for African American children: Brooks Chapel and Holland Springs, which existed until around 1928 and 1957 respectively. Brooks Chapel appears to have served as a school and a church, as the remnants of a damaged cemetery have been identified near the intersection of Bostwick Highway and Sandy Creek Road.

Godfrey (ghost town)

The community was named after Dr. Ervine Godrey, a pioneer settler. A post office called Godfrey was established in 1889, and remained in operation until 1965. The Georgia General Assembly incorporated the place as the "Town of Godfrey" in 1906. The town's charter was dissolved in 1995.



The town of Godfrey was incorporated by the Georgia Legislature on July 25, 1906. However, this community has much older roots. Local lore places the earliest geographical reference to a community in this area called Hamburg. By the early 1800s the community was known as Antioch for the original Antioch church built there around 1809.



By 1839 the area was known as Evansville, perhaps for a local academy that existed there. One of the earliest industries in the area was a grist mill known as Walton’s Mill, operated by the Walton Family. Fire destroyed it around 1950. Mary Perkins Walton, a descendant of the Walton Family, married Dr. James Ervine Godfrey, a former Confederate surgeon. Dr. and Mrs. Godfrey acquired land in this area through her family and owned a plantation called Egypt.



For a time, this community was identified with this plantation, and was called Egypt. The community was later named after Dr. Godfrey when the post office opened in the late 1800s. By 1867 two Baptist churches and one Methodist church had been established. The first school was established in the early 1900s. At its peak the town included eight stores, a bank, barber shop, livery stable, icehouse, cotton gin, warehouse, peach shed, railroad depot, post office, and Walton’s Mill.



Godfrey depended on the Central of Georgia Railroad for passenger service, mail service and transportation of commodities.

Mallory

The early tax records of Morgan County identify the family of "Malry" in the Harris Militia District as early as the 1840s. By the turn of the twentieth century, the community of Mallory existed in the area owned by this family. By 1897, the Mallory community boasted a church, Mallory Chapel, and a school, Mallory School. By 1911, a second school, Longs Academy, served the Harris District. There was also a general store and a post office. The application filed with the postmaster general in 1890 indicates that the post office would serve a community of approximately 2,000 individuals, and noted that "the proposed office is in the midst of an intelligent community that is densely populated."


One of the few old houses left in the community of Mallory.

In close proximity to the center of the Mallory Community was a grist mill on Big Sandy Creek operated by the Gibbs family. There were also two cotton gins in proximity to the community. One was located approximately two miles south, at the intersection of present-day Bostwick Highway and Sandy Creek Roads. The other one was located approximately two miles north at the intersection of present-day Bostwick Highway and Nolan Store Road, a community that later was identified as Drexel.

Oconee River Railroad Bridge





Parks Mill




Parks Home relocated for Lake Oconee.





Pennington

The Pennington Community was named for the Pennington family who first acquired land from ceded Native American territories. In 1784 as recognition for his service in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, Thomas Pennington was given a land grant of 287 ½ acres in the then Washington County.


The Pennington Home, c.1847 - The home is still occupied today by the Pennington family.

By the year 1882, Pennington had both a post office and a country store. Pennington Methodist Church was dedicated in 1890 and in 1905 a two-room schoolhouse was educating the area children to seven grade levels. The Pennington home place, built in 1847, is still used by the family and community, and although the school was destroyed, the church, store and several other residential and agricultural structures dating to the mid-19th century still mark the heart of this historic community. The Newton family, also prominent in the area, donated land for the church and cemetery.


The Pennington Store - The old store building has been maintained, but is no longer in use as a general store for the Pennington community.

Early agriculture was based on cotton, dairy, timber, peaches and seed crops.Currently the dominant agricultural interests are timber, beef and dairy farms.



Pennington Seed Company, founded in 1945 by Brooks Pennington, Sr., had it's beginning in 1945 as a small seed store on Main Street in Madison, Georgia. Brooks Pennington, Sr., the company’s founder, originally started out supplying the local farmers and ranchers with quality cotton, soybean and agricultural grass seeds. As Brooks Pennington, Jr. began running the business, Pennington moved out of the retail seed business and set its sights on supplying agricultural seed to retailers across the southeastern U.S. The company began to concentrate on the grass seed business, first for pastures and forage products and later for lawns and turf. As the company’s grass seed business grew, Pennington found itself growing the best grass seed on the market. Over the years, Pennington extended its growing facilities into Missouri, Arizona and eventually to the fertile Willamette Valley in Oregon.



It has grown to serve the local, national and international markets.

Swords




Swords Marker and the Swords United Methodist Church

WW II B-25C Airplane Crash

In the early afternoon of January 10, 1945, residents of the south-western portion of Morgan County were witnesses to the crash of a B-25C airplane in a field near the intersection of present- day Godfrey Road and Walton's Mill Road. The plane had taken off from Greenville Army Air Base in Greenville, South Carolina, and it was on a low altitude rendezvous mission at 500 feet.



Witnesses to the accident reported seeing the airplane flying below altitude and very close to the trees. According to published reports from Army Air Forces, after striking a tree the plane crashed to the ground and burst into flames. Witnesses reported seeing smoke coming from the plane before it crashed, suggesting mechanical failure. The official report filed with the AAF Office of Flying Safety identifies a possible loss of power on right engine as a contributing factor to the crash, but the underlying cause is listed as “unknown.” Casualties were: Lt. Calvin Elden Stocking, 21, pilot, Greenville, SC; Lt. Samuel James Strong, 21, co-pilot, Bakersfield, CA; Lt. Frank H. Bartels, 25, bombardier-navigator, Ronceverte, WV; Cpl. William E. Thrash, 20, engineer gunner, Murphreesboro, AK, and Cpl. Robert Deana Rogers, 19, radio-gunner, Maplewood, NJ. The local newspaper Madisonian noted on January 19, 1945, "the sympathy of the people of Morgan County goes out unstintingly to those whose homes are bereaved by this unfortunate accident."


B-25C crash Australia.

Morgan County still maintains its rural character, though it is within an hour of Atlanta on Interstate 20 and thirty minutes from Athens and the University of Georgia. Well-known residents of the county include historian Albert B. Saye


A portrait of Albert B. Saye hangs in Demosthenian Hall at the University of Georgia. Saye taught at the university for fifty-five years, until his death in 1989.

And self-taught artist George Andrews, the father of artist Benny Andrews and writer Raymond Andrews.


George Andrews - Dot Man


Benny Andrews


Raymond Andrews

There will be a whole host of notable people when we do our second part tangent on Morgan County with a deep dive on Madison in our next post.  Hard Labor brought us to this part of the state as our Natural Wonder, today's GNW Gal's are in just that ... Hard Labor.