April 2021
Sheldon H. and I searched out more homesteads, this time in White County.
Old Homesite WH01 - Off Hwy 75A, White Co., GA
I had heard that there was an 8 foot chimney at this site. Unfortunately this
was a misunderstanding, and the chimney was just a collapsed pile of rocks:
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This chimney had been collapsed for many years.
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The SE corner of the stone foundation can still be seen.
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Old Homestead WH02 - White Co., GA
Not far from the above site, this dug cellar with rock-lined
walls appears to be something other than a house site.
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Dug cellar, from one end
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Dug cellar, from the opposite end
You can see some of the rocks outlining the cellar hole.
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Remains of a stone terrace face, near the cellar
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We found some pawpaws in bloom not far from the cellar.
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Old Homesite WH03 - White Co., GA
A site with a pair of nice chimneys, in the Raven Cliffs Wilderness. These two chimneys don't
appear to have ever had upper stacks. An old photo seems to show them at about the same
height, with a cap on one. We heard that this might have been part of an old mining camp.
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Sheldon at chimney pair
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Me at chimney pair
It is uncommon to find a pair of chimneys in such good shape.
Usually, one of the pair is decent, but the other is collapsed.
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Rear of chimneys
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Homesite UNxx - Richard Russell Hwy, Union Co., GA
Of more recent vintage, I didn't give this chimney an ID number.
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Chimney
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Nearby stone foundation
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April 2021
Old Homesite RA05 - Rabun Co., GA
Near Shook Branch, a tributary of Dick's Creek; not far over the Towns County line.
I had almost found this chimney the year before, while exploring a likely looking spot
along a branch. The chimney was just upstream, hidden behind some rhododendron.
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Not a bad chimney...
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From the side
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A bit over 3 feet tall
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June 2021
Old Homesite WH04 - White Co., GA
A friend came across an old homeplace while tracing the route of the Unicoi Turnpike near
Sautee-Nacoochee. I don't normally go looking for chimneys in summer, but this one didn't
require much of a bushwhack. The homestead turned out to have a nice double-hearthed
fieldstone chimney, probably mortared with a red clay mix at some later point in its life.
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Double hearth stone chimney - front side
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Opposite side
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Opposite side hearth, from a different angle
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November 2021
Old Homesite TO14 - Gurley Branch, Towns Co., GA
With autumn leaves mostly fallen, I made my first expedition of the season to look for old chimneys. I had two homesites on my radar from the old maps, both along tributaries of Soapstone Creek. The first one required a scramble up an old logging road, entangled with rhododendron and constant blow-downs, that climbed up the branch gorge. I found the homesite, but unfortunately the chimney was collapsed. I also found an unusual wall nearby, about 3 feet thick and ~200 feet long.
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This pretty little waterfall is at the lower section of the branch.
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I found old "causeway" logs bridging a couple of wet spots on the old road.
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Collapsed chimney at the old homesite.
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Back side of the collapsed chimney.
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The unusual wall...
About 3 feet thick, running approximately 200 feet in a straight line.
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The height of the wall varied from 1 1/2 feet to 3 feet tall.
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Side view of part of the wall...
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One of the most unusual things about this wall is its width.
Much wider than typical rock walls...
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Another section of the wall
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Top view of another section
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One more section of the wall...
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There were also a number of large rock piles in the area.
It appeared that this one had been dug into at one time.
With daylight running out, I didn't have time to look for the second site mentioned above...
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