Month: August 2010

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On This Day in Georgia History

Sanborn map of Toccoa in 1908. From the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps DLG site

On this day in 1905, the Georgia state legislature established Stephens County, making it the state’s 143rd county. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the county was created out of portions of Habersham and Franklin counties in northeast Georgia. The county was named for Alexander Stephens, who served as governor of Georgia and vice president of the Confederacy. Toccoa, whose name comes from the Cherokee word for beautiful, is the county’s largest city, and serves as the county seat. Other towns in Stephens county include Avalon and Martin.

Image of Toccoa Falls, from the Sunny South, April 6, 1901 in the Atlanta Historic Newspaper Archive

The county is perhaps best known for its great natural beauty. One of the more striking features in the area is the 186 foot tall Toccoa Falls (see image below), which is located on the Toccoa Falls College campus. In 1977, a dam above the falls burst and killed 39 people. Today, a monument stands at the base of the falls to honor those who lost their lives in the flood.

Three other counties were created on the same day. To find out which ones, take a look at the “This Day in Georgia History” section of the GeorgiaInfo website. They also have information about Georgia history that occurred on every other day of the year.

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Historic architecture and landscapes

Cherokee Phoenix print shop

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The Hubert Bond Owens and John Linley collections contain some 1,500 images of representative architectural sites and landscapes in Georgia.

Owens and Linley were professors in the College of Environment and Design at the University of Georgia and were well-known in landscape architecture and architecture circles.

Users may search the collection in a variety of ways:  by owner or architect, by architectural style or by type of building material. The collection also provides links to information from the National Register of Historic Places, the Historic American Buildings Survey, iphone 6 plus remplacement écran the Historic American Landscape Survey and the Historic American Engineering Record.

The database contains detailed descriptions of the structures and landscapes, and users also will be able to put each into its wider context by consulting the essays and other supplemental materials. The hope is that users will gain insight into how Georgia’s environments reflect societal and cultural values in the state.

Abandoned kaolin mine

In many cases, the slides and photographs – taken from the 1940s to the 1980s – document structures or landscapes which have been altered or no longer exist.

“This collection is a valuable tool for researchers, lovers of quality environments and students,” said Pratt Cassity, director of public service and outreach for the UGA College of Environment and Design. “This is a timely way to connect the university with its former educators, especially these two gifted teachers, influential men and great designers.”

Linley terraced garden
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