Roswell Civil War Driving Tour
Sunday, November 22nd, 2009THE CIVIL WAR IN GEORGIA
Roswell to Peachtree Creek - A Driving Tour Including an Interactive Map
By JIM MILES
Georgia > Atlanta Metro Region > Fulton County >Roswell
Classic homes like the 1839 Bulloch Hall in Roswell were left untouched by General William Tecumseh Sherman in the summer of 1864 when he burned all of the factories and mills of the small manufacturing town north of Atlanta. Sherman’s devastation of Roswell and his army’s march south to the Battle of Peachtree Creek are covered in this self-guided driving tour. VIEW AN INTERACTIVE MAP.
This driving tour begins at the intersection of 120 and US 19-GA 9 in Roswell. If you are
coming from the north on Interstate-75, turn off on
120-Loop, turn left under 1-75, and follow 120-Loop to 120 and Exit. Turn left on 120 and
follow to the intersection with US 19-GA 9. If you
are coming from the south, take 400 North from Interstate-285. Exit on Northridge Road, turn right to
19-9, turn right and follow to the intersection of 120
and 19-9. From the intersection of 120 and US 19-GA 9
go south through a restored business district; at 0.1 turn right on Sloan. VIEW INTERACTIVE MAP.
Note the Bricks to your right, quarters erected in 1839 to house workers in the Roswell mills. They were used as a Federal hospital in 1864 and operated by the city as a library in the 1950s. Tenants are cur rently being sought to set up shops. The Bricks are considered the oldest apartments in the United States.
- Turn right at 0.1 mile on Mill Street to the stop sign; park in the large lot before you. VIEW INTERACTIVE MAP.
Below this spot is a cotton mill converted into a shopping complex. In the creek are falls, a dam, and the remains of an old mill.
This is the beautiful, historic city of Roswell. It was named for Roswell King, an officer of the Darien Bank who traveled to north Georgia in the 1830s to open a branch. Enchanted by this spot on the Chattahoochee River, he bought vast acreage and offered his friends on the Georgia-South Carolina coast ten acres each if they would settle here. Many took advantage of the offer and built fine homes that still stand. Roswell and his son Barrington established a cotton mill in a steep gorge along Vickery Creek, and other mills and factories were soon attracted to the area.
The Kings laid out their town with a square and wide streets and gave lots for the building of Presbyterian and Methodist churches, both still in existence, and a school. Roswell was a prosperous city when Garrard and McPherson arrived in July 1864 with orders from Sherman to burn all manufacturing facilities.
Long, sturdy sets of stairs descend from the parking lot into Vickery Creek Gorge, where King built his two-story Ivy Woolen Mill that was destroyed during the Civil War. The mill produced Confederate uni forms; and when Federal cavalry arrived on July 6, manager Theophil Roche ran up a French flag and claimed protection as a foreign neutral. Sherman ordered the buildings destroyed, and Roche was sent north up the rails.
The factory was rebuilt here in 1882 as the Laurel Mills, but it burned after a lightning strike in 1926. Large sections of thirteen-inch-thick stone walls re main from the mills, and a path leads to the old dam that channeled water to turn the waterwheels, in turn providing power for the mills. It also creates a lovely waterfall that can be heard for a considerable distance.
Above the ruins is the only remaining mill building in Roswell, built in 1929 to replace the second mill and operated until 1975. Previously ravaged by vandals and vagrants, a nine-million-dollar renovation project has transformed the cotton mill into an upscale retail establishment featuring one hundred shops and restaurants. Plans have also been formulated to construct a 7,000-seat amphitheater on the banks of the creek.
Just west on Minosa Avenue is historic Roswell Presbyterian Church. Built in 1840, it retains the original box pews, high center pulpit, and slave balcony. In the belfry is a bronze ship’s bell that was cast in Philadelhia. Following Sunday services, a mini-museum is open in the rear of the church where artifacts of church history are preserved, including the original silver communion service hidden in a barrel by Miss Fannie Whitemore until the War was over to prevent its theft by Federal troops, and a checkerboard carved on the back of a cabinet door by bored Union soldiers who used the church as a hospital.
Sherman burned Roswell’s factories and mills, but he fortunately spared the city and its fine homes. However, he committed his most dastardly act here: the removal of the Roswell women. Noting the mill labor force was female, he directed Garrard to send them to Marietta and then up north to deny their skills to the Confederacy. His orders were to “arrest all those people, male and female, connected with those factories, no matter what the clamor, and let them foot it, under guard, to Marietta, where I will send them by cars to the North. Destroy and make the same disposition of all mills …. The poor women will make a howl. Let them take along their children and clothing …. ”
The ladies were rounded up and sent on railroad cars to Chattanooga, Nashville, Lexington, and into Indiana. There is no evidence that a single woman was returned to Georgia following the war.
Visiting all the historic sites in Roswell would be a profitable day’s outing. Attractions include Barrington Hall, which Barrington King built in 1842. Ancient oaks frame this magnificent Greek Revival home that took five years to build. Bulloch Hall, a beautiful home built in a similar style at the same time, was the girlhood home of President Theodore Roosevelt’s mother, Mittie; it saw service as a Federal barracks. It is owned by the city and can be rented for special events. Great Oaks (1842) has eighteen-inch-thick walls and was Garrard’s headquarters. Mimosa Hall, built by John Dunwoody, is actually a reproduction; his first home burned during a house-warming party immediately after it was completed. Allenbrook, a two-story saltbox built of handmade brick in 1840 to house the Laurel Mills manager, is currently headquarters of the Roswell Historical Society. Primrose Cottage (1830) was the first building erected in Roswell, a gift from King to his widowed daughter. There is also the home of Francis B. Goulding, minister, author of Young Marooners and Marooners Island, and inventor of the first sewing machine - but he failed to obtain a patent!
The charming business district dates from 1839; and the town square, where Teddy Roosevelt spoke in 1905, was laid out in 1840 and landscaped during the Depression as a WPA project. At the end of Sloan Street is Founders Cemetery, which contains the graves of Roswell King, John Bulloch, John Dunwoody, and other founders of the city. Other early settlers are buried in the Presbyterian Church Cemetery established in 1841 and the Methodist Church Cemetery (1850).
The Roswell Historical Society, the Chattahoochee Nature Center, and the city of Roswell regularly sponsor tours of the homes and the mill ruins, raft floats down the river, and recreations of 1840s life in Roswell. A brochure that illustrates these attractions and outlines a walking tour of the city is available from the Roswell Historical Society, Inc., 227 South Atlanta Street, Roswell, GA 30075.
- Return to 19-9 (Atlanta Road) and turn left to cross
the Chattahoochee River at 1.2 miles. VIEW INTERACTIVE MAP.
This is the approximate site of the original bridge at Shallowford. The Confederates burned it when Garrard’s cavalry galloped into town, but the spans were quickly rebuilt by Union engineers who tore down mill buildings to use the timber in the bridges. In sixty hours they threw up twin spans 710 feet long, 18 feet wide, and 14 feet high. While the Federals were crossing the river, a horrible thunderstorm erupted; and lightning killed a dozen men, split ninety-foot-tall oak trees, and discharged muskets.
On July 10 McPherson crossed here and advanced on Decatur to cut the Augusta railroad and descend on Atlanta from the east, while Thomas crossed from Vinings at Pace’s and Power’s ferries and proceeded south along Howell Mill Road and Northside Drive, and Schofield crossed at Sope Creek, between Power’s Ferry and Johnson’s Ferry west of this point, and marched toward Buckhead.
- Brave the Atlanta traffic 12.8 miles and take a right
on West Paces Ferry Road. At .5 mile turn left onto Andrews Drive for 0.1 mile to the Atlanta Historical Society. VIEW INTERACTIVE MAP.
The Society has created a fascinating complex that can occupy a full day of exploration. It hosts a wide variety of activities and programs. On its twenty-five wooded acres are gardens, the 1840 Tullie Smith House (one of Atlanta’s oldest surviving structures), the Swan House (an Italian-style mansion of the 1920s), and McElreath Hall, which features exhibits about Atlanta and Georgia history, an archives, library, and a permanent, outstanding display on the Civil War.
This display traces every segment of the Atlanta Campaign from Dalton to Peachtree Creek, Atlanta, Ezra Church, Jonesboro, and the siege and occupation of Atlanta. There are exhibits of camp life, Joe Brown Pikes, medals and insignia, artillery chests, dis patches, cavalry and Confederate navy displays, uni forms with bullet holes, a uniform of John B. Gordon, pistols, rifles, swords, maps, lifelike dioramas, and a ”Repel the Invader” flag. One of the most interesting artifacts in the collection is two bullets that met head on in flight.
- From the entrance of the Atlanta Historical Society, return to US 19-GA 9 (which immediately be
comes Peachtree Street), turn right, and proceed 2.5 miles
to Piedmont Hospital on the right. VIEW INTERACTIVE MAP.
In front is a stone monument that commemorates the Battle of Peachtree Creek. South of the hospital along the sidewalk is an older WPA monument marking the spot where Confederate troops opened the assault.
- At 0.1 mile turn right onto Collier Road; at.5 mile to your right are the stones from Collier’s Mill. Turn left at 0.1 mile into Tanyard Creek Park.
This preserve is Atlanta’s memorial to Peachtree Creek. Created during the centennial celebration of the Civil War in 1964, nine plaques were set on cement stands to describe the action that occurred in this area; but several have been stolen.
Unfortunately for the Confederate effort, the Federals had crossed Peachtree Creek and set up defensive positions on a ridge just north of here when Hood launched his ferocious assault. The Confederates attacked from the south, crossing at this spot; and their battle line extended through the area of Piedmont Hospital north of Collier and up Northside Drive west of the park. The Confederates made two thrusts, Hardee to the east and Stewart to the west. Confederate General C. H. Stevens was killed at the intersection of 28th Street and Wycliff. Collier’s Mill was located upstream on Tanyard Branch, which flows through the park and is the site where Federals concentrated several artillery batteries that were instrumental in turning back the Confederate drive. Commanding the Federals was Colonel Benjamin Harrison, a future president.
- Return to Collier, continuing west 0.3 mile to US 41 (Northside Drive), and turn left for 0.5 mile. If you are continuing the driving tour, cross the bridge over the interstate and turn right to enter 1-75 South. After 5 miles leave 1-75 to get on 1-20 East (to Augusta); pay close attention to instructions at the interchange. After 4 miles take exit 61B at Glenwood Avenue. Turn left from the ramp 0.1 mile to Walker Monument on the left. VIEW INTERACTIVE MAP.
Fields of Glory
This self-guided driving tour covering a portion of the Civil War Battle of Atlanta is excerpted from Fields of Glory, A History and Tour Guide of The Atlanta Campaign by Jim Miles. Fields of Glory traces the story of the Atlanta campaign from the Tennessee border through the heart of Atlanta to Jonesboro. Included is a series of driving tours that enable readers to see firsthand the battlefields and important sites. Also included are: 25 original maps; 85 illustrations; a lively history of the Atlanta campaign; fascinating tours of the battlefields; articles on military strategy and biographies of generals; chronology of key battles and important events; and sources for additional information. Fields of Glory and other books by Jim Miles are available on Amazon.
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