Georgia Natural Wonder #211 - Oconee National Forest - Greene County (Part 2). 829

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Georgia Natural Wonder #211 - Oconee National Forest - Greene County (Part 2)

OK, we came to Greene County with our last post on Scull Shoals GNW #210 within the Oconee National Forest. We did a brief history tangent on Greene County but there is so much more to tangent on. Now we have been to the Chattahoochee National Forest 49 times on these Georgia Natural Wonders. That is the sister forest of the Oconee National Forest. There is a lot more to see in this forest, maybe not 49 wonders, but enough to justify an extra Wonder post to give us an opportunity to tangent on Greene County some more.

Dyer Pasture

This 60-acre freshwater wetland was originally a cooperative project with the U.S. Forest Service, Georgia DNR, Georgia Power and Ducks Unlimited.



Dyar Pasture is a bird sanctuary and a birders paradise.  Outfitted with a dike and water control system to control water levels, the management of this area enables a healthy and sustainable waterfowl habitat necessary for the continued survival of this wetland ecosystem.


Dyar Dike.

The area has picnicking and fishing opportunities, a boat launch with access to the Oconee River and Lake Oconee and a short hiking trail, making Dyar Pasture a fantastic place for a day of birding and appreciating a wetland habitat.



The area was once bottom land hardwood forest along the Oconee River. Flooding of Lake Oconee killed the trees and the rising and falling lake level created a large mud flat. A dike and water control struc­ture were installed so valuable - marsh habitat could be created.



Dyer Pasture is in the vicinity of the confluence of Greenbriar Creek with the Oconee River. There is the Dyar Pasture hunt camp and boat launch,The planned construction consists of excavating borrow soil from a current gullied area and transporting it to the mouth of the unnamed stream, at the south end of the proposed duck pond. There it will be used to form an earthen dike or dam from the main ridge out to a peninsula. That peninsula is formed by an old natural levee parallel to the Oconee River.



The peninsula and the dike will then enclose an area of some 52 acres which will be kept flooded to a shallow depth to provide wildfowl habitat. The borrow area will be left open, to provide a watering area for livestock which use the adjacent Dyar Pasture. This will prevent problems now created by their use of a fenced but otherwise open edge of the river at this point.



Falling Creek Trail

Falling Creek Trail is a trail on Oconee River and Falling Creek in Oconee National Forest, Redlands Wildlife Management Area, Piedmont, GA.





It has been a great introduction to the forests of the state of Georgia, from the scruffy loblolly pines on the hilltops to huge old white oaks and tulip poplars in creek bottoms and steep slopes, and the many fine plants and fungi that grow under them.



Shooting Ranges

Trembling Bridge was a US Forest Services camping location in the Oconee Forest. mainly used for hunters, and its free. No water electricity - wilderness. The Trembling Bridge Shooting Range is closed indefinitely with no plans to reopen in the immediate future. A brand new shooting range, the Cedar Creek Range, is now open. 


Trembling Bridge closed.

The Cedar Creek Shooting Range in the Oconee National Forest is available for those interested in perfecting their target skills.  The shooting range, which is in the Cedar Creek Wildlife Management Area, is just one of 17 shooting ranges currently available on public land in Georgia. The range provides 10 shooting stations with a target distance of 100 yards for rifles and pistols.



The Cedar Creek Shooting Range was first proposed in November 1998 by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Wildlife Resources Division. Support was also provided by the National Rifle Association, the Wild Turkey Federation, Quail Unlimited, and Putnam County.



The following fees will apply:
Ga. Department of Natural Resources Hunting and Fishing License accepted for shooting privileges.



Town Creek ATV

The Town Creek OHV Trail system is located north of the City of Greensboro Ga. The trail consists of 15 miles of trails in two loops,one for ATV's and one for motorcycles and bicycles. Closed when raining, snowing or wet. Please do not ride when wet. Riding when raining or wet damages the trails!



Closed during gun deer season. Primitive Hunts Oct. 9-15, Rifle Season Oct. 16-Jan. 1st 2022



One trail is for Both ATVs and Motorcycles while the other trail is for Motorcycles only. I would rate this trail as easy but beware that the many roots in the trail can be a hazard for motorcycles when wet. I also saw people with small children on ATVs having problems in off camber sections but this should not be a real concern for most parents. This trail is very similar to the type of trail I raced on GNCC. This trail is like some one just started to make a trail by only riding through the woods. There has been no real bulldozer work or grading work done at this trail. The original dirt bike only trail had many deep ruts but the last time I was there, summer 2006, most of the trail had been rerouted and was very enjoyable to ride. These trails are in a low lying area so it holds water in many of the ruts along the ATV trail and beware that some are unexpectedly deep.


The most unique part about this trail is the long wooden bridge across a swamp.

Red Lands

Redlands Wildlife Management Area is spread over Greene, Oglethorpe, Oconee and Morgan counties. The 37,500-acre property offers hunting opportunities for deer, turkey, small game and dove. There is no hunting on Dyars Pasture marsh pond.



Redlands Wildlife Management Area (WMA) encompasses 37,500 acres of U.S. Forest Service property and 606 acres of land leased from the University of Georgia, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. Redlands WMA consists of mixture of habitat types, predominantly dominated by upland mixed pine/hardwood forest.  It is divided into several different sized tracts in Greene, Oglethorpe, Morgan, and Oconee Counties.


The main hunting opportunities are: deer, turkey, squirrel, and raccoon as well as some rabbit and waterfowl.

Swords Boat

Just east of Madison, GA, on the shore of the local's beloved Lake Oconee, visitors to the Oconee Ranger District find the Swords Recreation Area.  Families can enjoy the picnicking opportunities and newly renovated boat ramp in this secluded, yet scenic locale.


No camping is allowed at the developed boat ramps - use other areas of the recreation area

The Oconee National Forest, composed of 115,000 acres, is the only National Forest within the Georgia Piedmont and has something for everyone to enjoy. Managed under a multiple use principal, it provides opportunities for recreation, wildlife viewing, heritage resources, fisheries, wood, range and soil and water conservation. Wildlife species are plentiful. A variety of birds share the forest with deer, turkey, rabbits, squirrels and other animals. The forest is also home to the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, a bird that builds its home inside live pine trees. Approximately 70% of the forest is composed of pine habitat, while the remainder is a variety of hardwood species. Many visitors enjoy Oconee's recreation facilities. There are camping areas; trails for horses, hikers and ATVs; boat launches; picnic areas and wildlife viewing areas. Annually the Oconee hosts a Kid's Fishing Rodeo to promote outdoor activities for young people. Come and visit some of our part of the state. 



Solitude
Aug 2021

I'm very grateful to have this forest close to where I live in Athens, GA. I've only explored the northern end of it, around Scull Shoals and Redlands WMA. Admittedly it does not have the greatest recreation facilities as far as trails go although the Falling Creek loop is nice and there are some other un-named trails presumably for hunters. For those who do not mind bushwhacking and/or walking along the forest roads (which aren't overly rocky at all in my experience) there are many opportunities to enjoy nature. I'm impressed how peaceful it is and how much solitude I usually find there so close to Athens and not too far from Atlanta either.



Beautiful lake area
Oct 2018 • Family

What a gorgeous area, Such serenity and sense of solitude but there are many things locally to visit and great restaurants not too far.



Not made for viewing.
Jul 2018 Solo

My home is surrounded by this National Forest. But other than a couple of boat launching ramps on beautiful Lake Oconee the forest service has not seen fit to make this property accessible to the public. If you go in other National Forests you find trails galore to walk through the woods. in The Oconee National Forest there really aren't any. They list a couple. One at Dyer Pasture is about 100 yards long. Another one at Scull Shoals historic site runs along the river. It has pretty much been washed away. There are forest roads into the woods but you better drive the rocks they used for gravel are too big to walk on and rough to drive on. This is a very hard forest to enjoy.



Happened to be here in the fall and fall colors were great.
Nov 2017 • Couples

Lovely drive, only complaint is that most of the roads we traveled do not do a good job of indicating speed for curves. The road is very windy and quite a few relatively sharp curves that are not marked. Speed limit was 45 in most place, so just a little caution is all you need. The lake seems to be every where, a beautiful drive and apparently popular with fishermen and ducks. Thousands of ducks.



Oconee National Forest is a preserve which includes the large man-made Lake Oconee, located between Atlanta and Augusta in Georgia.

History

Lake Oconee was formed in 1979 with the completion of Wallace Dam, impounding the waters of the Oconee and Appalachee Rivers. The lake is owned and managed by the Georgia Power company for the purpose of generating hydroelectric power.



The lake used to be rural in nature, a destination for fisherman and nature-lovers, but has become much more important as a rapidly growing community of luxury home neighborhoods.



Lake Oconee is home to some of the most prestigious gated neighborhoods in the southeastern United States.

Golf

Lake Oconee is home to some of the most picturesque residential golf courses in the southeastern United States. All courses are located in gated residential neighborhoods and border at least a small portion of Lake Oconee's shoreline.



Most are members-only, but two courses remain open to the public:
   
Cuscowilla on Lake Oconee
   
The Harbor Club at Lake Oconee

Fishing

Lake Oconee is one of Georgia's most popular fishing destinations. There is a tremendous quantity of fish in the lake. According to a Georgia Department of Natural Resources sample, there is a standing crop estimated at 355 pounds of fish per acre. That is 250% more than any other lake in the Southeast. Because the lake is a young impoundment, it is still peaking in number of fish per acre. It is considered by fishermen to be the “hottest” and most fertile lake in the state.



Popular game fish on the lake include large mouth, striped, and hybrid bass, black crappie, bream, and channel catfish. Lake Oconee is the only lake in the state where the Department of Natural Resources protects the brood fish of the largemouth bass, restricting harvesting of the species in the 10” to 14” slot. Large mouth bass are the most often sought-after Lake Oconee species, but crappie and other species of bass have a strong following.



When the lake was formed, Georgia Power left 1,200 acres of standing or topped timber to provide areas for fish to collect. There are 50 timber areas, averaging 4 acres each. They are topped at 10 feet and marked by buoys.



Lake Oconee’s pumped storage operation positively affects fishing conditions. When the dam is generating electricity, strong currents are created, and fish collect near the river channels. The stable water level protects hundreds of coves where fish spawn.

Greene County (Part 2)

We covered some early history of Greene County with our last post. We move to 24 National Register Of Historic Places in Greene County.

National Register of Historic Places listings in Greene County, Georgia

Dr. Calvin M. Baber House

The Dr. Calvin M. Baber House, on Penfield Rd. in Greensboro, Georgia, was built in 1924. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.



It is a one-story weather boarded bungalow-style house, the home of the second black doctor in Greensboro. Dr. Calvin M. Baber graduated from Meharry Medical College in Tennessee in 1921. He came to Greensboro after the death of Dr. A. T. Chisolm, the first black doctor.

Bethesda Baptist Church and Cemetery

The Bethesda Baptist Church and Cemetery in Greene County, Georgia near Union Point, Georgia was built in 1818. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. The listing included two contributing buildings, two contributing structures, and two contributing sites.



The complex is located at the junction of County Rd. 120 and County Rd. 129. It includes a two-story brick church from c.1818 built in vernacular Federal style, with brick laid in American bond. Its first floor walls are 18 inches thick. It has interior end brick chimneys.

Brown-Bryson Farm

The Brown-Bryson Farm, in Greene County, Georgia near Siloam, Georgia, dates from c.1870. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. The listing included six contributing buildings and five contributing structures on 168 acres.



The main house is a one-and-one-half-story Gothic Revival-style cottage with a center-passage plan and a rear kitchen ell. Outbuildings may date from c.1870 when the original main house, which burned in 1873 or 1874, was built.

Church of the Redeemer

The architectural significance of the Redeemer Church is that it is an authentic example of Gothic Revival styling.



Although many churches in the mid - nineteenth century were built in the Gothic Revival style, it was rare to find one in a small Southern town

Copeland Site

PREHISTORIC Periods Of Significance:1499-1000 AD 1000-500 AD  1749-1500 AD 499-0 AD

The Copeland site is located on a high bluff top immediately east of the former channel of the Oconee River (now Lake Oconee).



It was a large non - mound  Mississippian period village.

Early Hill Plantation

Early Hill is a magnificent example of a transitional Georgian-style/Greek Revival house of the early 19th century, commanding views of some of the most beautiful pastureland in Georgia. The house has undergone major remodels throughout its history, beginning as early as the 1840s, but these do not detract from its historical importance. The plantation community surrounding the house was once known as Dover.



The builder, with the labor of enslaved men, was Joel Early, Jr. (1793-1851), a brother of Peter Early, who served as Georgia governor from 1813-1815. Joel Early, Jr., was not a typical man of his time nor his class, as he freed 30 of his slaves in 1830 and through the American Colonization Society sent them to Liberia. He actually corresponded with one of them. He still held slaves after this gesture, but that he did it all makes him an exceptional figure in upper class antebellum Georgia.

Greene County Courthouse

The Greene County Courthouse in Greensboro in Greene County, Georgia was built in 1849. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.



It is a three-story Greek Revival-style brick courthouse built in 1848–49, and expanded in 1938 with two wings. Its third story was added by and for the local Masonic organization. It is located on Georgia Route 12.



The listing included three contributing buildings.



David Demarest was a master carpenter and practical architect. He also built the Old Spalding County Courthouse in Griffin, Georgia.

Greensboro Commercial Historic District

The Greensboro Commercial Historic District, in Greensboro, Georgia, is a 9 acres historic district which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. It included 29 contributing buildings and a contributing structure. It includes the 1937 U.S. Post Office building, two historic jails, and the historic Greene County Courthouse.



Most of its buildings are along Main St. and Broad St. Two of the largest buildings occupy whole blocks, at the corner of Main and Broad: the McCommons Store, known historically as the "Big Store", a two-story brick building, and Copelan's Block, which includes one-story attached brick storefronts.



Greensboro Depot

The Greensboro Train Depot was built in 1917 as part of the railway system from Augusta to Greensboro, which was chartered in 1833.



It still resembles the same structure that it had back in the day.



The Train Depot is very historical and one of 29 in existence to its original state.

Jefferson Hall

Jefferson Hall is a historic home located in Greene County, Georgia, just east of the city of Union Point, at 6041 Union Point Highway (a road also known as Georgia 12 and US Highway 278). Since 1989 the property has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The house is easily visible from the road, but is currently in private hands and is not open or accessible to the public.



Built in 1818 or 1830 (county and historical records differ on this point), Jefferson Hall is an example of Greek Revival architecture.

Mary Leila Cotton Mill and Village

Roughly bounded by Cherry and Buffalo Sts. and Richland Ave., GA RR, Spring and Mill, and Mapple Sts.



As the town's first source of industrial jobs, the Mary-Leila Cotton Mill played a significant role in Greensboro's growth and economic development, as well as the rise of the area's textile industry.



During the Second World War, the mill was used for the production of cotton sheeting used in the war effort. Disagreements between the mill's management, the National War Labor Board, and the Textile Workers Union of America led to the mill's participation in several significant labor cases involving mills from across the region.



The Mary-Leila Cotton Mill and surrounding Village of worker's houses were nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Moore-Crutchfield Place

The Moore Crutchfield homestead is comprised of a main house, a cabin, 77 acres with a 10 acre private lake! Both houses are on the National Register of Historic Places. The main house was built in 1840. The cabin was built in 1810.



The Moore-Crutchfield Place is significant in Agriculture because it was from this main house and the remaining outbuildings that the antebellum and postbellum farm operations were run, and exemplifies the way farms in Georgia were run during this period from slavery to tenant farming, from subsistence to cotton as a cash crop. The Moore-Crutchfield Place is significant in Architecture because it contains good examples of two important early types of vernacular house forms in Georgia: a single pen log structure, and a two over two Plantation Plain type house.

North Street-East Street Historic District

North, East, Greene, and Walnut Sts.Greensboro’s Historic District is protected by local ordinance. These special guidelines protect the city’s historic resources and preserve Greensboro’s unique sense of place for citizens and visitors to experience and enjoy.



Penfield Historic District


Mercer_Chapel, Pennfield Historic District.

Phillip Poullain House



Two-story, frame, Italianate-style house, sheathed in weatherboard covered with vinyl siding. L-shaped plan with rear ell and intersecting gable roofs; one-story wrap-around porch with lattice - work brackets on chamfered posts; three-story square-sectioned tower with round - and square - eaded windows and finial-capped pyramidal roof

Peter W. Printup Plantation

The Peter W.  Printup Plantation centers around a two-story, frame, mid-Victorian house with Gothic Revival ornamentation, a front porch, two interior chimneys, a wine cellar, and a kitchen wing attached to the main house through an enclosed breezeway/ porch.



Siloam Historic District

The Siloam Historic District, in Siloam, Georgia, is a 100 acres historic district which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. The listing included 40 contributing buildings, a contributing structure, and a contributing site.



The district is a very irregular area roughly centered on Main St. (Georgia Route 15), Union Point Highway (Georgia Route 77), and Church St., within the city's essentially circular area.



Among other properties, it includes the Siloam city cemetery, the Siloam Baptist Church, and the Siloam Presbyterian Church.

Siloam Junior High School



South Street-Broad Street-Main Street-Laurel Street Historic District


South, Broad, Main, and Laurel Streets.

South Walnut Street Historic District


S. Walnut, E. South, and E. Broad Sts.

Springfield Baptist Church

The Springfield Baptist Church, on Canaan Circle in Greensboro, Georgia, was built in 1907. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.


It has rectangular towers at its front two corners.

It is a primarily black church formed as an 1864 split off the First Baptist Church of Greensboro, which continued as a whites-only church, after the American Civil War. It was the first black Baptist church in Greensboro.

Union Manufacturing Company



Union Point Historic District

Developed from a railroad junction in 1834 and later chartered in 1904, Union Point is loaded with history. Locations like the former Chipman Union Hosiery Mill, a historic mill complex of 20 buildings was built in the late 1800s and operated for over 100 years and is now privately owned. Victorian residential homes, churches, and commercial structures are situated throughout the historic district and the Terrace Hotel Inn (now privately owned) was built in the 1800’s as an inn for the many train passengers that stopped in Union Point to change trains, or for resting.


Roughly bounded by Lamb Ave., Washington Rd., Old Crawfordville Rd. and Hendry St.

Woodville Baptist Church and School

Built in 1913, this Gothic Revival structure is the Woodville Baptist Church. The school, built in 1886, served the congregation as a church first. It served the white students of Woodville from 1913 to 1956. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.



Whew, we still got a lot of Greene County to cover. Let's look for another county Wonder for a new post next week. Still got 23 Historical Markers, Cities, and Notable people of Greene County. Another batch of Greene Gals for our GNW Gals to rank.