Georgia > West Central Georgia > Meriwether County > Warm Springs

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

The Little White House in Warm Springs was the Georgia home of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and is a good place for introducing your child to United States history. 

In 1932 while he was still governor of New York, Franklin Delano Roosevelt built a house in Warm Springs, Georgia, so that he could stay there when he came to receive treatment for polio at the Warm Springs Rehabilitation Center. After he was inaugurated as President in 1933, the house became known as The Little White House.

The Little White House is pleasant, peaceful and has a real sense of history. Roosevelt spent a lot of time in Warm Springs during his presidency, which spanned an era from The Great Depression until nearly the end of World War II. You can imagine him pondering the difficulties of both in this serene atmosphere. It is known that he developed many New Deal programs, such as the Rural Electrification Administration, based on his experiences in the small town and Meriwether County. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Northwest Georgia Mountains > Gilmer County > Ellijay

Roadside stands filled with apples are a good reason to head to Ellijay in Gilmer County, but you will also find numerous outdoor activities to enjoy on a family vacation. 

The North Georgia Mountain town of Ellijay in Gilmer County is a perfect place to visit in the fall when the trees are in full color, area orchards are open for apple picking, and roadside stands overflow with fresh, local Granny Smiths and Rome Beauties to name a few.

But Ellijay is a great location for a Georgia family vacation anytime of year. Within a few miles of the lovely town, you’ll find several state recreation areas with fishing, hiking, breathtaking waterfalls, and trails for biking and horseback riding. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Northwest Georgia Mountains > Bartow County > Cartersville

Amazing stone effigies found during excavation at the Etowah Indian Mounds are on display in the historic site’s museum. 

There are several places in Georgia where you can explore Native American Indian Mounds, but Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site in Bartow County is one of the most interesting.

This is the most intact Mississippian Culture site in the Southeastern United States. From about 1000 A.D. to 1550 A.D., it was home to several thousand Indians. There are six earthen mounds, which were used for a variety of purposes: platforms for buildings, stages for ceremonial events, and cemeteries for the community’s elite. There is also a village area, a plaza, borrow pits, and a defensive ditch on the 54-acre site.

Only nine percent of this site has been excavated, but that excavation has been astounding in the artifacts that have been discovered and what they have revealed about the people who once lived here. Over the years, excavations have unearthed thousands of artifacts, including feathered headdresses, ceremonial axes, pipes and copper plates. The Museum at the site is well worth the trip. There are well-preserved stone effigies and objects made of shells, stone and wood among many other artifacts. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Northwest Georgia Mountains > Murray County > Chatsworth

Who built the ancient stone wall at Fort Mountain has been a mystery that archeologists, historians and visitors have been trying to solve for years.

There are numerous ways to spend the day at Fort Mountain State Park – hiking, biking and horseback riding to name a few. But certainly, a highlight of the park and the landmark from which it derives its name is the mysterious wall that sits at the highest point of Fort Mountain.

The ancient stone Wall at Fort Mountain has been the subject of much speculation for centuries. Measuring 875 feet in length, it ranges in height from two to seven feet, although it was probably considerably higher in the past. Remains of circular depressions made of various sized stones and measuring about 10 feet across, occur in the wall at about 30-foot intervals.

Archeologists and historians have been unable to solve the puzzle of who, if anyone, built the wall or why or when it was built. There are many theories. A favorite explanation is that Woodland Indians built the wall around CE 500. The east-west orientation of its end points would result in alignment at sunrise and sunset at the solar equinox in both spring and fall. The dramatic setting of the wall, offering expansive vistas to the east and west, would add to its religious significance. Ceremonial centers similar to this were built by the Woodland Indians at Old Stone Fort, Tennessee, and Rock Eagle Mound in Putnam County, Georgia. The Woodland Indians occupied the Southeast from several centuries BCE to about CE 900. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > East Central Georgia > Wilkes County > Washington

Re-enactors from the Sons of the American Revolution portray the Elijah Clark Militia firing at the Battle of Kettle Creek, the most significant Revolutionary War battle to take place in Georgia.

Lexington, Concord, Bunker Hill. There are numerous towns in the Northeast United States that immediately come to mind when you think about the Revolutionary War. But Georgia was also a battleground, and an area of Revolutionary War activity in Georgia that makes for a nice weekend trip is in the Piedmont in and around Wilkes County where you can learn about the Battle of Kettle Creek.

As late as the early 1770s, Georgia’s boundaries were mostly within the coastal region. In only a confined area beyond Augusta were the Piedmont’s heavier soils and hardwood forests included in the colony’s boundary. Frontiersmen were trickling down into this region from their homes in Virginia, Maryland and the Carolinas. Mostly of English or Scotch-Irish ancestry, these settlers were seeking new economic opportunities, good land and, most importantly, as much freedom as possible from British rule.

One of the most significant battles of the Revolutionary War in Georgia was fought here by these patriots at Kettle Creek in Wilkes County, a county that was formed along with the first Constitution of Georgia in 1777. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Southwest Georgia > Quitman > Omaha

Indian points, like these, are just some of the Paleo Indian artifacts on display at the Kirbo Interpretive Center at Florence Marina State Park.

If you are visiting Florence Marina State Park on Lake Walter F. George, an excellent place to learn more about the Native Americans who once lived in the area is the Kirbo Interpretive Center, an educational museum located on the park grounds.

Displays here depict the removal of the Creek Indians from the Florence area from 1715 to 1836 as well as artifacts from the prehistoric Paleo-Indian period through the early 1900s. There are also displays about the influence of cotton on the development of towns along the Chattahoochee River and the story of the steamboats which traveled the river from 1828 to the 1930s. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Coastal Georgia > Liberty County > Sunbury

British soldiers collide with American patriots and the roar of cannon and muskets fill the air in reenactments of American Revolution battles at Fort Morris Historic Site.

Previously, I wrote about touring Kettle Creek Revolutionary War Battlefield and Wilkes County to learn about events that occurred during the American Revolution in the Georgia Piedmont. Another area of Revolutionary War activity in Georgia that makes for a nice weekend trip is Liberty County on the Georgia Coast.

Coastal fortifications were important to the defense of Georgia from its days as one of the original 13 colonies to after the Civil War. One fort along the Georgia coast, Fort Morris in what is now Liberty County, played an integral part in the fight for independence and makes for an interesting American Revolution road trip.Fort Morris – now Fort Morris Historic Site – was built to defend the now long gone town of Sunbury. Established on the Medway River in 1758, Sunbury was a bustling seaport in its early days. Lyman Hall and Button Gwinnett, both signers of the Declaration of Independence, lived in the Sunbury area. Delegates at the 1776 Continental Congress realized they needed to protect the growing seaport from the British, so a low bluff on the Medway River at Sunbury was selected as the site of a fortification and garrisoned by 200 patriots. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Northwest Georgia Mountains > Murray County > Chatsworth

The Chief Vann House in the Northwest Georgia Mountains was once owned by one of the wealthiest families in the Cherokee Indian Nation.

A “floating staircase,” 12-foot mantle, and fine antiques — somehow I never imagine something like this as the home of a Cherokee Indian leader. But the Chief Vann House Historic Site is just that. This two-and-a-half story brick home built in 1804 belonged to James Vann, a wealthy businessman whose 1,000-acre plantation near Chatsworth in what is now Murray County was the largest and most prosperous in the Cherokee nation.

Vann was murdered in 1809, but his son Joseph went on to inherit the property and add to the family fortune until the tragic Indian Removal of the 1830s. The family lost their home and was forced to move west to the Cherokee Territory of Oklahoma along with the rest of the Cherokees in the infamous Trail of Tears. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Seminole State Park is a good place to stay to witness the wild beauty of Lake Seminole, where the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers meet in Southwest Georgia.

It is hard to describe the hauntingly beautiful natural wildness that is Lake Seminole. Visiting the 37,000-acre lake reservoir is an experience no one should miss, and Seminole State Park is a good place to stay when you go. The 343-acre Georgia state park sits on the north side of Lake Seminole on the east side of Fish Pond Drain. It is surrounded by the Lake Seminole Waterfowl Management Area, one of the state’s largest wildlife management areas.

Seeing wildlife is an expected part of a stay at Seminole. The gopher tortoise, the only tortoise native to Georgia, makes its home along a 2.2-mile nature trail specifically designed to interpret the wiregrass community habitat. The park has a wetlands boardwalk and one of the largest Longleaf Pine forests in a Georgia State Park. No doubt, you will spot alligators, osprey, bald eagle and lots of other wildlife.

Cottages, many park campsites, and picnic shelters sit near the water’s edge, so there are great views and easy access to the lake. For a unique camping experience, try the screened, tree house camping. Because Seminole State Park surrounds a lake cove, you’ll find water that is smooth enough for tubing and skiing and a sand beach for swimming. You can also rent a pontoon boat and canoes or fish from three different docks.

And don’t forget your insect repellant.

Read more about Lake Seminole and Seminole County, or find other activities in the Southwest Georgia Travel Region here at Brown’s Guides.

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

If you have a child age 6 to 12 who enjoys the outdoors – and who doesn’t! – why not encourage them to work toward earning a Junior Ranger badge through the Georgia State Parks Junior Ranger Program. Three levels of programs are designed to help children experience nature firsthand, explore Georgia’s fascinating history, and participate in outdoor activities.

Junior Rangers can work through the activity requirements on their own or with the help of a parent or other adult. Many parks, including Georgia Veterans Memorial in Cordele, Little Ocmulgee in McRae, and Reed Bingham in Adel, offer Junior Ranger day camps during the summer. (more…)