Georgia Natural Wonder #200 - Lexington/Oglesby Granite Belt-Elbert Co.(Part 1) 1,068

[Top Row Dawg]

Lexington - Oglesby Blue Granite Belt - Elbert County (Part 1)

Here we are on our 200th Georgia Natural Wonder, and it is ironic that we started our Forum with one of the two now demoted original 7 Natural Wonders of Georgia, the Longswamp Marble Vein - GNW #1. Now here we are at Georgia Natural Wonder #200 with the Lexington-Oglesby Blue Granite Belt. Start with quarries of Marble, end up here at Wonder #200 with quarries of Granite. It has taken us 244 post to get here, as we overloaded with 44 History post.



Tucked away in the northeastern Georgia Piedmont between the Savannah and Broad rivers lies the city of Elberton, also known as the granite capital of the world. Currently, more than 150 sheds and manufacturing plants turn rough blocks of granite extracted from 45 area quarries into finished memorials, markers, and mausoleums. These granite products are subsequently shipped to customers all over the world.



At least one monument or marker made from Elberton's granite has been placed in all fifty states; the granite is also found in several foreign countries. In recent years Elberton's stone industry has produced an average of 250,000 granite markers and monuments annually. In all, a total of 280 separate companies operated businesses in granite production or related services in Elberton in 2003.



Elbert County sits upon a subterranean bed of granite in the Piedmont geologic province, identified at the turn of the twentieth century as the Lexington - Oglesby Blue Granite Belt.



It measures about fifteen miles wide and twenty-five miles long and stretches into nearby Oglethorpe and Madison counties.



In the county's early history, the granite was seen more as a nuisance rather than as an industry, especially for residents primarily engaged in agricultural activities. Early uses of the granite involved the creation of rough grave markers and foundation and chimney stone for homesteads.



After the Civil War (1861-65), however, new possibilities for Elberton's granite began to emerge. In 1882, Elberton's first quarry was opened near the Broad River to get constructional stone for use by one of the local railroads.



By 1885 a second quarry, located about four miles north of the town, was also opened. As in earlier times, quarried granite, in addition to being used for local railroads, was a preferred material in both home construction and landscaping.

Elbert County Granite Industry Workers

In 1889 the Swift and Wilcox quarry, owned by granite pioneers Thomas M. Swift and W. M. Wilcox and located just outside the city limits, began operation. At the time Swift and Wilcox employed almost thirty workers at the site, including seven immigrants - the first of many foreigners who would later come to work in Elberton's granite industry.



Later that year Swift and Wilcox produced Elberton's first granite monument, which was put on display at Atlanta's Piedmont Exhibition and won praise and admiration from visitors. On July 6, 1889, the Elberton Star, the local newspaper, christened the town the "Granite City."



During the 1890s Elberton's potential as a producer of granite solidified as more quarries in the city and county were opened. The industry's growth was further enhanced when the Georgia, Carolina and Northern Railroad (later known as the Seaboard Air Line) completed a portion of its line through the county in 1891.



A state-sponsored survey of Elberton's granite deposits later in the decade verified through chemical analysis that the county's stone was of a superior quality.



Dutchy

In 1898 Arthur Beter, an Italian sculptor, executed the first statue carved out of Elberton granite. The small building constructed to house the statue during its completion became the town's first granite shed. The statue, a Confederate soldier mounted on a granite pedestal in the town's square, quickly became an eyesore to citizens because of its "decidedly northern dress" and shocking appearance. Locals instantly disliked the statue. Still living Confederate veterans believed the squatty mustachioed figure clad in a Union overcoat and kepi cap looked like a Yankee. One resident may have put it best when he said that the statue was a "strange monster, . . . a cross between a Pennsylvania Dutchman and a hippopotamus." It was this comment that earned the ignoble statue the nickname "Dutchy."



It stood in the square for only two years. The sculptor did not stay in town after the memorial was finished, so the town's wrath turned on the statue. Dutchy's end came during the night of August 14, 1900, when a group of unknown persons tied a lasso around the statue and hauled it to the ground. An empty whisky barrel near the site led some to claim Dutchy had gotten drunk and fallen off. The next day, a mob of people who found him decided to rid themselves of the embarrassing monstrosity and buried "him" on the square. Soon after, a figure more reminiscent of a Confederate Soldier was created and placed on the pedestal.



"Dutchy" got the last laugh. The plant that quarried and carved that first statue turned into the present multi-million dollar industry that provides the most local jobs in the area. Remembering his tale, the town had Dutchy exhumed in 1982, the red clay was removed by a run through a car wash, and the defamed monument found a home in the Elberton Granite Museum and Exhibit. He is now on display lying face up on a gurney.



His severed feet are nearby.



Prospects for Elberton's New South granite industry looked bright at the turn of the century. One of the industry's most significant firms to emerge early in the twentieth century was the Long-Blue Granite Company, owned and operated by another granite pioneer, Dr. Nathaniel G. Long.



In 1904 Long exhibited some of his blue granite at the St. Louis World's Fair, where it won a gold medal for excellence and quality. Italian immigrants were also beginning to filter into the county.



Prior to World War I (1917-18), the most prominent sculptor of both statues and monuments was Peter Bertoni, an Italian immigrant.


Find A Grave Bertoni and Cecchini.

During the 1920s immigration from Italy and the northern United States boomed, as skilled laborers came to Elbert County to pursue a livelihood in the granite business. Among the many new arrivals were Charles C. Comolli, founder and owner of the Georgia Granite Corporation, and Richard Cecchini, a highly skilled stone sculpturer. Another newcomer to Elberton at this time was B. F. Coggins, an Atlanta businessman, who began a conglomerate of granite businesses all united under an umbrella organization known as the Coggins Granite Industries. During the 1930s as the country suffered through the Great Depression, Comolli, Coggins, and other granite entrepreneurs enjoyed prosperous times, and the industry flourished with the creation of new sheds and the opening of additional quarries.


Pyramid Quarry

After World War II (1941-45) Elberton's granite industry entered its most prosperous era, lending credence to its claim that it was the granite capital of the world. In 1951 the Elberton Granite Association was founded; it has since grown to become the largest association of granite quarriers and manufacturers in the United States. To boost Elberton's granite interests, the Elberton Granite Association soon began issuing a quarterly magazine, still in publication, known as the Elberton Graniteer, which highlights noteworthy accomplishments and activities related to the town's industry.



Berkeley Granite Quarry, outside of Elberton, Georgia – “The Famous Berkeley quarry located just outside of Elberton, Georgia, the granite center of the world, is renowned for its fine grained, dark blue granite which is used in the manufacturing of nationally advertised Stone Eternal Memorials.”



That industry continues to expand, and the availability of the stone as an economic resource has not noticeably declined since the opening of the first quarries late in the nineteenth century. From humble beginnings,



Elberton's granite industry not only has grown to achieve worldwide recognition but also has emerged as one of the most important extraction industries in the state.



The Elberton Granite Museum, which houses historical photographs, objects, tools, and monuments related to Elberton's granite history, is free of charge to the public.



Its the hardest material known to man, other than diamonds, says Bill Kelly, 84, a granite industry historian and consultant.



In 1889, Nathaniel Long opened a granite quarry 10 miles west of town and gave birth to the local memorial business. Today, Elberton's granite industry produces more than 250,000 memorials each year and employs 1,800 workers, making it the towns largest employer.



Over the years, Elberton granite has been used to make millions of memorials, from simple cemetery markers to the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Elberton itself is adorned with hundreds of granite signs, statues and structures, including a Confederate soldier monument on the town square and the 20,000-seat Granite Bowl stadium, where the Elbert County High School Blue Devils play football each fall.



T. McFerrin coached State Champs back in 1990's. Only coach to lead two schools to State Champs as he coached Jefferson later on way to 340 wins.



Home of Mecole Hardman.



The story of Elbert County's granite industry is told at the Elberton Granite Museum and Exhibit, which chronicles the history of the industry.



It showcases antique stone-cutting tools such as hammers, chisels and saws; and illustrates the granite manufacturing process through photographs and instructional displays.


Just outside the Granite Museum is the Argo Spire, believed to be the tallest single piece of granite in the world at over 50 feet high.

Elbert County

The legal occupation of the lands that would later become Elbert County took place on June 1, 1773, when Georgia’s colonial governor, James Wright, negotiated a land cession with local Creek and Cherokee leaders. As a result of indebtedness to English fur traders, the Indians ceded the lands between the Little and Tugeloo Rivers. The cession, known as the New Purchase (Augusta Treaty), contained about 2 million acres north of Augusta and was originally designated as Wilkes County.



During the American Revolution Wilkes County became the scene of severe partisan fighting among Tories, patriots, and Indians. One of the Revolution’s most famous heroines, Nancy Hart,  lived in a log cabin along the Broad River and earned a place in history by single-handedly defeating a party of Tories who had invaded her home. According to one account, a group of five or six Tory soldiers came by the Hart house looking either for food or a Whig they were pursuing. The soldiers demanded that Hart cook them one of her turkeys, and she agreed to feed them. As they entered the cabin, they placed their guns by the door before sitting at her table to eat. As they were drinking and eating, she pushed their guns outside through a hole in the wall of the cabin. After the soldiers had been drinking a sufficient time, she grabbed one of the remaining guns and ordered the men to stay still. One ignored her threat, so she shot and killed him. Another made a move toward the weapons, and she killed him as well. She held the remaining Tories captive until her husband and neighbors arrived. According to legend, her husband wanted to shoot the soldiers outright, but she demanded that they be hanged, which was accomplished from a nearby tree.



A devout patriot, Hart gained notoriety during the revolution for her determined efforts to rid the area of Tories, English soldiers, and British sympathizers. Her single-handed efforts against Tories and Indians in the Broad River frontier, as well as her covert activities as a patriot spy, have become the stuff of myth, legend, and local folklore.



After 1783 the area’s population steadily increased. Many of the newcomers were veterans of the Revolution who had been awarded land grants in the region for their service to their country. On December 10, 1790, Elbert County was split from Wilkes County by an act of the state legislature and thus became Georgia’s thirteenth county. It was named in honor of Samuel Elbert, who was a commander of Georgia’s militia and Continental forces during the Revolution. Elbert later served as Georgia’s governor from 1785 to 1786. We did a deep dive on Samuel Elbert with GNW #106 (Part 4). He was heavily involved in the Battle of Briar Creek.



Elbert and Col. McIntosh, with 60 Continentals and 150 Georgia Militia, made one of the valiant stands of military history. So fiercely did these Georgians fight that the British had to bring up reserves. Asking no quarter, they fought until nearly every man was dead or wounded. Gen. Elbert saved himself by giving a Masonic sign from the ground as he was about to be bayonetted. Gen. Elbert, Col. McIntosh and the rest of his command surrendered.



After the Revolution the most important town to emerge in the county was Petersburg, located at the fork of the Broad and Savannah rivers. From the 1790s through the 1830s Petersburg flourished as a commercial center serving Elbert County and the Goose Pond community along the Broad River. Petersburg’s prosperity was initially based on the tobacco trade, and a warehouse was set up in the town to inspect the staple crop before it was floated down the river on flat-bottomed “Petersburg boats” to Augusta.



Petersburg’s decline came gradually after the War of 1812 as many of its most prominent citizens moved west to newly opened lands. Tobacco became less important too, and most of the area’s farmers turned to the cultivation of cotton, which, unlike tobacco, did not have to be inspected. Railroads completely bypassed the town, hastening its demise. A series of floods and malaria outbreaks sealed the town’s fate. Petersburg was virtually abandoned by the eve of the Civil War (1861-65).



Elberton, the county seat, was incorporated in 1803 near what was known as the old town spring, although people had been living at the site since the 1790s. Initially surpassed in importance by Petersburg, Elberton became, by the 1840s, the county’s most important town. During this time the county boasted several other communities, including Ruckersville, the home of Joseph Rucker, one of Georgia’s first millionaires, and Edinburg (Edinborough), a small hamlet founded by Scottish immigrants at the fork of Cold Water Creek and the Savannah River.


Elberton today.

Elbert County was swept up in the sectional turbulence that gripped the nation during the 1850s, and as a slave holding community primarily based on the production of cotton, it heavily endorsed secession. During the Civil War many of the county’s men joined the Confederate army. Portions of the Fifteenth, Thirty-seventh, and Thirty-eighth Georgia Infantry Regiments included companies that were raised in Elbert County. Also, one company of the Seventh Georgia Cavalry came from Elbert County. Fortunately, General William T. Sherman’s armies bypassed Elbert County during their march to the sea, sparing its citizens from the destruction and devastation visited upon other towns and communities in the state.



After the war Elbert County remained wedded to the cotton industry and existed as a rural, agricultural community. This began to change in 1882, when the first granite quarry was opened near the north fork of the Broad River to provide stone for railroad and home construction. By the 1920s Elberton’s granite industry had become firmly established and had overtaken agriculture as the economic centerpiece of the county. Many immigrants, particularly Italians, who had historical roots in the granite trade, came to Elbert County between 1900 and 1930. During the Great Depression of the 1930s the industry not only survived but also expanded, justifying the town’s boast that it was the “granite capital of the world.”


The Civil War Statue controversy spawned interest in the granite industry.

Elbert remains primarily a rural county of agricultural fields and timberland, but its economy is firmly rooted in the granite industry. According to the 2010 U.S. census, the population is 20,166, a slight decrease from the 2000 population of 20,511. Two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lakes lie on its eastern border with the Savannah River, making the county a prime destination for water-recreational activities. Clarks Hill Lake (also known as J. Strom Thurmond Lake), completed in the early 1950s, is located on the southern tip of the county.



Just above it is Russell Lake, completed in the 1980s. Two state parks are located in Elbert County: Bobby Brown State Park, marking the site of the old town of Petersburg, which is under the waters of Clarks Hill Lake, and Richard B. Russell State Park on Russell Lake.



Historical and cultural sites

Historical and cultural sites in Elbert County include the Nancy Hart cabin, the Dan Tucker gravesite, the Stephen Heard Cemetery, the Petersburg Township site, Vans Creek Church, the Elbert County Courthouse, the Elberton Seaboard-Airline Depot, the Rock Gym, the Granite Bowl, the Elberton Granite Museum and Exhibit, the Richard B. Russell Dam, the Elbert Theatre, the Georgia Guidestones, Richard B. Russell State Park, and Bobby Brown State Park.


Elbert Theatre and Samuel Elbert Hotel.

National Register of Historic Places listings in Elbert County, Georgia

Alexander-Cleveland House

The Alexander-Cleveland House is one of the few examples of eighteenth-century frame housing in this part of the county and is among the very oldest standing structures in Elbert County.


Alexander-Cleveland Farm today.

The plain style house, originally part of the "lost" town of Edinburgh, has belonged to the same family for over 130 years.


Vintage image.

Ralph Banks Place

A Patriot of the American Revolution for North Carolina with the rank of Captain.



Banks County is named for his son, Dr. Richard Banks of Homer, an early physician in Northeast Georgia who treated all citizens, including Native Americans and the poor with skill and dignity. He was especially noted for treating Indians for smallpox.


Banks Grave and family plot at Cold Water Methodist Church.

Bowman Commercial Historic District

Thomas Jefferson Bowman led the construction of the Elberton Air Line Railroad, whose narrow gauge track connected Elberton and Toccoa. The railroad was begun in 1873 and completed in 1878 by Bowman, who laid out the rail route. He purchased and later subdivided lots along the railroad in what came to be called Bowman. By 1879, two stores and a water well were established around the public square. Bowman was incorporated in 1907, and the town flourished in the early part of the 20th century.



Early businesses in city included a brickyard, shoe and harness shop, blacksmith, lumberyard, bank, drugstore, grocery, and telephone company. The buildings that comprise the historic district are excellent representative examples of commercial buildings built in small towns throughout Georgia in the early decades of the 20th century.



Bowman retains its intact historic town plan of streets, and its commercial buildings organized around a public square and the railroad. Most of the commercial buildings are brick, with storefronts supported by cast - iron columns to allow larger display windows. The buildings’ entablatures are ornamented with brick corbels, panels, and basket - weave patterns.



The historic storefronts of Bowman’s public square are still in use, with antique stores filling much of the space.

Building at 6 and 7 Public Square

The Building at 6 and 7 Public Square, in Bowman, Georgia, was built in 1908. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. It is a one-story commercial building, Italianate in style, with two commercial spaces.



Contributing to its significance is that "Its facade retains not only its decorative brickwork but also its cast-iron columns, recessed entrance, plate-glass windows, and its interior retains its coved pressed-metal ceilings—architectural features often lost or obscured on many other commercial buildings of this period."

Asa Chandler House

Asa Chandler Fortson entered the Confederate Army on 25 Jul 1864 and remained in service until the close of the war, serving in the battles of Jonesboro, Honey Hill and Atlanta. After the war he was a farmer and Asa and Louisa raised their eleven children at the old Hall homeplace at Goss, Elbert Co



Dove Creek Baptist Church

The Dove Creek Baptist Church, in Elbert County, Georgia, was built in 1880. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. It was deemed significant "as one of few remaining examples of small rural black churches built in the late 19th century in northeast Georgia. Founded by a small group of rural blacks who wanted their own church after the Civil War, Dove Creek Baptist Church is similar to other late 19th century rural black churches in Georgia in its simple frame construction and rectangular shape with gabled roof and little architectural detailing. Other characteristic features are the central entrance, rear extension, and weatherboard siding."



In 1987 it was located on the south side of Georgia State Route 72 about 5 miles west of Elberton, Georgia. Its location was a wooded rural one; its original location about .25 miles to the southeast is similar; it was moved to the northwest in 1979 towards addressing issues of vandalism and access.



The historic church may no longer exist, because a "New Cove Creek Baptist Church" exists, at Cove Creek Church Road and highway 72, as seen in Google Streetview with image capture December 2018 and by Google Satellite view, while the historic building is not visible. Google Satellite view indicates the apparent former site of the church, with a graveyard, further to the southeast along Dove Creek Church Road.

Elbert County Courthouse

Elbert County Courthouse is a historic courthouse on Courthouse Square in downtown Elberton, Georgia, county seat of Elbert County, Georgia.



The Romanesque Revival architecture building was designed by Reuben H. Hunt and constructed in 1894. It is featured on several postcards. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 18, 1980.


The brick exterior of the courthouse was painted white for several decades until the early 2000s.


The exterior brick was repainted red to recreate the original appearance of red bricks.

Elberton Commercial Historic District



The district includes Church, Elbert, Oliver, and McIntosh Sts., and Public Sq., Elberton, Georgia.



This large commercial block has been home to numerous businesses over the years, including a stone supply company and appliance service.


If not too far gone, it would be a great restoration project.


Overview.


Skyscrapers and Festivals.

Elberton Depot

Seaboard Air Line Railway Depot is an historic train depot in Elberton, Georgia. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.



It is located at North Oliver Street and Deadwyler Street. It was built in 1910 and served as a passenger station until 1971. It has overhanging eaves supported by large Stick style-brackets.



It is now home to the Elbert County Historical Society, and is well preserved.

Elberton Residential Historic District



W. C. Smith was a prominent merchant, arriving in Elberton in 1880. He was also a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He died in 1909.


Smith House.

William J. Clark was a merchant and one of the leading citizens of Elbert County when he built this home, which may have originated as a Plantation Plain with Greek Revival elements added later. Clark was killed in the Civil War.


Clark House.






Swift Oliver House.

Forest Avenue Historic District (Elberton, Georgia)


This house recently sold at just over $200,000.

Roughly bounded by Jones, Chestnut & W. Church Sts., Laurel & Oak Drs., Brookwood & Lake Forest Cirs., Forest & College, Elberton, GA



E. Burton Cooke, landscape architect, practiced in Atlanta, Georgia, from the mid-1910s to the mid-1930s. Prior to moving to Atlanta, Cooke worked for the landscape department of The Biltmore, the George Vanderbilt estate in Asheville, North Carolina. In 1912, Cooke began a co-partnership of the Atlanta firm, Cooke & Swope, with fellow landscape architect Harold Brown Swope. Cooke helped design the Forest Avenue Historic District in Elberton, Georgia, where he was noted for using curvilinear streets that wound in harmony through natural surroundings.



In addition to residential projects, Cooke also assisted the Decatur Trade Board with city planning and was frequently consulted on City of Atlanta projects involving gardens and monuments.



Ralph Gaines House

In the late 1770's, a large caravan of Virginians, including a Methodist preacher, traveling south in search of a new home, settled in this neighborhood. Bishop Francis Asbury, leader of early American Methodism, preached from time to time. His remark "This is indeed cold water." after drinking from the nearby spring gave the church its name. The second Cold Water Methodist house of worship was of lumber sawed on Coldwater Creek by Ralph Gaines.

The Ralph Gaines House, near Elberton, Georgia, was built in 1825. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The listing included three contributing buildings on 24 acres.



It is a log cabin and frame cottage built by Ralph Gaines around 1820 and expanded around 1840. The northwest room and hall of the cottage is the original log cabin. It has a veranda across three-fourths of its front facade.



According to the 1976 National Register nomination, it was important architecturally for the original log cabin portion of the house, mostly hidden, and for the nearby log shed barns. Most of the log cabin is enclosed within later framing or covered by weatherboarding; the only visible portion of it is its chimney with a "diaper pattern of glazed headers." In 1977, it was home of direct descendants of Ralph Gaines.



It is located north of Elberton on Georgia State Route 368.

Rock Gym (Elberton, Georgia)

The Rock Gym is a historic gym located at 45 Forest Avenue in Elberton, Georgia, United States. The gym was built in 1941 and initially served as a National Guard armory. The Elbert County School System also occupied the building and used it for high school basketball games, commencement ceremonies, school dances, and other events.



The school system closed the gym in the 1990s, and it was vacant until 2003, when the city considered demolishing the building. The Elbert County Historical Society spent the next nine years restoring the building, and it reopened in 2012 as the Elberton-Elbert County Conference Center and Museum.



Rucker House (Ruckersville, Georgia)

The Rucker House is a historic residence in Ruckersville, Georgia. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 23, 1978. It is located on GA 985. Joseph Rucker (January 12, 1788 - ) was a large landholder and slaver. He died shortly after the American Civil War. His family established Ruckersville, Virginia and Ruckersville, Georgia.



His family had migrated from Orange County, Virginia and acquired large land holdings in the 1700's in Georgia. Joseph settled on the headwaters of Van's Creek, Elbert County, Georgia. He named the growing community Ruckersville after his father's hometown in Virginia. At one time, Joseph Rucker owned as many as 12 plantations and was called 'Squire' Rucker. He was also known as 'Georgia's First Millionaire. The Civil War devastated all of Joseph's plantations, including his home plantation called Cedar Grove. Without slave labor, the plantations could not produce crops for sale. Like thousands of other planters in the South, Joseph and Margaret witnessed the end of a way of life. Unlike many, Joseph was cash-rich and probably managed to save some of the family fortune. Joseph and Margaret died during the darkest days of the war; he on August 27, 1864 and she nine days later on September 5. Thus the inscription on their monument is fitting: "United during their long lives and in death they were not divided."

William Allen House

This two-story frame house contains one of the oldest remaining structures in Elbert County. The two-story central portico, added about forty years after the initial construction, is an interesting early rural adaptation of the Classic Revival style.



The site is significant in that it is an extant Georgia plantation dating back to the earliest days of settlement in Elbert County.

Elbert County Historical Markers

Rev. Daniel Tucker owned a large plantation on the Savannah River and is buried near his old homesite, “Point Lookout,” six miles from here. Born in Virginia, February 14, 1744, Daniel Tucker came here to take up a land grant. A revolutionary soldier, planter and minister, he owned and operated Tucker's Ferry near his home.



He died April 7, 1818 -- but not “of a toothache in his heel.” Esteemed by his fellow planters, he was loved by the Negroes who composed the many verses of the famous ditty, “Old Dan Tucker,” a favorite song at corn shuckings and other social gatherings.

Old Daniel Tucker was a fine ol' man,
Washed his face in a fryin' pan;
Combed his head with a wagon wheel
And died with a toothache in his heel.


Grave of Reverend Tucker.

The Battle of Cherokee Ford

The Battle of Cherokee Ford (Vann's Creek) actually took place 3 miles upstream from Cherokee Ford on the banks of Wilkes County (now Elbert County) February 11, 1779. British Commander Col. Boyd elected to not clash at Cherokee Ford and proceeded to the mouth of Vann's Creek and the Savannah River where Boyd's men crossed. Boyd had anywhere from 500-700 men recruited from NC, SC, and GA to reinforce Col. Campbell in Augusta, but Patriot Capt. Robert Anderson and his 100-120 men intercepted Boyd at their crossing and consequently Boyd lost some 100 men either captured, wounded, killed, or deserted.



This probably contributed to the defeat of Boyd and his Tories at the battle of Kettle Creek (GNW #128) where Boyd was critically wounded.

Bobby Brown State Park

This state park is named in memory of Robert T. Brown, Lt. J.G., U.S.N.R. Born January 11, 1920. Son of Congressman and Mrs. Paul Brown of Elberton, Georgia. Lt. J.G. Bobby Brown went missing in action February 22, 1944, during World War II while serving in the Pacific on submarine U.S.S. Scorpion.


Brown and Scorpion.

He was lost with the crew while on patrol in the East China Sea in 1944. The crew was declared killed in action January 11, 1946.

Colonists’ Crossing

“The Point,” where early settlers crossed into Georgia, is eight miles east of here. As soon as this area was ceded, Governor Wright opened a post at the confluence of the Broad and Savannah Rivers, known as Fort James. “The Point” became the gateway for settlers from Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina who registered there and secured their tracts of land. A land court at Dartmouth, which grew up around the fort, was held from September 1773 through June 1775 to open this section. In 1777 all this ceded land was, by the State Constitution, created into Wilkes County.


Historical marker for Colonist Crossing and William Few’s 1784 plat shows life on the Georgia frontier.

Gov. Heard’s Grave

Stephen Heard, Governor of Georgia in 1781, lawyer, planter, surveyor and soldier of the Revolution, lies buried in this family cemetery. With a price on his head he was captured by the British at the Battle of Kettle Creek and condemned to die. On the eve of his execution he was rescued by his servant “Mammy Kate” with the aid of her husband “Daddy Jack,” both of whom lie buried near him. Heard’s home “Heardmont” once stood nearby in the 10 acre park established by the Stephen Heard Chapter, D.A.R. Coming to Georgia from Virginia, Heard, an Irishman, established Heard’s Fort, now Washington, Ga., in 1773.


Marker and Grave.

Gov. Heard’s Home

Off this road lies the site of Heardmont, home of Governor Stephen Heard, 1740 - 1815 and “God’s Acre,” the family cemetery where he lies buried. A ten acre park surrounding the site is owned and maintained by the Stephen Heard Chapter, D.A.R. A Virginian of Irish descent, Heard came to Georgia, establishing Heard’s Fort, now Washington, Ga., in 1773, and fighting with Elijah Clarke at the Battle of Kettle Creek where he was was captured. As President of the Council, he was de facto Governor for a period in 1781.


Image of Heard from Capital and marker for home right beside Old Dan Tucker marker.

After moving to Heardmont, he was one of three who settled the site of Elberton.

Grave of General Wiley Thompson

General Wiley Thompson, considered the ablest and most humane of the agents to the Seminole Indians of Florida, was ambushed and killed near the agency at Fort King, Florida, December 28, 1835, by Osceola and a band of warriors who opposed removal to the West.


Reconstructed Fort King Ocala Florida.

Some months later his body was brought to Elberton and reburied in the garden of his home. 4 blocks east of here (now Heard Street).



Born in Virginia September 25, 1781 General Thompson was reared in Elbert County. A militia officer in the War of 1812, in 1817 he was elected Major General of the 4th Division of the Georgia Militia. A State Senator from 1871 to 1819, General Thompson resigned and served on the commission to determine the boundary between Georgia and Florida. After serving six consecutive terms as a member of Congress where he supported Pesident Jackson's policy of Indian removal, he was appointed agent in September 1833.


Jackson treated Indians in Father to Child relationship.

Osceola made his first appearance to the world at Fort King in October 1834. The defiant young war chief rejected U.S. orders and threatened war unless the Seminoles were left alone. Tensions continued to rise. Two companies of U.S. regulars, under the command of Major Francis Dade, were dispatched from Fort Brooke in Tampa to reinforce the troops at Fort King. On the morning of December 28, 1835, they were ambushed and annihilated by a band of Seminoles under the leadership of Seminole warrior, Micanopy. We covered this extensively in [url=https://www.hairofthedawg.net/forum/read.php?8,717519,717519#msg-717519][/url]  - Caves of Fox Mountain and a history tangent Dade County.


Ambush of Dade.

That afternoon, Osceola shot and killed Indian agent Wiley Thompson as he stepped out of Fort King for an afternoon walk. The Second Seminole war had begun.


Death of Indian Agent Wiley Thompson in Seminole attack on Fort King in Florida, 1835. Hand-colored woodcut.


Osceola made it necessary to reconstruct Fort King for us to see anything today.

Georgia Guidestones

Elberton's most mysterious and controversial granite monument is the Georgia Guidestones. Dubbed Americas Stonehenge, the monument was anonymously commissioned, can be used to make astronomical observations and is inscribed with 10 futuristic guidelines for mankind on four 16-foot upright slabs. Among the instructions etched in eight languages are to maintain a human population under 500 million, to unite humanity with a new language, and to resolve disputes among nations in a world court.



In recent years, the monument has been spray-painted with graffiti and doused with polyurethane by vandals, some who perceive its message as satanic or socialistic.



Its a shame its been defaced, says Melissa Caruso, 48, the daughter of the late Joe Fendley, a former Elberton mayor whose company built and erected the monument north of town in 1980. It put Elberton on the map. The monument stands at an approximate elevation of 750 feet above sea level, about 90 miles east of Atlanta, 45 miles from Athens, Georgia and 9 miles north of the center of the city of Elberton.



One slab stands in the center, with four arranged around it. A capstone lies on top of the five slabs, which are astronomically aligned. An additional stone tablet, which is set in the ground a short distance to the west of the structure, provides some notes on the history and purpose of the guidestones. The structure is sometimes referred to as an "American Stonehenge". The monument is 19 feet 3 inches tall, made from six granite slabs weighing 237,746 pounds in all. The anonymity of the guidestones' authors and their apparent advocacy of population control, eugenics, and internationalism have made them an object of controversy and conspiracy theories.

History

In June 1979, a man using the pseudonym R. C. Christian approached the Elberton Granite Finishing Company on behalf of "a small group of loyal Americans", and commissioned the structure. Christian explained that the stones would function as a compass, calendar, and clock, and should be capable of "withstanding catastrophic events". Joe Fendley of Elberton Granite assumed that Christian was "a nut" and attempted to discourage him by providing a quote for the commission which was several times higher than any project the company had previously taken, explaining that the guidestones would require additional tools and consultants. To Fendley's surprise, Christian accepted the quote. When arranging payment, Christian said that he represented a group which had been planning the guidestones for 20 years and which wanted to remain anonymous.



Christian delivered a scale model of the guidestones and ten pages of specifications. The 5-acre site was apparently purchased by Christian on October 1, 1979, from farm owner Wayne Mullinex. Mullinex and his children were given lifetime cattle grazing rights on the guidestones site.



On March 22, 1980, the monument was unveiled before an audience variously described as 100 or 400 people. Christian later transferred ownership of the land and the guidestones to Elbert County.



In 2008, the stones were defaced with polyurethane paint and graffiti with slogans such as "Death to the new world order". Wired magazine called the defacement "the first serious act of vandalism in the guidestones' history".


The stones defaced with polyurethane paint and graffiti.

In September 2014, an employee of the Elbert County maintenance department contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation when the stones were vandalized with graffiti including the phrase "I Am Isis, goddess of love".

Inscriptions

A message consisting of a set of ten guidelines or principles is engraved on the Georgia Guidestones in eight different languages, one language on each face of the four large upright stones. Moving clockwise around the structure from due north, these languages are: English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Traditional Chinese, and Russian.

    Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
    Guide reproduction wisely—improving fitness and diversity.
    Unite humanity with a living new language.
    Rule passion—faith—tradition—and all things with tempered reason.
    Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
    Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
    Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
    Balance personal rights with social duties.
    Prize truth—beauty—love—seeking harmony with the infinite.
    Be not a cancer on the Earth—Leave room for nature—Leave room for nature.



Explanatory tablet

A few feet to the west of the monument, an additional granite ledger has been set level with the ground. This tablet identifies the structure and the languages used on it lists various facts about the size, weight, and astronomical features of the stones, the date it was installed, and the sponsors of the project. It also refers to a time capsule buried under the tablet, but blank spaces on the stone intended for filling in the dates on which the capsule was buried and is to be opened have not been inscribed, so it is uncertain if the time capsule was ever actually put in place.


An explanatory tablet is set alongside the stones.

The complete text of the explanatory tablet is detailed below. The tablet is somewhat inconsistent with respect to punctuation and misspells the word "pseudonym". The original spelling, punctuation, and line breaks in the text have been preserved in the transcription which follows. At the top center of the tablet is written:
   
The Georgia Guidestones
   
Center cluster erected March 22, 1980

Immediately below this is the outline of a square, inside which is written:
   
Let these be guidestones to an Age of Reason

Around the edges of the square are written translations to four ancient languages, one per edge. Starting from the top and proceeding clockwise, they are: Babylonian (in cuneiform script), Classical Greek, Sanskrit and Ancient Egyptian (in hieroglyphs).

On the left side of the tablet is the following column of text (metric conversion added):
   
Astronomic Features
   
1. Channel through stone indicates celestial pole
   
2. Horizontal slot indicates annual travel of sun
   
3. Sunbeam through capstone marks noontime throughout the year
   
Author: R.C. Christian (a pseudonyn)
   
Sponsors: A small group of Americans who seek the Age of Reason


   
Time Capsule
   
Placed six feet [1.83 m] below this spot

To be opened on


The words appear as shown under the time capsule heading; no dates are engraved.

Astronomical features

The four outer stones are oriented to mark the limits of the 18.6 year lunar declination cycle. The center column features a hole drilled at an angle from one side to the other, through which can be seen the North Star. The same pillar has a slot carved through it which is aligned with the Sun's solstices and equinoxes. A 7⁄8-inch aperture in the capstone allows a ray of sun to pass through at noon each day, shining a beam on the center stone indicating the day of the year.



Interpretations

Yoko Ono said the inscribed messages are "a stirring call to rational thinking", while Wired stated that unspecified opponents have labeled them as the "Ten Commandments of the Antichrist".



The guidestones have become a subject of interest for conspiracy theorists. One of them, an activist named Mark Dice, demanded that the guidestones "be smashed into a million pieces, and then the rubble used for a construction project",  claiming that the guidestones are of "a deep Satanic origin", and that R. C. Christian belongs to "a Luciferian secret society" related to the New World Order. At the unveiling of the monument, a local minister proclaimed that he believed the monument was "for sun worshipers, for cult worship and for devil worship". Conspiracy theorist Jay Weidner has said that the pseudonym of the man who commissioned the stones – "R. C. Christian" – resembles Rose Cross Christian, or Christian Rosenkreuz, the founder of the Rosicrucian Order.



One interpretation of the stones is that they describe the basic concepts required to rebuild a devastated civilization. Author Brad Meltzer notes that the stones were built in 1979 at the height of the Cold War, and thus argues that they may have been intended as a message to the possible survivors of a nuclear World War III. The engraved suggestion to keep humanity's population below 500 million could have been made under the assumption that war had already reduced humanity below this number.



The guidestones were briefly shown and discussed in the documentary films Sherman's March (1986) and Endgame: Blueprint for Global Enslavement (2007), and were featured extensively in a 2012 episode of Mysteries at the Museum, a "Monumental Mysteries Special" featuring Don Wildman.



Elbert County has its hands full keeping these bad boys clean.





We are getting close to a message too large so we found another Wonder in Elbert County to enable us to do a second tangent on Elbert County. We sign off today's Post with Georgia's Stonehenge.



All about Granite in Elbert County. Today's Georgia Natural Wonder Gals are all enjoying time swimming in the Quarries of the Lexington-Oglesby Blue Granite Belt.