My friend Sheldon and I searched out a couple of old homesites in the Turkey Creek area of Union County.
Old Helton Homesite UN09 - Union Co., GA
This was the 1800s homestead of Will Helton. The property (Tract G54) was sold to the USFS by
W.M. Helton in 1917. The site had two chimneys, about 40 ft. apart, both facing the same direction.
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Chimney 1, front
I cleared it off some, but didn't touch all that poison ivy!
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Chimney 1, rear
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Stone foundation supports, right-hand structure
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Sheldon between the two chimneys at the Helton place.
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Chimney 2, front
The chimney stack had collapsed forward here.
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Front left foundation stones, with Chimney 2 at the rear.
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Chimney 2, from the back
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We saw a lot of Cow Wheat (Melampyrum lineare) blooming along the way...
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Old Homesite UN10 - Union Co., GA
This was the Eli Grizzle homestead.
The property (Tract G115a) was purchased by the USFS from Louis Grizzle in 1923.
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Standing next to chimney 1
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Chimney 1, front
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Chimney 1, from the side
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A collapsed pile of rock is all that remains of a 2nd chimney at the other end of the house site.
The first chimney is faintly visible above the pile in the background...
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The remains of a 3rd chimney stand less than 100 feet away.
Judging by the size, this may have been from a "weaning cabin" or other smaller structure.
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Old Homesite CL06 - Off Tuni Gap Rd, Clay Co., NC
The 1935 map showed a road of less than a half mile running along a creek to this old home site. Exploring on Nov. 1, 2020, I could find no sign of any old road, and the area was so steep that it's hard to believe that one ever existed here. In addition, the area was completely covered in laurel and rhododendron, making for a rather hellacious bushwhack! The only semi-open woods was at the house site, where unfortunately all that remained was a long collapsed stone chimney. I returned along the opposite side of the creek, hoping to find an old logging road or skid trail, but it was even worse than the side I climbed up on!
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Collapsed chimney
As remote as this site was, I had hoped to find more substantial remains.
This property was purchased by the USFS from John Mosteller in 1936.
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Later that week, I spent a couple of afternoons exploring an area lying generally south
of Thunderstruck Mountain, looking for homesites that showed on the 1900-era maps:
A - Old Homesite UN11 - Hospital Cove, Union Co.
A 1903 map shows two old home sites in Hospital Cove. The area is USFS land, but access requires
a bushwhack up a steep mountain and down the other side. I found both sites, but only one had the recognizable remains of a chimney; the other site revealed just a collapsed pile of stones.
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Stone chimney, mostly collapsed
There was an old dead tree laying across the rear of the chimney pile. I don't know
if the tree knocked it down long ago, or if the tree fell on the collapsed chimney later.
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Remains of the stone chimney, just under 3 feet in height
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B - Old Homesite UN12 - Union Co., GA
This home place is on the side of Davis Ridge, surrounded by many rock-piles.
My friend Sheldon had come across this site back in early spring of 2020.
Took me a while to locate it but I finally walked right up to it.
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The remains of this nice stone chimney are about 9 feet in height.
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Front view
This property was purchased by the USFS from Frank C. Penland in 1948.
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Rear view
I had to do some sawing to remove some deadfall.
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C - Old Homesite UN13 - Cooks Cove, Union Co., GA
This home site also appears on the early maps; the chimney remains are only about 3 feet in height.
It's an odd location, and I was actually surprised to find anything here...
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Chimney remains; some of the stone foundation supports are visible to the left.
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Closer view of rear of the chimney.
This property was purchased by the USFS from Joseph W. Cook in 1938.
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Old Homesite TO13 - Off Upper Bell Crk, Towns Co., GA
This is the site of the old Alex Gribble farm (now containing a small subdivision).
Unlike my usual finds, this is just off a paved road!
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This excellent chimney is all that remains of the farm house.
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It is a double fireplace chimney; this is the opposite side.
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An old "two-holer" sits below the house site...
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