Georgia Natural Wonder #173 - Sweetwater Creek State Park - Douglas Co (Part 1). 1190

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #173 - Sweetwater Creek State Park - Douglas County (Part 1)

"The extraordinary beauty of the rugged hills, rocky outcrops, and rolling rapids of Sweetwater Creek have shaped centuries of history engaging you to reconnect with the natural world."



We are approaching 200 on this Natural Wonder Forum and we still haven't touched on the Atlanta Area much. We covered Cobb County and Bartow County. We touched on DeKalb County with Stone Mountain and Arabia Mountain. Fulton County gave us several post on Roswell. Gwinnett County and Clayton County have been shut out. Today, we break the ice on Douglass County.



During the Civil War, Union forces burned the New Manchester Manufacturing Company on July 9, 1864. Today its ruins lie in the Sweetwater Creek State Park in Douglas County. The creek, mill ruins, and surrounding land were preserved by the Georgia Conservancy in the late 1960s.

Sweetwater Creek State Park

Sweetwater Creek State Park is a 2,549 acre Georgia state park in east Douglas County, 15 miles from downtown Atlanta. The park is named after Sweetwater Creek which runs through it. Cherokee people were forcibly removed from the area and it eventually became home to the New Manchester Manufacturing Company and mill town of New Manchester. During the American Civil War the textile mill and general store were burned down by the Union Army and the women and children taken away and eventually sent to Louisville, Kentucky and Indiana as refugees.



Sweetwater became an official state park in 1972, driven in great part by the work of the Georgia Conservancy, an environmental organization that was formed during a meeting at Sweetwater Creek in 1967.



The park features wooded walking and hiking trails, the George Sparks Reservoir, a visitor center, a bait shop, and a gift shop, as well as the ruins of the New Manchester Manufacturing Company.


George Sparks Reservoir

The Visitor Center displays artifacts that belong to Native Americans, remnants from the Civil War era, and mounted animals and birds.



The park has rich biodiversity, geology, and history. The park's mission is to conserve environment for the present and future generations through use of various conservation methods such as bio-retention ponds, solar panels, green roofs, and a composting toilet.

History

Cherokee removal and land lotteries

The area of the Sweetwater Creek park used to belong to the Cherokee and according to a legend “Sweetwater” means the name of Chief Ama-Kanasta. During the Revolutionary War period, a Cherokee chief named Ama Kanasta had his wigwam near what is now Lithia Springs, Georgia. In addition to the needs of hunting game and kindling council fires, Chief Ama Kanasta may have had an additional interest in residing at this particular location. It is said he believed in the healing virtue of the water and therefore, would gather his tribe in close proximity to the spring.


Lithia Springs - our next GNW?

On the granite surrounding the spring, seats appear to have been chiseled out by early inhabitants to form an amphitheater. Tribal members may have sat in these seats while praying for healing. In addition, there is also evidence that the area may have been used as a "resort" during the time of the Revolutionary War.


Frog Rock. Chief Ama-Kanasta led his people to curative waters at Salt Springs/Lithia Springs believing the waters were natural remedies for rheumatism and arthritis….later it was said the lithium content aided good emotional well being.


Lithia Springs Pavilion.

In 1827, the state of Georgia began to divide the Cherokee lands through lotteries. In 1829, just elected president Andrew Jackson and an ally of the state of Georgia, sided with the state. Even though the U.S. Supreme Court’s decree stated that Georgia had no right to forbid the Cherokee government claims to the land. In 1831, the Georgia’s General Assembly arranged all Cherokee land inspected and distributed by lottery. In 1838, federal troops started forcing the Cherokee to leave Georgia and Alabama and about 20,000 were forced to west to Oklahoma via the Trail of Tears.


Lithia Springs Resort.

Despite the absence today of these early, if not first, inhabitants of the Douglasville area, Georgia's longest creek bears the translated name of Chief Ama Kanasta, "Sweetwater".


TRD taking photos of Georgia Natural Wonder #173.

In Georgia's Gold Lottery of 1832, Philip J. Crask won 40-acre Lot 929 in District 18 of the Second Section and paid $18 grant fee. In 1837, Lot 929 was sold at an auction for $12.50 to John Boyle, who in 1845 sold it for $500 to Charles James McDonald of Cobb County, a former governor of Georgia, and Colonel James Rogers of Milledgeville.  Built in the late 1840s, the mill predates Douglas County itself and was financed by some of Georgia’s most prominent citizens of the day. Investors included McDonald and a man named William John Russell. Can't really find anything about him, but he was the father of the man, the UGA Library is named after. He was the grandfather of famed U.S. Sen. Richard B. Russell Jr. of Georgia.


Governor Charles James McDonald and Judge Richard Brevard Russell, Sr.

Richard Brevard Russell, Sr.. was born in Marietta on April 27, 1861, to Rebecca Harriette Brumby and William John Russell. His father was a prosperous middle-class textile manufacturer who lost all of his possessions in the Civil War (1861-65). The eldest of six children, Russell grew up determined to reclaim the family's prominence by serving his state in political office. He attended the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia and graduated in 1879 with a Bachelor of Arts degree at the age of eighteen and with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the UGA School of Law the following year. Russell was the only person to serve on both the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Georgia until Keith Blackwell's appointment in 2012. Richard and Ina Russell had fifteen children. Their oldest son, Richard B. Russell Jr., was a governor of Georgia and a long-serving and powerful member of the United States Senate. A younger son, Robert Lee Russell, served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Grandson was Robert Lee Russell, Jr. Georgia state house representative and Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals.



Russell Family Cemetery Winder Georgia.



In 1846, Rogers and McDonald started building a water-powered mill along Sweetwater Creek and on December 21, 1849, the five-story mill was in operation. Tucked away on an old trail once frequented by Native Americans and pioneers sits a piece of Georgia history established more than a decade before the Civil War. McDonald and Rogers incorporated their business as Sweetwater Manufacturing Company, which made cotton, yarn and fabric. In 1858, McDonald renamed the Sweetwater Manufacturing Company as New Manchester Manufacturing Company after the center of the British textile industry, Manchester, England. By 1860, the factory produced 700 pounds of cotton per day, which was transformed into 120 bunches of yarn and 500 yards of osnaburg.



The tall manufacturing building was created straight from the natural resources at hand, the mill used the rushing waters of Sweetwater Creek to power a cotton mill that supported an entire factory town during its heyday. The mill is an engineering feat. Built mostly by slave labor, it involved the construction of a large millrace to channel water from Sweetwater Creek through a 45,000-pound, 16-foot-long wheel that powered the mill’s operations.




Millrace with deck over.

Each of the five floors specialized in part of the process of making yarn or osnaburg cloth. The raw product would eventually by turned into yarn that kept the whole enterprise afloat. The mill in Douglas County had more than 100 employees at one time, and it was taller than any building in Atlanta when it first opened in 1849.


TRD attempted 1990's panorama that would not stitch.

About 100 workers lived on-site in a small town centered around the textile operations and shopped at the company store. While some may consider it strange that weddings are held at such a historic place today, there is some evidence weddings were held there even during its operations.



According to Douglas County historian and author Lisa Cooper. “Even today you can tell how massive the mill was during its heyday. At five stories tall, the mill was the largest manufacturing site north of Macon,” Cooper said. “The mill building not only served as a workplace, but a social center for the village.”



The mill was enormously profitable during the 1850s, and initially became even more so due to the war. According to Cooper’s research, mill owners pumped $15,000 into the textile business for new machinery and buildings in 1860, and reaped rewards in the form of a $24,902 order from the Confederate States Army.



“They were aware of the huge potential regarding the rushing waters of Sweetwater Creek,” Cooper said. “It was said to be one of the best sources for water power in this section of the state mainly due to the interesting topography along the Brevard Fault.”



Civil War era

But despite a relatively remote location, it didn’t escape Gen. William T. Sherman’s troops during the War between the States. Confederate troops that had protected the area surrounding the mill were forced into retreat. In the summer of 1864, during the Atlanta Campaign, General Joseph E. Johnston removed the Confederate Army across the Chattahoochee River, leaving the New Manchester factory exposed to the Union Army.



On July 2, 1864, two divisions of Union cavalry under Colonel Silas Adams (1st Kentucky) and cavalry under Major Haviland Thompkins (14th Illinois) of General Stoneman’s personnel, approached the factory with orders to shut it down and arrest all the employees.


Sherman troops burn train shed Atlanta.

On July 9, 1864, following orders from William Tecumseh Sherman, Major Thompkins burned the New Manchester mill and general store, leaving a set of ruins visited by curious locals ever since.

Roswell Mill Women

We went into great detail about the Roswell Mill Women in GNW Post #144 (Part 2). The Roswell Mill flew the French flag in an effort to claim neutrality but it was found to be making Confederate Uniforms. The arrested civilian mill employees at New Manchester were moved to Marietta and merged with other mill prisoners, forming a group of 600, all of them women and children. There were no adult male workers in the mill at the time it was captured. All able-bodied men had been called up to fight for the Confederacy in the battle raging around Atlanta. The women mill workers were charged with treason. They spent a week in holding at the Georgia Military Institute. During the week while the women were held in Marietta, several Union soldiers allegedly committed acts of assault against their captives.



The women and children were then sent on by train, many to Louisville, Kentucky, others to Indiana. In towns already overcrowded with refugees, they struggled to survive. Many would die from starvation or exposure until a mill opened in 1865 that provided employment. The ultimate fates of many of these women are unknown, but the majority who survived settled in the North, left to fend for themselves. Only a handful ever returned to Georgia. When their husbands, fathers, brothers, returned from the war, they tried to find their families, but most were never heard from again.



But in the end, the mill burned with the rest of Atlanta. Following the war, it was decided not to rebuild the facility, leaving the town of New Manchester as only a memory, along with famous ruins that visitors see today.

Mill Ruins

Nestled in the lush greenery of Georgia’s Sweetwater Creek State Park, the New Manchester Manufacturing Company ruins have turned into a grotto.



Today the ruins still stand although their history is often overlooked by visitors to the site who stumble upon the once prosperous factory.



Once the war ended the factory was all but forgotten, the crumbling brick walls left to fall apart and be overtaken by the dense Georgia foliage.



When the area around Sweetwater Creek was turned into a state park, trails were forged that led hikers to the increasingly beautiful ruins.



The mill ruins remain and are protected by the Sweetwater Creek State Park, which was founded to protect the ruins and the pristine area around it.



All that remains today are the brick walls and the millrace that leads to the factory's water wheel.



The site is recognizable from the popular “Hunger Games” films.



The mill has already served as a backdrop for movies including 2014's "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1," which featured Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss inside the mill.


TRD overload of Mill Ruins.





Know Before You Go

The Red Trail follows the creek, with plenty of places for kids to play.




Daughter 24 years ago.

One of the best places for kids to play (carefully!) in the water is downstream of the ruins.


Daughter and dad few weeks ago.

Geology

Geologic history

The historical geology of the Sweetwater Creek State Park is divided into three periods such as deposition of sediments, metamorphism and folding, and uplift and erosion.



Deposition

The rocks at the surface at the park were deposited at least 450 million years ago.



A sequence of sediments formed rocks such as shales, sandstones and greywackes.



When these sediments were deposited, the environment was similar to that off the coast of Georgia today. These deposits were formed constantly through layering of older deposits by younger ones.



Later these deposits were covered by basaltic lava. Eventually, the lava cover was mantled by thousands feet of sediments.

Metamorphism and folding

It is likely that the deposition continued until 450 million years before the present causing increase of weight of the sediments in the basin.



When subsidence stopped uplift began due to compression of the subsidence from the sides. Due to the compression, temperature and pressure rose which led to a reformation of the rocks in the basin.



Increasing temperature led to recrystallization of minerals in the rocks. As the result of recrystallization, the micas were preferentially oriented, or oriented in the same position.



Due to this orientation, foliation took place.



Recrystallization and foliation changed the shales, sandstones, greywackes and basalts into mica schists, quartzites, metagraywackes and amphibolites.



It is likely that metamorphism destroyed fossil remains that may have been in the rocks. Metamorphism folding and faulting of the rocks took place.



There were two periods of the folding in the park.



Pressure led to breach of the rocks.



Uplift and erosion

Until approximately 250 million years ago uplift, folding, and faulting of the rocks took place.


Little cliff you have to go up and around. Deck on top. Not as tall as Mill Ruins though.

During and after uplift streams changed landscape.


Daughter's dog made it to deck.

Streams carried away dissolved organic acids and groundwater decomposed the rocks.


Up on deck back in the day.

These processes take place today in the park.



The washed sediments were found in the Coastal Plain of Georgia.



Due to the erosion, rocks previously several miles deep are exposed to the earth's surface.



Environmental conservation

The mission of the Sweetwater Creek State Park is to sustain, enhance, protect and conserve Georgia’s natural, historic and cultural resources for present and future generations.



Wise use of the resources of the park is necessary in order to provide recreational and educational prospects and facilities. The protection of the park resources is critical during fast urban growth. Atlanta grows and its demand for land use increases.



Delicate balance recreation and conservation.



Urbanization creates an urban heat island due to absorption of heat by asphalt and concrete cover. As trees and green cover help to reduce urban heat island effect, the protection of parks is important.



In 1998, the Chattahoochee River was named one of the nations’ most Endangered Rivers by the American Rivers Environmental Group. The river receives a large amount of pollutants brought by rainwater runoff which is due to the urbanization.



One of the goals of the park is protection of the rivers that flow through the park and fish population in those rivers. Due to urban growth, the demand to the park has increased, creating problems with trail compaction and erosion, and unmanageable litter.



The park offers several programs for public to participate in the park conservation including Rivers Alive Cleanup, P2AD-Pollution Prevention, waste management, trail maintenance, and recycling.

Visitor Center

Due to conservation efforts, the Visitor Center was built in a sustainable design in 2006. It is 9,000 square feet building which construction cost $1.5 or $173/SF. The Visitor Center has received the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, which is the highest level attainable. In 2007, the Visitor Center was one of only twenty platinum-rated buildings in the world and it was the first in the Southeast. The building’s reduced impact: 77% reduction in water use, 51% reduction in electricity use, 80% of construction waste diverted from landfill, no increase in stormwater runoff after construction, and daylighting in 83% of interior spaces. The building is built into a hillside to minimize the physical and visual disturbance to the land. To reduce the urban heat island effect and water runoff, two 2,800-square-foot building’s roofs are planted with native plants, green roofs. The green roofs are 12-inch deep.



The sun-controlling feature of the building allows the sun to warm the interior in winter and reduces solar energy in summer. The northern side of the building has clerestory windows that allow indirect sunlight into the building. The southern side of the building has shelves that bounce light into the interior. The building uses photocells and motion sensors for general lighting. Approximately 20% of the building electricity is produced by 10.5 kW photovoltaic arrays consisting of new and recycled solar panels. The building’s long side faces south allowing the solar panels to receive maximum sunlight. The building’s annual energy savings are 57,969 kilowatt-hours which avoid 27 tons of carbon emissions per year.



The Visitor Center uses the existing parking lot, minimizing more disturbance. The park has bioretention ponds to prevent downstream flooding and to filter storm water runoff with aquatic vegetation. The building’s construction materials such as steel structure, aluminum siding and framing are made from recycled materials. The construction waste is recycled. In order to save fuel by avoiding transportation of goods from farther away, the park used masonry stucco, fly-ash concrete and other local materials. In order to save water, the park collects rain water, has a composting toilet, Clivus multrum that uses no potable water, waterless urinals, and pervious concrete.

Georgia State Park Site

Sweetwater Creek has experienced large crowds on certain days. Park staff may temporarily limit access to ensure social distancing and protect the health of the public and our employees. This can include trails, day use areas, boat ramps, and the lake. Please understand that admission may be limited for several hours and will reopen once there is available capacity. Walk-ins and roadside parking will not be allowed. This applies to day-use, not guests with reservations. Thank you for understanding as we keep everyone safe.



Sweetwater Creek State Park is a peaceful tract of wilderness only minutes from downtown Atlanta. A wooded trail follows the stream to the ruins of the New Manchester Manufacturing Company, a textile mill burned during the Civil War. Beyond the mill, the trail climbs rocky bluffs to provide views of the beautiful rapids below. Additional trails wind through fields and forest, showcasing ferns, magnolias, wild azaleas and hardwoods. Park rangers lead informative hikes to these areas throughout the year.



The 215 acre George Sparks Reservoir is popular for fishing and provides a pretty setting for feeding ducks and picnicking. However, there is no beach and swimming in the Reservoir is not allowed. Fishing supplies are available in the adjacent bait shop. During warmer months, the park rents fishing boats, canoes, kayaks, stand-up paddleboards and pedal boats.


Daughter gives signal for y'all to come on out.

Visitors can join the Park Paddlers Club, which challenges them to explore waterways in six state parks. An award-winning Visitor Center - one of the most environmentally responsible buildings in the country - features exhibits on the area’s history, wildlife displays, trail maps, snacks and a renovated gift shop. A window-lined meeting room that seats 40 can be rented for gatherings.


Making sure daughter doesn't fall into tree.


Today's wonder was mostly photographed by Top Row Dawg - Sweetwater Creek!

Douglas County

Douglas County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population was 132,403, having nearly doubled since 1990. The county seat is Douglasville. We have found a few more Natural Wonders in Douglas County so we don't have to do a full County tangent on just this post. But we did want to get started a little bit.

History

Mississippian Indian ceremonial mounds are located throughout Douglas County, and many Native American artifacts, including pottery, tools, and weapons, have been found there. For many years before it was settled by whites, the area was inhabited by Creek and Cherokee Indians. Owing to continuing hostilities, the government drew a boundary line, about one mile east of Douglasville, between the Indians, with the Cherokees confined to the north and the Creeks to the south.



Native American-White relationships had been strained for many years, with savage and abhorrent acts committed by both sides time and again. However, the beginning of the end of widespread Native American settlements in Georgia occurred in July, 1829 when gold was discovered on Cherokee land. The wild influx of squatters strained the relationships beyond breaking.



In 1830 the Indians were forced to cede all their lands east of the Mississippi River to the federal government, and by 1838 they had been expelled from the land and forced to march to present-day Oklahoma along what became known as the Trail of Tears.

Name

The county was created during Reconstruction after the US Civil War.



The Ga General Assembly named it after Stephen A. Douglas, an Illinois senator and the losing Democratic opponent of Abraham Lincoln in the presidential election of 1860.


Forcing Slavery Down the Throat of a Freesoiler – An 1856 cartoon depicts a giant "Free Soiler" being held down by James Buchanan and Lewis Cass standing on the Democratic platform marked "Kansas", "Cuba" and "Central America". Franklin Pierce also holds down the giant's beard as Douglas shoves a black man down his throat. A victim of lynching can also be seen in the background.

This county, created by Act of the Legislature October 1, 1870, was named for Stephen Arnold Douglas, the "Little Giant," a Vermonter who was Congressman from Illinois 1843 to '47, Senator from '47 to '61, and Democratic candidate for President in 1860 on the ticket with Governor Herschel Vespasian Johnson, of Georgia, for Vice President.


Douglass and Johnson. Did not realize a Georgia man ran against Abraham Lincoln ticket.


Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln, with running mate Hannibal Hamlin, steams toward a wagon named "Democratic Platform" that is trapped on the tracks between two teams of candidates. Stephen Douglas and Hershel Johnson pull toward the left, while John Breckinridge and Joseph Lane pull toward the right.

Carved out of Campbell (now defunct) and Carroll counties, Douglas is one of the fifty fastest-growing counties in the United States.The county was created from the part of Campbell county which was northwest of the Chattahoochee River.


1899.

The remainder of Campbell became southwest Fulton at the beginning of 1932.



County seat

The act creating Douglasville only happened after a four-year dispute. In November 1870, voters of the new county would elect county officers, and vote to select the site of the county seat. In the election, some voters chose a site near the center of the county, but a larger number voted for the settlement known as "Skinned Chestnut" or "Skin(t) Chestnut," based on a Creek Indian landmark tree.


Chestnut trees in Douglasville.

The courthouse commissioners chose this site as county seat and proceeded to sell lots and build a courthouse. It later changed its name to Douglasville.


Vansant brothers gave the land for the original courthouse.

A group of citizens filed suit against the commissioners. The case ultimately went to the Supreme Court of Georgia, which ruled against the commissioners. Both sides agreed to postpone further action until the route of the Georgia Western Railroad through Douglas County was determined. The General Assembly enacted legislation on Feb. 28, 1874, directing that an election be held on Apr. 7, 1874, to determine the location of the county seat - but with the provision that the site be located on the Georgia Western Railroad. In the election, voters confirmed Douglasville as the county seat. On Feb. 25, 1875, the General Assembly incorporated Douglasville.



The 1896 Courthouse burned down in 1956.



In 1881 the Georgia Western Railroad, now the Pacific Railway Company, began construction on a railroad that would stretch from Atlanta to Birmingham, Alabama. The construction had been delayed owing to the Civil War (1861-65) and the bankruptcy of the original owners. The railroad, which ran through Douglas County, was finally completed in 1883.



The core area of downtown Douglasville is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an historic district; an outstanding example of a turn-of-the-century southern railroad town. The majority of the buildings are one- and two-story brick structures dating from the mid-19th century into the early to mid-20th century.



Most are of Victorian era commercial design set flush with the sidewalk. Styles of the buildings include Victorian with details of the Romanesque, Italiante, and Queen Anne periods.



Many of the doorways and windows have Gothic arched openings and hooded windows. The dominant landscape feature is the railroad right-of-way running east-to-west through downtown.


Around the turn of the twentieth century, therapeutic mineral waters in Lithia Springs attracted many wealthy people to the area until 1912, when the resort hotel there was destroyed by fire.


The Sweetwater Park Hotel, located near Lithia Springs, was a popular resort during the early years of the twentieth century.

This looks like a good place to end this post as our next Natural Wonder is being infringed upon.



Today's Georgia Natural Wonder Gals are Sweetwater Brewery Girls.