Sweetwater Creek
Good Afternoon!
Nicole and I have just returned from kayaking along Sweetwater Creek, a 46-mile long stream that runs through Sweetwater Creek State Park, a 2,549 acre park located east of Douglasville, Georgia - 15 miles west of Downtown Atlanta.
The park, which is named after the creek, features over 9 miles of wooded walking and hiking trails, the George Sparks Reservoir, a visitor center, a bait shop, a gift shop and the ruins of the New Manchester Manufacturing Company. And additionally to the public facilites the park has set aside, it also offers a number of activites anyone can sign up for (for a small fee), such as: a nighttime dog hike (a three mile hike along the creek's rapids with a visit to the five-story ruins of the Civil War era New Manchester textile mill), a geology hike (a moderate 2-mile hike identifying rock types and explaining how they formed. There will also be a visit inside the ruins of the Civil War era New Manchester Mill alongside the beautiful rapids of Sweetwater Creek), you can join an expert angler and learn about the art of fly casting along the banks of the creek (poles provided), take candlelight hikes to the old mill (using old time-y Candle lanterns), join rangers for a peaceful outing on the lake at sunset via kayak, or take part in a beautiful two-hour paddle through a lovely and peaceful stretch of Sweetwater Creek in a tandem kayak.
We came for the 2-hour ranger-led kayaking experience; it was a lot of fun!
Originally we were signed up for Friday evening's Twilight Paddle across the lake but a change in Nicole's availability forced us to postpone the experience until the following morning, which proved to be just as well. The weather was simply gorgeous, the water nice and cool, and the area we visited was so peaceful it was nice to let any outside worries float away.
The $15.00 per person experience bought us two hours on the creek, a personal flotation device, and a tandem kayak, which was a lot more cramped than I would have liked but we made do. Two other "couples" joined us making four kayaks in all. Although the experience was supposed to just be paddling the kayaks up and down the creek, the ranger that lead us wondered if we would want to beach close to the "old mill" and take a five-minute walk up and tour what was left of the facility; so that's what we did! And we learned about the park in the process:
According to legend, Sweetwater Creek is the namesake of Cherokee Indian Chief Ama-Kanasta. While we may never know for sure, there is abundant evidence that Native Americans lived in this area for centuries, certainly since the “woodland” period (1000 BC to 1000 AD). The hills on the south side of the park are known locally as Jack’s Hill, named after Chief Jack, reputed to be buried in the area.
In 1832, after the Cherokee Tribes were forced from the state (via the Trail of Tears), this part of Georgia was divided into 40-acre “land lots” and offered to the public in a lottery. The land that is now the park was won by Phillip J. Crask, who paid $18,000 for it. Mr. Crask must not have had much success as the property (Lot 929 in District 18 of the Second Section) was sold on the courthouse steps just five years later to John Boyle for $12.50. In 1845, for, $500 Boyle sold his property to Colonel James Rogers of Milledgeville and former Georgia Governor Charles J. McDonald of Cobb County. The two entrepreneurs incorporated the Sweetwater Manufacturing Company, completing a textile mill on this site on December 21, 1849. The topography along Sweetwater Creek provided an ideal location for a water-powered factory, which made cotton, yarn and fabric.
In 1857 Charles McDonald reorganized the company into the New Manchester Manufacturing Company after the center of the British textile industry Manchester, England, outfitted the factory with new machinery and tripled the output. Assets of the company were listed at $50,000. By 1860, the factory produced seven hundred pounds of cotton which was transformed in one hundred twenty bunches of yarn and five hundred yards of osnaburg per day.
In 1861, with the outbreak of the Civil War, production at the factory was contracted to the Confederate government. Unfortunately, by aligning with the South’s war effort, the New Manchester operation became a legitimate military target. On July 2, 1864, two divisions of Union cavalry under Colonel Silas Adams (1st Kentucky) and cavalry under Major Haviland Thompkins (14th Illinois) of General Stoneman’s personnel approached the factory, ordered it shut down and all the employees arrested. For a while they occupied the site (graffiti from the soldiers can still be seen on site); however, during the battle for Atlanta, Union General William T. Sherman ordered the destruction of mills in Roswell, Georgia and New Manchester and thus the factory was put to the torch, July 9, 1864.
Under arrest of 1st and 11th Kentucky cavalry and 14th Illinois cavalry, the mill employees were moved to Marietta and merged with other mill prisoners forming 600 people in one group. By order of General Sherman to move prisoners north of the Ohio River, on July 15, 1864, female prisoners with children were sent to Nashville, Tennessee by groups in trains. On July 20, 1864, they were moved to Louisville, Kentucky. On July 21, 1864, civilian detainees were given opportunity to take an oath of allegiance to the Federal Government and be free north of the Ohio River, but forbidden to come south of the river while the country was still at war. Some of the women returned back, and some of them were found by their families or spouses. The mill ruins still exist today and protected by the Sweetwater Creek State Park, which was founded to protect the ruins and the pristine area around it. All that remains today is the brick walls and millrace that lead to the factory's waterwheel.
The area was just recently used for a movie shoot - "Killing Season". The movie, which stars Robert De Niro and John Travolta, follows military veteran Benjamin Ford (De Niro) living in a remote mountain cabin retreat somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains when he is paid a visit by by a man - Emil Kovac, a European tourist (Travolta) - and the two men begin an unlikely friendship. When it develops that Kovac is in fact a former Serbian soldier bent on revenge, a one-on-one confrontation and battle between the two commences throughout the harsh mountain environment. Apparently De Niro falls into the creek from the old wheel well of the mill and is never seen again? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
The crew has also been filming at Tallulah Gorge State Park and Black Rock Mountain State Park in Georgia, and a couple of places in Louisiana.
Anyway we had a great outing, even if we were a little awkward in a kayak together.
Now that we're back home we're going to grab a bite to eat, maybe take a nap, and then see what the rest of the day brings.
(er, well, part of it will be getting this mud off my shoes!)
Nicole and I have just returned from kayaking along Sweetwater Creek, a 46-mile long stream that runs through Sweetwater Creek State Park, a 2,549 acre park located east of Douglasville, Georgia - 15 miles west of Downtown Atlanta.
The park, which is named after the creek, features over 9 miles of wooded walking and hiking trails, the George Sparks Reservoir, a visitor center, a bait shop, a gift shop and the ruins of the New Manchester Manufacturing Company. And additionally to the public facilites the park has set aside, it also offers a number of activites anyone can sign up for (for a small fee), such as: a nighttime dog hike (a three mile hike along the creek's rapids with a visit to the five-story ruins of the Civil War era New Manchester textile mill), a geology hike (a moderate 2-mile hike identifying rock types and explaining how they formed. There will also be a visit inside the ruins of the Civil War era New Manchester Mill alongside the beautiful rapids of Sweetwater Creek), you can join an expert angler and learn about the art of fly casting along the banks of the creek (poles provided), take candlelight hikes to the old mill (using old time-y Candle lanterns), join rangers for a peaceful outing on the lake at sunset via kayak, or take part in a beautiful two-hour paddle through a lovely and peaceful stretch of Sweetwater Creek in a tandem kayak.
We came for the 2-hour ranger-led kayaking experience; it was a lot of fun!
Originally we were signed up for Friday evening's Twilight Paddle across the lake but a change in Nicole's availability forced us to postpone the experience until the following morning, which proved to be just as well. The weather was simply gorgeous, the water nice and cool, and the area we visited was so peaceful it was nice to let any outside worries float away.
The $15.00 per person experience bought us two hours on the creek, a personal flotation device, and a tandem kayak, which was a lot more cramped than I would have liked but we made do. Two other "couples" joined us making four kayaks in all. Although the experience was supposed to just be paddling the kayaks up and down the creek, the ranger that lead us wondered if we would want to beach close to the "old mill" and take a five-minute walk up and tour what was left of the facility; so that's what we did! And we learned about the park in the process:
According to legend, Sweetwater Creek is the namesake of Cherokee Indian Chief Ama-Kanasta. While we may never know for sure, there is abundant evidence that Native Americans lived in this area for centuries, certainly since the “woodland” period (1000 BC to 1000 AD). The hills on the south side of the park are known locally as Jack’s Hill, named after Chief Jack, reputed to be buried in the area.
In 1832, after the Cherokee Tribes were forced from the state (via the Trail of Tears), this part of Georgia was divided into 40-acre “land lots” and offered to the public in a lottery. The land that is now the park was won by Phillip J. Crask, who paid $18,000 for it. Mr. Crask must not have had much success as the property (Lot 929 in District 18 of the Second Section) was sold on the courthouse steps just five years later to John Boyle for $12.50. In 1845, for, $500 Boyle sold his property to Colonel James Rogers of Milledgeville and former Georgia Governor Charles J. McDonald of Cobb County. The two entrepreneurs incorporated the Sweetwater Manufacturing Company, completing a textile mill on this site on December 21, 1849. The topography along Sweetwater Creek provided an ideal location for a water-powered factory, which made cotton, yarn and fabric.
In 1857 Charles McDonald reorganized the company into the New Manchester Manufacturing Company after the center of the British textile industry Manchester, England, outfitted the factory with new machinery and tripled the output. Assets of the company were listed at $50,000. By 1860, the factory produced seven hundred pounds of cotton which was transformed in one hundred twenty bunches of yarn and five hundred yards of osnaburg per day.
In 1861, with the outbreak of the Civil War, production at the factory was contracted to the Confederate government. Unfortunately, by aligning with the South’s war effort, the New Manchester operation became a legitimate military target. On July 2, 1864, two divisions of Union cavalry under Colonel Silas Adams (1st Kentucky) and cavalry under Major Haviland Thompkins (14th Illinois) of General Stoneman’s personnel approached the factory, ordered it shut down and all the employees arrested. For a while they occupied the site (graffiti from the soldiers can still be seen on site); however, during the battle for Atlanta, Union General William T. Sherman ordered the destruction of mills in Roswell, Georgia and New Manchester and thus the factory was put to the torch, July 9, 1864.
Under arrest of 1st and 11th Kentucky cavalry and 14th Illinois cavalry, the mill employees were moved to Marietta and merged with other mill prisoners forming 600 people in one group. By order of General Sherman to move prisoners north of the Ohio River, on July 15, 1864, female prisoners with children were sent to Nashville, Tennessee by groups in trains. On July 20, 1864, they were moved to Louisville, Kentucky. On July 21, 1864, civilian detainees were given opportunity to take an oath of allegiance to the Federal Government and be free north of the Ohio River, but forbidden to come south of the river while the country was still at war. Some of the women returned back, and some of them were found by their families or spouses. The mill ruins still exist today and protected by the Sweetwater Creek State Park, which was founded to protect the ruins and the pristine area around it. All that remains today is the brick walls and millrace that lead to the factory's waterwheel.
The area was just recently used for a movie shoot - "Killing Season". The movie, which stars Robert De Niro and John Travolta, follows military veteran Benjamin Ford (De Niro) living in a remote mountain cabin retreat somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains when he is paid a visit by by a man - Emil Kovac, a European tourist (Travolta) - and the two men begin an unlikely friendship. When it develops that Kovac is in fact a former Serbian soldier bent on revenge, a one-on-one confrontation and battle between the two commences throughout the harsh mountain environment. Apparently De Niro falls into the creek from the old wheel well of the mill and is never seen again? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
The crew has also been filming at Tallulah Gorge State Park and Black Rock Mountain State Park in Georgia, and a couple of places in Louisiana.
Anyway we had a great outing, even if we were a little awkward in a kayak together.
Now that we're back home we're going to grab a bite to eat, maybe take a nap, and then see what the rest of the day brings.
(er, well, part of it will be getting this mud off my shoes!)