Georgia Natural Wonder #191 - Yellow River - Shoals of Porterdale. 1,484

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #191 - Yellow River - Porterdale Shoals

We return to the Yellow River for our third Natural Wonder on this River, the rapids of Porterdale Mills.



Now we already came to Newton County with our post GNW #91 on the Factory Shoals on the Alcovy River. That is a tremendous white water spot with the Big Ben rapid dumping straight into Lake Jackson. We did a history tangent on Newton County with GNW #91 (Part 2). We did a third post on Newton County with GNW #116 on the Alcovy Conservation Center. We were covering Swamps of Georgia and there is a significant Tupelo Gum Tree Swamp in Newton County. So this is our fourth post on Newton County as the Yellow River comes flowing through east of the Alcovy River.

Yellow River Trail

We continue down the Yellow River Trail from Rockdale County. Except for mandatory portage at the mill dams and sewage pipes, you can float this river 76 miles.



Mt. Tabor Bridge Road Access

Mt. Tabor Road access is the northern access point for the Yellow River Water Trail in Newton County. Wildlife is abundant in this flatwater, tree -lined section of the river. Great Blue Herons, North American River Otters, and American Beavers are just a few of the companions that you might encounter on your trip. You will paddle past historic bridge columns from the civil war era, under a working train trestle, Interstate-20, and local roads.



At normal water levels, there are several sandbars suitable for picnics or fishing. Between I-20 and the Brown Bridge Road crossing there are two large tandem pipes that will require portaging, which is a simple navigation. If the river is three feet or more above normal water levels, this pipe will not be visible. As you arrive at Porterdale’s Yellow River Park, you will find an excellent boat launch area along with picnic tables and hiking trails near the parking area.



From the Yellow River Park, the Heart Island up river and the Porterdale mill dam, down river, are an easy paddle.


Heart Island up river.


Porterdale mill dam, down river.

Cedar Shoals Park -  River Front Road Access Point

This section of the Yellow River Water Trail begins at Porterdale’s Riverfront Park along Riverfront Road, where there are picnic tables and benches here courtesy of the City of Porterdale. At normal water levels, boats can be launched above the class I-II shoals located below the dam.



This section transitions from shoals to a long and scenic flatwater paddle with very few sandbars or places to stop along the route. One area along the riverbank is home to a large number of vultures that are frequently seen sunning themselves in the tops of the trees.


What you wanna do? Now don't start that again!

If you paddle quietly, you may be able to sneak up on other wildlife such as North American River Otters, Belted Kingfishers, and even one of Georgia’s threatened species such as Bald Eagles or Alligator Snapping Turtles.

American Whitewater


White Wedding.

Shuttle directions.

From I-20 take Hwy 81 South from Covington and the run starts in downtown Porterdale.



River Description

When you see the mill, you are at the put in.



There is an abandoned gas station on the North side of the bridge that has been used for parking.


From the bridge above the dam.

The best put in is to put into the river on the northwest corner of the bridge on public property. Then float a few yards down to take out just before you reach the 12 foot high dam.



Portage on river right and put back in just below the dam.



To get to the take out, go North on Hwy 81 close to the edge of town and turn right on River Front Road. Follow the road till you get to the river on the right. There is a parking area with a trash can. The run is about 1/4 mile of III+ ledges then about a mile or two of II-III.



AT HIGHER WATER THIS RUN INCREASES DRASTICALLY IN DIFFICULTY

Rocky Plains Road or Pickett Bridge are probably better and shorter takeouts. The major rapid on this section in Porterdale and at Cedar Shoals.



Unfortunately it is now posted so the area might be closed to boaters. For more info see the comments below. Local boater Will Gosney has talked to area authorities and has been given a green light to paddle the river.



Will Gosney: 2004-11-14: We ran at about 340 cfs and is was still too low. I would think about 500+ would be more realistic. No problems from the police or residents about portaging the dam on river right.



At very high water levels, it appears that several undercut rocks would come in to play and you might want to avoid the big (house sized) rock on river right at the end of the run as it is undercut and the current might flow that direction.

River Features

Dam - Distance: 0.01 mile - Portage The Dam

Cedar (Porterdale) Shoals - Class: III+Distance: 0.01 mi

Put in after portaging the 12 foot dam on river right. Run the right side at lower flows.



At higher flows a left hand channel opens up.



At really high flows this rapid can approach Class V



Flood stage 2009.



More mellow water level.







Middle (Cedar) Shoals - Class: III - Distance: 1 mile



Boulder field type rapid at lower flows requires picking your way down.



Big boulders across river from park.


Flood stage.



Takeout Rapid - Class: III Distance: 2 miles



Working your way among the boulder fields, there is some nice surfing at the bottom.



Porterdale Yellow River Park

We finish our post on the Natural Wonder of the Yellow River with my visit to the parks along the Yellow River in Newton County. Back above the dam of Porterdale Mill is the Yellow River Park. It is home to the Yellow River Park Disc Golf. 



The 18-hole course disc golf course winds in and out of a wetlands wooded area creating a unique challenge and plenty of fun for the beginner to more experienced player. Other facilities, in the  approximately 38 acre park,  include shaded picnic areas with grills and picnic tables, paved walking trails, a nature trail, an Audubon Bird Sanctuary and grassed commons area with plenty of open space for the younger one to safely run off steam with kite flying,lawn games and pick up ball games and a canoe/kayak launch.



The Yellow River Park is a family friendly trail located in historic Porterdale, Ga. The city has put a tremendous amount of effort into the park over the last few years, and the park is very well maintained. The park has a .25 mile paved loop and the total trail is roughly a mile. There is plenty of parking and access to a kayak launch for the Yellow River water trail. There is also a Frisbee golf course!

TRD Addendum

Now I walked across the bridge of Highway 81 and the Porterdale Police Officer I spoke to said you could access the river just across the bridge just stay on the shore. Do not get over to far from the shore because this is private property.


My tour guide Shante from the Porterdale History Tour said there was the State's first Kindergarten over here.


Panoramic walking across bridge looking downstream.


Large field across from mill.

I got some nice pictures of the rapids but I could not get below the rapids like I did back in the 1990's.





The beautiful Porterdale Mill Shoals.



I was able to hack through the underbrush by the Mill on the other shore, but I was blocked from going downstream by this spillway of rushing water.



Coming back up by that un-restored Mill on the other shore.



I drove into the driveway of the house across from the mill.



Fern covered tree in this driveway.



Shante drove me downstream to the Cedar Shoals Park.



The water treatment plant is just below this park preventing downstream access.

But there is a wonderful shoals right at the park with picnic tables for a whole day of fun.





Cedar Shoals Park.



Now I did not see, this but some fellows on Flickr say there are small caves in the rocks of Cedar Shoals.



We found two small caves at Cedar Shoals. Both are developed among huge boulders of gneiss. To the best of our knowledge these are the only known caves in Newton County.



Moving from just the river, we find all sorts of history. I even paid to go on a walking tour of Porterdale.

Civil War

There is a missing Historical marker right at the I-20 Access Road crossing the Yellow River.

Marker Text*: On Nov. 17, 1864, the 14th Corps [US], Maj. Gen J.C. Davis, which had camped along this road in and west of Lithonia (14 miles NW) the night before, marched to the Yellow River and camped for the night. General Davis’ headquarters were on the west bank in this area; those of Maj. Gen. W.T. Sherman, who was accompanying the 14th Corps from Atlanta to Milledgeville, were on the railroad a mile west of the river.

Both the railroad and wagon bridges over the Yellow River having been destroyed in July by Garrard’s Cavalry [US] and the river being unfordable, two pontoon bridges (120 feet each) were laid during the night by the pontoniers of the Left Wing, Col. George B. Buell’s 58th Indiana Veteran Volunteer Infantry.

Next day, the troops and trains of the 14th Corps crossed on the pontoons and marched through Covington to the Ulcofauhachee (Alcovy) River, four miles beyond the town. To expedite the crossing of that stream, one bridge was taken up and moved forward to the Alcovy and relaid. That night, the 14th Corps camped east of Covington on both banks of the Alcovy, its advance on the Eatonton road. General Sherman’s headquarters were at Judge Harris’ “Quarters”, near the road junction east of the river.

During these first three days of the March to the Sea, Davis’ column marched more than forty miles, destroyed the track and station facilities of the Georgia Railroad from Lithonia to the Yellow River, and crossed two rivers on its own pontoons.


We found this marker talking about the Yellow River and Covington on the Stoneman Raid.

Porterdale

Wikipedia tell us that Porterdale is a town in Newton County, Georgia, the United States. The population was 1,429 at the 2010 census.

History

Now I found this time line of Porterdale History.

1813  Oliver Porter served as trustee of the old Mercer University.
1828 The Salem Camp Ground, located about half way between Covington and Porterdale was erected.
1830 Located on the banks of the Yellow River, Georgia, were a few scattered houses referred to as Boston Settlement.
1830 The Baptist were the first to organize a church with fifty members.
1831 Joseph Harris granted Phillips and Persall land near the foundry with water privileges for wool carding and the cotton factory.
1832 The Baptist built a church located on the road to McDonough, Georgia.
1835/63 Partnerships changed hands many times.
1859 Charles Camp, a merchant of nearby Covington, purchased one-half interest in the mills from Noah Phillips who had acquired sole ownership of the mills, for eleven thousand dollars. The properties included the grist mill, sawmill, lath mill and the brick buildings for the chair factory. It also included carding machinery with all the water power on premises, known as Cedar Shoals, and all buildings and dwellings therein.
1869 Oliver S. Porter married Julia A. McCrackin.
1871        Porter Place built by Oliver S. Porter and named, "Cedar Shoals Place"
1871 Oliver S. Porter, sold the estate of Charles Camp in Covington, Georgia and moved his family to Cedar Shoals.
1871 Oliver Porter and David W. Spence bought, for one hundred thousand dollars, all the property in the settlement, including the brick mill that had been built.
1882 John Wesley Ivey brought his family to Newton County.
1890      Oliver S. Porter sold to Porterdale Mills eight hundred ten acres. It included the place Mr. Porter then lived, known as Cedar Shoals Place, together with mills, factories, sawmill, houses, machinery, tools and appliances in each, and all of them with water power and privileges connected.  The total price of the package was fifty thousand dollars. With the naming of the mills, the village also took the name of Porterdale.
1897 An agreement between W. T. Smith and J. F. Vining of the first part, and Porterdale Mills, Inc. of the second part, allowed Porterdale Mills Inc. to raise the present dam across yellow river to any height they saw fit to increase water supply.
1898 The Porterdale Mill was purchased by the Bibb Manufacturing Company of Macon, Georgia.
1899 Bibb Manufacturing Company built a twine mill on the North side of the Yellow River and it was named Porterdale Mill.



On March 10, 1917 the voters of the district known as Cedar Shoals voted to incorporate the town and rename it Porterdale after Oliver S. Porter, a local mill owner.



Judge Charles W. Smith recorded it on March 19, 1917.



Believed to have been named for Oliver S. Porter, who purchased the thread factory here from Enoch Steadman, who had built the plant about 1868. The mill was in 1898 merged with Bibb Manufacturing Company of Macon.



Porterdale, Ga is one of many small towns that were based around textile mills. The mills were the centerpiece of the area and employed the majority of the local population.



These towns were largely founded in the early 1900s. The advent of the global economy has sent these "mill towns" into economic collapse in the latter part of the 20th century. Porterdale is mainly known for its textile mill which still runs today.



Formerly the Bibb Company and later Dan River, Porterdale resides straddling the Yellow River where the Mill used to get its power from. The old part of the mill which is alongside the dam on the Yellow River is Mill Loft apartments.



In the eighties and nineties, the mill alongside the dam was a flea market that housed many events including wrestling. The nature of the closeness of the houses in this "mill town" extend to the closeness of the community.



TRD Tour of Porterdale

There is a Walking Tour of Porterdale Georgia. Notice my favorable Trip Advisor Review.

Gal named Shante is the owner and guide and she was great. We started out at the Porter Gymnasium downtown by the bridge over the Yellow River.





Only the brick walls remain as it burned years ago.



The Mill bell was saved.





The wrought Iron up front was produced locally.



Shante had all the keys so we were able to wander inside almost everything.





The local women's club has offices in this old Gym building.


Restored table and shrine to Betty Jaynes.

There was a rather famous female basketball figure from Porterdale. Betty Jaynes was the first executive director of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and is inducted into several sports halls of fame.


Jaynes became the head coach of the women's basketball team at James Madison University in 1970 until 1982.

Ode To Betty by Darrell Huckaby

After the Gym, we walked up to one of the downtown churches.



Looking across the Mill town.



One side of Main Street is office conversions from the Mill Buildings.



The other side of Main Street shows buildings from the early 1900's. Home of Madd Lulu a little sandwich smoothie shop. The mother of the owner was holding down the fort for her daughter. Note the courtyard for outdoor lunch, etc.



Shante took me inside a community room downtown.



Pretty lively spot when something going on. Can imagine the shindigs of the past.



We saw the old train depot location. A sidewalk where the tracks use to be.



Old train cars provide a side space storage for the Depot.



Old train rails used for support columns.



I got a Otis style visit to city jail.



Ironic the last prisoner here was for public drunkenness.



But the best part of the tour was getting to walk through the converted Mill Lofts.


They used this pulley for loading trucks.



One of the first elevators in Newton County. Outdoor pump house for dam.



Lower level of mill cut right into bedrock.



Outside the mill above the dam.



Walking the halls of the Mill now Lofts. Some of the rope for the Titanic was made here.



Ride the twine wrapper all day.



Left some of the porcelain tile they had most recently covered the brick walls with back in the 1940's. They were restoring the brick surface. Shante leading me around.



Big iron doors hang in place. Restored floors everywhere.



Wandering all through the Mill Complex. Significant percentage of the rope for World War I and World War II was produced here.



The Dungeon. Shante had me imagine being down here all dank, cloud of rope dust.





Went overboard with photos of Mill.



Grilling on the river.



Looking out on the 191st Natural Wonder of Georgia. Attempted panoramic.



They had a separate electric building.



And a water building.



Inter connecting buildings.



Then Shante had me follow her as we drove through the mill town today.


There was an even bigger Mill away from the River that was never restored.


All fenced up.


Shante says this old man use to work in the Mill.



Porterdale Mill Houses.



Porterdale Victorian Houses.



Porterdale Hotel then.



Porterdale Hotel today.



Notable people

Robert C. Blankenship was decorated with the Dutch Military Order of William (the Dutch equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor) for his bravery in Operation Market Garden; born in Porterdale.


Operation Market Garden World War II.

Raymond Moody psychologist and author who coined the term near-death experience; born in Porterdale.



B.C. Crowell was director of Athletics at Bibb Manufacturing Company back in 1950's and 1960's. Also a middle school Football Coach for years. Here he is with Vince Dooley at an event years ago honoring Newton County coaches.



Yellow River Drag Strip

We can't come to the Yellow River in Porterdale without a tangent on the worst motor sports accident in American history.



In the 1950's-60’s, the Yellow River Drag Strip was no more than a mere stretch of pavement that ran through a basin in Western Newton County. But the simple landscape didn’t make this race venue any less-popular.



It’s been said that Yellow River was among the most prevalent drag strips of that time. Noted drag racers of the time such as “Dyno Don” Nicholson, Malcolm Durham, Huston Platt, Don Carlton, Phil Bonner, Ronnie Sox, Hoyt Grimes, and Big Daddy "Swamprat" competed at the Yellow River strip.



The former Yellow River Dragstrip, located between the Atlanta-area cities of Covington and Conyers, was, like the vast majority of southern strips at the time, a small line of pavement running through a hollow and offering virtually zero safety measures or fan protection. Only small dirt banks with chain-link fences lined the edges of the strip, and fans could practically reach out and touch the cars as they blasted by.



Area race fans would materialize out of the woods and pay a few bucks a head to watch. Fans would line the very edges of the strip, some reveling in the racing while others waved wads of cash as they made side bets. Despite earning recognition for some great match racing among the sports elite during its time, Yellow River will forever be best known as the site of one of the darkest moments in racing history.


Huston Platt and an earlier version of his Dixie Twister funny car.

On March 2, 1969, Georgia drag racing legend Huston Platt was racing his “Dixie Twister” Funny Car alongside Frank Oglesby on the narrow, sandy Yellow River track when a fan was said to have reached out on the track to retrieve a beer can as Platt deployed his parachute. The man was swept up in the chute, killing him instantly. It tore the car to hell. The man got caught up under the car, got his head cut off. It must have dragged him at least 100 feet. The weight of the victim’s body in the chute caused the car’s body to sling shot off the chassis, sending it into the crowd while the chassis stayed on the track. 11 people were killed and 40 were injured in what remains the worst racing disaster ever in the United States.


Chassis still on track with headless beer can retriever under sheet.

The official Atlanta-Journal Constitution printed this statement on the following day:

"At the 1,000-foot mark, Huston heard what he thought was a ‘bang,’ and lifted off the throttle, at the same time deploying the parachute. The preliminary pop chute was quickly followed by the main chute, which filled quickly. Witnesses reported that a spectator ran to the edge of the track and was swept up in the fully blossomed chute. Some reports had him trying to retrieve a beer can from the track."


The circled area shows the scene of the accident at Yellow River. An investigation cleared Platt's name in the crash.

The driver of the car Huston Platt, 35, of Atlanta, walked away uninjured. His wife, contracted by telephone by the Associated Press, said he was treated at a hospital for shock, then taken home and put to bed. He was unable to speak about the accident to anyone, she said. "I was on the starting line," said Mrs. Platt. "He (her husband) told someone he heard a loud explosion and he pulled his chute but it went out of control anyway." Parachutes are used to help brake the cars.



Rick Lynch, an official of the American Hot Rod Association, who was at the race, estimated the speed of both cars in the two-car race as 180 miles an hour. The driver of the other car, Frank Oglesby of Hammond, Ind., stopped his car at the end of the drag strip, and ran back to the scene, where he tried to help.



Sidney Castleberry, Jr., 25, of Kennesaw, Ga., said the car left the track about 250 feet from the finish line. "It came fishtailing toward the area where my father and the rest of us - my brother and a friend were standing. As soon as we saw him leave the track, we all began running away. The car hit the fence where we had been standing. When the dust began to clear. I looked around and began to look for my father. I couldn't find him. I went back and found him lying 15 to 20 feet away," said Castleberry.

Spectators Warned.

An announcer warned spectators before the race to get out from in front of the fence, but nobody seemed to do it. People were terror-stricken. They were screaming and yelling. Some were trapped between parked cars they were sitting on and the fence. Another eyewitness, Charles David Franklin, said he saw one man on the ground with a fence post in his chest.

Bob Mitcham, Newton County Hospital administrator, identified the dead as:

HAROLD RUFFNER, 26, of Decatur, Georgia.
DOLLY HARRISON, 16, of Atlanta.
RONNIE JORDAN, 18, of Kennesaw, Georgia.
FRANK WESSINGER, 17, Bowdon, Georgia.
JEFF WATKINS, 9, Decatur, Georgia.
JIMMY BREEDLOVE, 17, Lawrenceville, Georgia.
KENNETH AKINS, 20, Graham, Alabama.
EDGAR LOFTIS, 65, Marion, North Carolina.
JAMES RICHARD BONNER, Greensboro, Georgia.
WELDON WINSLOW PRICE, 17, Union Point, Georgia.
LINDA DIANNE TINSLEY, 18, Atlanta.

Robert Clay, 20, of Covington, who witnessed the crash from the grandstand, said: "I saw the car go out of control and saw fiberglass start flying through the air," he said, trembling as he waited at the Newton County Hospital. "I hollered for everybody to jump off the grandstand and just as I jumped I saw a piece (of fiberglass) hit a little boy in the head as his father picked him up." "The little boy died in the car at the first red light," he said.



Investigators said the poor and unsafe track conditions were to blame for the accident at Yellow River. It was considered a motivation for all motorsports safety officials and directors to begin revising the regulations and codes. As a result of the tragedy, motorsports, and it’s spectators are safer.


Earlier accident for Platt at another track.

Officials began implementing new regulations that increased the footage spectators were to remain from the track. Spectators were no longer allowed to be in the pits during “hot times”. Guard rails and concrete replaced chicken wire and wooden fence posts. Track widths and lengths were increased to allow for driver correction and more slow-down time. The PA boxes were relocated from the hot zone to a safer, less congested area. And most importantly, all tracks were required to maintain liability insurance.


Twister was found and restored.

Yellow River, one of Georgia’s most popular race tracks, closed its gates after that fateful day and never held another race. The strip eventually became the road through a mobile home community, but the strip itself and the treacherous uphill, curving shutdown area is still evident. Fortunately, following that tragic event at Yellow River, uninsured, unsanctioned tracks became a thing of the past and the sport that often turned a blind eye to safety began a push toward a higher standard of safety for racers and fans alike.



It was the final event ever held at the track. A mobile home park now occupies the site, with the dragstrip serving as the main road through the property.


TRD at the starting line.


About where the accident happened.


Road keeps going at dead end.

OK That wraps up our explorations of the Yellow River. It is worthy of a float as long as the water is not too high or polluted. We finish our post with Georgia Natural Wonder Gals and by process of elimination Mill Gals - Kayak Gals - today we feature Funny Car Gals.