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Odds & Ends - 1 Towns Co. and Adjacent Counties, Georgia |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2020-2021) |
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Odds & Ends - 1 Towns Co. and Adjacent Counties, Georgia |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2020-2021) |
| 1 - Near Alexander's Mill, Towns County |
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| An unusual site, to say the least... |
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| 2 - Rabun County A curvy road was straightened here years ago; this was a bridge abutment of the original roadway. |
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Stone bridge abutment |
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| 3 - Chattahoochee National Forest, Towns Co. Guido Pfister and Frederick Vogel (sometimes spelled Vogle), emigrated from Germany in the mid 1800s and started separate leather tanning businesses in Milwaukee. They eventually merged and became the Pfister & Vogel Leather Co. The business eventually grew to be one of the largest leather-tanning operations in the country. The tanning process required the bark of oak and hemlock trees, so the Pfister and Vogel Land company was formed to purchase forest land. By the early 1900s, they had purchased 80,000 acres in NE Georgia for $1 an acre. Besides the bark, they used the timber for lumber, and a large saw mill was built in Union Co. After WW-I, a synthetic method of tanning leather was devised, and combined with a decreased leather market and other economic reasons, the trees were no longer needed. Much of their land was eventually sold to the Forest Service, and the Vogels donated 259 acres to the state of Georgia, including the site of present day Vogel State Park. |
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| Rock Pillar - VOGLE LE CO 1908 ( Vogle {Vogel} Leather Company 1908 ) |
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| My friend Sheldon inspects the carved pillar |
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| 4 - Eller Rock, Towns County The west slopes of Blue Ridge hold a large boulder, carved "E.C. ELLER, 1880" (or 1886(?) - the last numeral is incomplete; the date was not carved with nearly the care of the block-lettered name.) This was likely Elisha Caleb Eller, who lived in the area in the 1800s. |
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| Eller Rock |
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| Elisha Caleb Eller and his wife Hannah |
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| 5 - Quarry Falls, Rabun County |
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| Water tumbles into an old rock quarry |
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| 6 - Hiawassee Old Hwy 76 bridge piers, from the time before Lake Chatuge. |
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| This may have been on the route of the old Unicoi Turnpike. |
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| 7 - Hale Ridge Schoolhouse, Rabun County |
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| This one room log schoolhouse was used from about 1905-1920. |
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| Incredibly, some of the old log structure still remains... |
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| After a century of disintegration in the woods... |
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| 8 - Crescent Hill Baptist Church, Sautee-Nacoochee |
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| This little church made a pretty scene as I was driving past Hardman Farm outside Helen... |
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| 9 - Along Brasstown Creek, Clay Co., NC A few whimsical sightings while looking for petroglyphs in early 2021... |
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| 10 - February 2021 I have photographed this cabin a number of times, but always shoot it again when I'm nearby. This time I was looking for old home sites & chimneys in the upper Coleman River watershed. |
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| Log cabin on Coleman River Road. |
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| 11 - Plumorchard area, Rabun Co., GA February 2021 |
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| I was out looking for chimneys again, and thought this "zig-zag" tree was interesting... |
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| 12 - Near Turkey Gap, Rabun Co., GA March 2021 Another day looking for chimneys with no luck, and I came upon this contraption. Like I always say, you never know what you're gonna come across in the woods... |
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| Two 50 gal drums bolted together, sheet metal on one end, a steel frame and wood on the other. |
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| Flipping this 90 degrees to the left, it becomes apparent that this was a homemade trap, with a sliding door. For hogs or bear, I guess... |
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| From the opposite side, a plate is bolted on what would be the top of the trap chamber. |