In the previous installment, the history of the discovery and documentation of the Leake site was presented. In this installment, we examine the earthworks at Leake.  While the earthen mounds at Leake are no longer visible on the ground surface, as are those at the spectacular Etowah Mounds located a few miles upriver, there were formerly three large mounds at Leake. Although the above-ground portions of these mounds were razed away in the mid-1940s as part of the Highway 113 reconstruction, the lower portions of these are still present under the modern ground surface. In addition to the mounds, there appears to have been a very large ditch enclosure at the site, similar to the one still visible at Etowah Mounds. In this article, I describe what is known about each of these earthworks based on the archival record and the archaeology conducted at the site.

Between 1938 and 1943, the Dallas-Rockmart Highway, currently known as Highway 113, was relocated from its former course closer to the river to the northwest to its present course, which happens to be directly over Mound B. The aerial photographs taken by the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service in 1938 and 1943 provide some information about the impacts to the mounds (Figures 1 and 2).  As discussed in the previous article, the signature of Mound B in the 1943 photograph is no longer indicative of trees, but rather of open ground, indicating that the above-ground portion of this mound had been removed. Mound A displays a similar signature to the 1938 aerial photograph, suggesting that it may not have been razed by the time of this photograph. Mound C is visible as an open area, suggesting that it was razed as part of the road building activity. The ditch feature visible in the 1938 photograph is largely indiscernible in the 1943 photograph. While it is extremely unfortunate that these mounds were razed and used as fill for the new road embankment at that time, fortunately the lower portion of at least Mounds A and B and the ditch are still present, as demonstrated by several different investigations of the site since the time of the road relocation.

Mound A

Mound A was included in each of the maps of Leake drawn by Smithsonian Institution archaeologists John Rogan (see here) and James Middleton (see here) in 1883. Rogan (1883) described Mound A as a loaf-shaped mound measuring 300’ (N-S) by 200’ (E-W), but he did not provide a height, while Middleton (1883) described it as seven feet high and 150’ square. Importantly however, Middleton described is as “flat topped”. Archaeologists refer to such flat-topped mounds as “platform mounds”, and believe that during this period of time, their flat summits were likely used as stages for public rituals and displays, as opposed to built structures such as a house.

Dr. David Hally of the University of Georgia conducted archaeological field school excavations at Leake over three seasons, from 1988 through 1990, focusing on the Mound A area due to the presence of a Late Mississippian period (circa 1400-1550 A.D.) village (Figure 3). A portion of his excavation was conducted within Mound A. The investigators found evidence that three mound construction stages were still intact. Carbon samples from three features in the mound (see Figure 4, right) were radiocarbon dated, ranging in age circa 200-550 A.D., indicating that this portion of the mound and the features within it date to the Middle Woodland period. It is important to remember that the upper portion of the mound was razed away circa 1940, so archaeologists cannot know precisely how long it continued to be added on to or used in some manner, but based on their excavations, the investigators felt that the Late Mississippian people may have done so (Hally 1989, 1990a, 1990b; Rudolph 1989, 1990).

As Figure 4 shows, the excavation within this area of Mound A uncovered many features, including postmolds and pits. In addition to uncovering approximately 75 pit features, they also identified a straight line of postmolds within the mound that extended for at least 75 feet. On one slope of the mound, they found a thin lens of dark midden soil that contained burned bones, lithic artifacts, and pottery, including a large portion of a Swift Creek vessel (Rudolph 1989).

Mound A has not been excavated since the UGA field school excavations. The northern portion of Mound A is under private ownership and lay beneath a graveled parking lot. However, the southern portion lay on Bartow County property, and with their approval, archaeologists with the Georgia Department of Transportation and the author conducted a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey of the Mound A area in recent years (Figure 5). GPR is a non-intrusive technology that allows archaeologists a view of the soil conditions under the ground surface via radar pulses into the subsurface. Archaeologists closely examine the GPR data to determine if the subsurface signatures observable in the data might represent archaeological features that were created as a result of past human activity.  On Mound A, we found possible evidence for the presence of more than one mound stage, as well as the old course of the highway that truncated the southern end of the mound (Baughman and Keith 2014).

Mound B

Mound B was described by Middleton (1883) as “small, conical, about five feet high and seventy-five feet in diameter…seventy-five yards north of No. 1” (which is now known as Mound A). Whereas the other descriptions of Mound B, including his co-worker Rogan’s, indicate that it once stood anywhere from 14 to 18 feet above the surrounding ground level, Middleton (1883) states that it was five feet tall. We do not know what accounts for the difference in these measurements, but it may be that Middleton was measuring the portion of the conical mound that was steepest on the presumption that the rest of the mound was simply part of a natural, elevated landform. The only known photograph of the mound (see the first article in this series for further description of this photograph) suggests that it was between 14 and 18 feet in height, based on the trees growing upon it (Figure 6).

Because mounds had been largely razed during old road relocation circa 1940, the precise boundaries of Mound B were unknown prior to the data recovery investigation, when the 1938 aerial photographs that showed the mounds were discovered.  Rogan (1883) reported excavating a trench into one of the mounds (probably Mound B) from “south to north”, extending from the top of the mound to the “natural soil on which it was resting”.  There is a discrepancy between Rogan’s written description of the soil profile of the mound that he trenched and the drawn soil profile, observable in Figure 7, which is included with his notes. Rogan’s (1883) textual description is as follows:

 “First on top a 6 inch layer of dark rich soil; then a round fire basin 12 inch deep and 24 inches in diameter. This basin was simply clay hardened by fire to about the thickness of an inch. It was full of charcoal and ashes. The plow had knocked off part of the edges and in trying to get it out it broke into so many fragments that I could not save it. Just immediately below this basin was a 12 inch layer of very bright red clay; then 2 feet 6 inch layer composed of a mixture of red clay, dark mulatto soil, with a large quantity of charcoal and ashes intermingling. These materials were evidently thrown inot this layer in quantities ranging from a peck to a half bushel, but they so intermingled with each other that it was impossible to make a drawing showing just where one color ended and the other commenced. Next below this was a 6 inch layer of pure white sand – such as is found on regular sand bars and last at the bottom of the mound was layer of [prarier]? soil 1 foot 6 inches deep.”

In adding up the depths of the strata within each soil profile, the textual description adds up to seven feet in depth, while the sketched soil profile (see Figure 7) adds up to 15 feet. Is it possible that Rogan excavated into both mounds? His colleague James Middleton (1883) documented Mound A as seven feet in height, and Mound B as only five feet in height; Rogan (1883) does not provide a height for Mound A, but describes Mound B as 15 feet in height. Rogan makes no mention in his notes of excavating into two mounds.

Over 100 years after Rogan and Middleton came to investigate the Leake site, Dr. David Hally and Jim Rudolph of UGA conducted archaeological excavations through University of Georgia field schools. While they focused their primary effort in the area of Mound A, they also excavated several trenches within Mound B. Similar to their work at Mound A, they found that the lower portion was present under the ground surface (Hally 1989, 1990a, 1990b; Rudolph 1989, 1990). Intact portions of the mound were identified on the northwest side of the highway during the archaeological testing work for the highway widening conducted in the late 1990s (Pluckhahn 1998).

During the data recovery excavation in advance of the relocation of the water line due to the road widening, the excavation extended into the southwestern side of the mound (see Figure 8 below), revealing several interesting aspects of the mound (Keith 2010). The map in Figure 8 below shows the excavation block trenches and blocks with the mound, while the black numbered dots represent postmold features. Observable on the right, or eastern, side of the trench is a linear row of post features arranged roughly north-south (Figures 8 and 9). These posts were spaced at regular intervals, and all were similar in size and soil fill (see Figure 9).

Further east from this line of posts, along the eastern end of the excavation trench, was a very large post feature (Feature 2497), and a small burned post feature (Feature 2498), which are observable in Figures 8 and 10. We obtained a radiocarbon date from the charcoal in the burned post Feature 2498, which returned a 2-sigma calibrated date of 383 – 122 BC, with a mean date of 270 BC. Beside this small post, Feature 2497 was an extremely large post – approximately 24-30 inches in diameter – that extended down through the dark artifact-rich midden soil of the former ground surface. At some point in the first century BC, the midden appears to have been leveled in some places, the large post was removed, and a homogenous brown silty clay loam – devoid of artifacts – was lain down to at least a thickness of three feet to form a mound. Unfortunately, the portions of the mound above this initial mound stage were removed, so we do not know its entire constructional sequence, apart from the conflicting soil descriptions provided by Rogan (1883).

While Mound B was a conical mound, no Middle Woodland period burials have been found within it. This is somewhat unusual because most conical-shaped mounds constructed at this time served as burial mounds. Rogan (1883) stated clearly that he found “nothing at all” in the mound during his excavation.  However, a Mississippian period burial was identified within this mound during the testing investigation (Pluckhahn 1998).  In consultation with Native American tribal authorities as part of the highway widening and bridge replacement project, the GDOT ensured that the remaining portions of this mound were carefully buried in fill so that it would be protected from road construction disturbance.

Mound C   

Very little is known about this mound. Middleton (1883) provides the only known description of it, stating that is was “small, circular, flat topped…seventy five feet in diameter and eight feet high” (Middleton 1883:6).  Robert Wauchope, an archaeologist who recorded many sites in northern Georgia during the late 1930s and then revisited many of the sites 20 years later in the late 1950s, wrote that he “could not even find it during the summer visit in 1957” (Wauchope 1966:238). Perhaps because it was located relatively far from Mounds A and B, one quarter mile to the west, for years the precise location of this mound was unknown, but the discovery of the Rogan and Middleton maps helped in determining its likely location (Keith 2010). Specifically, their sketch maps of the Leake site were georeferenced by comparing them with early aerial photographs and topographic maps, helping to “rubber sheet” them onto the modern ground surface (Figure 11). While it is presumed that Mound C dates to the Middle Woodland period like Mounds A and B, this has not been established. No on-the-ground work has been conducted to determine what may remain of this mound, but it appears that the northern half is likely destroyed due to the construction of a building and access road atop it.

Ditch enclosure

One of the most significant archaeological features of the Leake site which was identified as a result of the large data recovery excavation is a semi-circular ditch enclosure (Figure 13). This massive earthwork feature was not noted nor described by the Smithsonian researchers in the late 1800s, as it is not visible on the modern ground surface with the naked eye. Rather, this ditch feature was recognized as such during the data recovery when a large section of it was uncovered, in combination with a careful review of the evidence for it in the data from the numerous other excavations of the site (Hally 2007 personal communication, 2008 personal communication; Pluckhahn 1998; Southerlin 2002; Southerlin et al. 2003), along with its signature in historic aerial photography (Keith 2010). While we do not have excavation data for the entire length that would provide its exact path, the available data suggest that it extends from the area of the Highway 113 bridge, arcs around the western sides of Mounds A and B, and ends at the river southeast of Mound A (Figure 13). It is unknown if the ends were open to the river, but there is evidence that water was present in at least a portion of ditch.

Portions of the ditch that were exposed and investigated during the data recovery measured approximately 45 feet in width and at least 5.5 feet in depth, although the bottom was not reached during excavations due to safety issues (Keith 2010). The map in Figure 14 depicts the location of the ditch (symbolized by the gray area in the figure) within a large excavation area; much of this area is currently under the parking lot of the trucking company that occupies this location. The two narrow branches of the ditch observable just left of the “Feature 2026” label are believed to represent old erosional gullies that formed along the edge of the ditch.

As observable in Figures 15 and 16, the ditch consists of dark, organic soil. If the ditch was a prominent earthwork at Leake, one question that arises is why it was not noted or depicted by the early investigators of the site. The most plausible explanation at this time is that this massive feature simply filled in from centuries of river flooding, particularly if it was open to the river at one time. Test units placed in the ditch fill revealed that the artifacts are mixed and jumbled in terms of their age and stratigraphic positioning, indicating that they were likely deposited by flooding as opposed to activities taking place in those test unit locations.

The ditch at Leake is similar to the one still visible at the Etowah Mounds just upstream. At Etowah, Smithsonian archaeologist Rogan (1883) felt that at least the western end of the ditch was originally open to the river, but had later been filled in by the landowner to prevent it from filling with water. Both Rogan and antiquarian C.C. Jones (1861) believed that Etowah ditch was originally open to the river, and thus placed the mounds on an island. At Leake, the shape and path of the ditch suggest it may have extended continuously to join the river on both ends, which would also have enclosed Mounds A and B on a human-made “island”.  Ditch features are like these are relatively rare at Middle Woodland period sites in the Southeastern US. At the Middle Woodland Fort Center site in peninsular Florida, Sears et al. (1982) recorded a series of mounds and earthworks, including a 365-meter-diameter semi-circular ditch, each end of which connected to the river. Middle Woodland researchers generally believe that ditches and other earthwork enclosures were used at sites like Leake to create and segregate sacred and ritual spaces.

The GPR survey of portions of the site provided information on portions of the ditch in the area south of Mound A, and also on the north side of the highway. The GPR survey helped to confirm the presence of the ditch in areas where it was hypothesized to occur but where there are no data from excavations. Interestingly, the GPR data suggests that the course of the ditch in the area south and east of Mound A is several meters further north than hypothesized, and perhaps even more interestingly, that there may be evidence of an earthen embankment ringing this ditch enclosure (Baughman and Keith 2014).

While the impressive earthworks at the Leake site have been negatively impacted over the last two hundred years as the area was settled and developed, they fortunately have not been destroyed altogether. As the discussion above demonstrates, significant portions of these features remain under the modern ground surface, invisible to the naked eye. Archaeological investigations and archival research have yielded much information concerning when and how these monumental earthworks were built and used. Investigation of these earthworks is ongoing, and will be greatly facilitated by the use of non-invasive remote sensing techniques such as Ground Penetrating Radar that offer excellent opportunities for examining the archaeological record without having to conduct excavations that are more expensive, time-consuming, and by their very nature, archaeologically destructive.

References Cited

Baughman, Pamela and Scot Keith

2014       Ground-penetrating Radar at the Leake Site: Investigations, Results, and Interpretations. Early Georgia 42(2):123-141.
Hally, David J.

1989       Excavations at the Leake Site. LAMAR Briefs 13:6.

1990a    The Leake Site (9Br2). LAMAR Briefs 15:4-5.

1990b    Leake Site Excavations. LAMAR Briefs 16:1.

Jones, Charles Colcock. Jr.

1861       Monumental Remains of Georgia, Pt. 1. John M. Cooper and Co., Savannah, Georgia.

Middleton, James D.

1883       Material Concerning the Archaeology of Bartow County, Georgia. Manuscript 2400, Box 2, Georgia, Smithsonian Institution National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Museum Support Center, Suitland, Maryland.

Rogan, John P.

1883       Notes on Mounds in Georgia. Inventory of the George E. Stuart Collection of Archaeological and Other Materials, 1733-2006, Collection Number 5268, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina,  Chapel Hill.

Rudolph, James L.

1989       1989 Excavations of Mound A at the Leake Site (9Br2). LAMAR Briefs 14:4-5.

1990       Letter to James B. Langford, cc to Dave Hally, Dean Wood, Pat Garrow, and Woody Williams. Provided to the author by Jim Rudolph.

Sears, William H., Elsie O’R. Sears, and Karl T. Steinen

1982       Fort Center: An Archaeological Site in the Lake Okeechobee Basin. University Press of Florida, Tallahassee.

Southerlin, Bobby G.

2002       Archaeological Evaluation of the 84 Lumber Tract, Cartersville, Georgia. Submitted to 84 Lumber Company, Eighty-Four, Pennsylvania, by Brockington and Associates, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia.

Southerlin, Bobby, Julie Wilburn Peeler, Dawn Reid, and Rachel Tibbetts

2003       Archaeological Evaluation of the Rockmart Highway Water System Improvements, Bartow County, Georgia. Prepared by Brockington and Associates, Inc., Atlanta for the Bartow County Water Department, Cartersville, Georgia.

Wauchope, Robert

1966       Archaeological Survey of Northern Georgia: With a Test of Some Cultural Hypotheses. Memoirs of The Society for American Archaeology, Number 21. University of Utah Printing Service, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Emerson

(Formerly Known As “Stegall’s Station”)
By Sandy Lusk

Emerson, originally known as Stegall’s Station, was first established as an agricultural community on land belonging to Emsly Stegall (1812-1888) of Pickens County, South Carolina. Emsly Stegall came to Cass County (now Bartow) in 1839 and settled on a 40 acre lot drawn in the 1832 lottery. To his good fortune, the route of the Western & Atlantic Railroad, surveyed in 1832, crossed his land. Upon completion of the railroad, a station was established and given his name with Emsly appointed as agent. Prior to the late 1880’s, Stegall’s Station remained a small community thriving on both agriculture and limited mining. No significant population existed as the land around Stegall’s remained under Stegall family ownership. The only pre-war structure surviving today is the home of John P. Stegall, the first Mayor of Emerson. John was the son of Emsly and served as agent for the railroad following the Civil War until 1890. He also served as postmaster for many years. The first post office was called Stegall’s Depot and operated between 1870 and 1875, followed by Stegall, operated between 1883 and 1888.

 By April 1888, Stegall’s became Emerson in honor of Ex-Governor Joseph Emerson Brown (1821-1894) and was incorporated on November 11, 1889. The post office adopted the new name of Emerson in 1888 and has been in continual operation since. This name change was to give Stegall’s Station a name more fitting to a prosperous community. Lt. Col. C. M. Jones (1829-1910), formerly of the Confederacy, was the driving force behind this change. Jones succeeded in inducing several northerners to invest in this community, believing that Emerson could support an abundance of manufacturing plants which could turn the numerous variety of minerals found into a finished product, instead of shipping them in their natural state

1. M. and Sarah Jones moved to Bartow County in 1873, buying an 800 acre farm along nearby Pumpkinvine Creek and subsequently expanding his holdings to 2800 acres. The Jones farm contained rich deposits of minerals such as manganese, ochre and iron ore, the latter of which was mined through the Brown-Jones Mining Company. Among Jones’ holdings were the Emerson Malleable Iron Company, a limestone quarry, The Georgia Graphite Company, a kaolin clay deposit mined by Anderson & Armstrong of Marietta, ochre deposits, and the Georgia Fire Brick and Kaolin Company.

In order to create the town of Emerson, the Emerson Land Company was formed primarily by John P. Stegall and C. M. Jones with the financial backing of several northerners. Its sole purpose was to acquire several hundred acres from Emsly Stegall, John P. Stegall and C. M. Jones in order to lay out town lots. The city was surveyed in 1889 by H. J. McCormick, with the street names of Minnesota, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Florida, and Vermont running east and west; First, Second and Third streets running north and south. East of the railroad was a new three story, forty eight room hotel to accommodate an influx of prospective citizens and investors. The Courant American newspaper in nearby Cartersville was quite complimentary of Emerson’s quest for growth. Published in 1888 and 1889 were articles on Emerson’s new telegraph office, the new Emerson Malleable Iron Plant employing 150 skilled mechanics, the increased shipments of iron to Birmingham by the Etowah Iron & Manganese Company, a proposal by Mr. Barber of Milwaukee, WI to build several hundred houses, a new manufacturing plant for paint, a new post office and express office and the prospects of an Emerson newspaper to be called the Emerson Graphite.

The vast expansion and population growth of Emerson was never realized. Though some were enticed to settle in Emerson, it proved too close to the growing town of Cartersville some three miles to the north. Following the Civil War in 1866, Cartersville had been selected as the Bartow County seat. In addition, the nearby community of Bartow less than a mile east discontinued its iron furnace operation in 1885, affecting Emerson’s economy. Of most importance was the passing of visionaries like C. M Jones and John P. Stegall.

Today, the old depot is gone, as is the fine hotel which was once the pride of Emerson. Only New Riverside Ochre Company still mines the area. Doug’s Restaurant is the major anchor for the city, an inviting piece of Emerson’s history which continues to draw tourists and locals alike. However, this community historically tends to thrive around the churches, schools and thoroughfares.

Emerson is situated for substantial growth being on the railroad and bordering Interstate 75 and U. S. Highway 41. The main road through Emerson is GA Highway 293, known as the old Dixie Highway. One only needs to travel these roads to see the changes with the addition of the LakePoint Sporting Community, currently under construction, with tournaments and events which began in the Spring of 2014. LakePoint is on track to be one of the world’s largest and most unique destinations for travel sports. With more than 1,300 acres nestled in the foothills of the North Georgia Mountains and adjacent to beautiful Lake Allatoona, LakePoint will feature state-of-the-art sports venues and five million square feet of amenities including onsite hotels, restaurants, themed retail, bowling, ziplines, water parks and much, much more.

Sources: LakePoint Sports, EVHS records, New Georgia Encyclopedia and History of Bartow County, Georgia, (Formerly Cass) by Lucy Josephine Cunyus

ETOWAH RIVER HISTORIC SITES

IN BARTOW COUNTY, GEORGIA

(BY: David G. Archer)

1. Allatoona Dam – Congress authorized in 1941; construction delayed by WW2; construction started in 1946; and completed in 1950.

2. Etowah Village – site of Cooper’s Iron Works and sizable town; Iron Works purchased by Confederate Government around 1863; Town and Iron Works destroyed by Sherman’s Union troops on 4/21 or 22, 1865. Town site mostely under Allatoona Lake since 1950.

3. Hurricane Creek runs through Hurricane Hollow – site of extensive mining pre-civil war; post civil war site of Bartow Lumber Company and workers lived in 20 houses – closed operation in early 1900’s.

4. Railroad Bridge Rock piers in river – Built in late 1830’s/early 1840’s; used Cherokee Indian labor prior to removal in 1838; destroyed (burned) by retreating Confederates in 1864. Sherman’s Union engineers rebuilt in 6 days; In 1862 Andrew’s Union raiders crossed in stolen locomotive “General”; usage ceased in 1946 pursuant to Railroad rerouting associated with construction of Lake Allatoona.

5. Above Railroad Bridge was a Union Fort on hill on north (right) side of river; Union troops protecting Bridge during Civil War. Fort was earthen with cannon ports.

6. Etowah Station was located on north side of river prior to and during Civil War; Mark Cooper’s 2 mile spur track joined the W&A Railroad there; During Great Locomotive Chase, Conductor Fuller, chasing Andrew’s Raiders in the General, commandeered Cooper’s small locomotive “Yonah” and chased Andrews to Kingston, GA where he switched to a larger locomotive “Texas”.

7. Rock piers in River just below Etowah Station were supports for a wooden covered bridge for pedestrians/wagons during Civil War and afterwards – dismantled around 1935 when new concrete bridge was constructed (Highway 293).

8. Sally Hughes Ferry was located in vicinity of Wagon Bridge piers. Sally was a somewhat wealthy Cherokee Indian who owned property and several log cabins, barns, etc. in that area. Her ferry and real estate holdings were taken by white settlers during the Cherokee Removal of 1838 and the events that preceded it.

9. Below Sally Hughes Ferry site is the old mill dam across the river that was used by Thompson & Weinman Company to generate electricity with water powered generators. The nearby abandoned brick building is the old City of Cartersville Water Works, which was built in the late 1800’s and operated until 1960’s. The City could no longer use the River as water supply after Allatoona Dam went into operation because of its effect on the River.

10. Below there on the left side is Paga Mine property, which operated for almost 100 years mining barite, which ceased operation around 2003/2004. It was last operated by a division of Haliburton Corp.

11. On the right side of the river is Old Mill Farm, which trains thoroughbred racing horses and during the 1950’s and 60’s trained two Kentucky Derby winners, Decidedly and Northern Dancer, who also won the Preakness and was narrowly beat for the triple crown at Belmont.

12. Where Pumpkinvine Creek joins the river there was ancient Indian Village, with at least 3 mounds (left).

13. Just down river is the famous Etowah Indian Mounds site which is now a state park with a museum.

14. On the left, across from Etowah Mounds, is believed to be the site of the Cherokee Village and Mission called Hightower, reportedly the site of the last battle between Cherokees and General Sevier’s Militia from Tennessee in 1793; and, of a Moravian mission to teach Indian children.

15. Cherokee villages along the right side of the river were burned and destroyed by American Revolutionary War soldiers under General Andrew Pickens of South Carolina near the end of the war, according to an affidavit given by John Wright, who was a small boy living at Hightower Village at the time and swore the affidavit in 1829. Mr. Wright stated that the soldiers did not cross the river and Hightower was not burned.

16. The iron truss bridge just down river was constructed in 1886 on rock piers that pre-date the Civil War and was used until the concrete bridge was constructed in the 1980’s. The original wooden bridge was burned during the Civil War. The iron truss bridge replaced a second wooden bridge built after the Civil War in the late 1860’s. There are plans to restore the bridge for pedestrian usage with a series of hiking trails in the area.

17. In the area of the iron truss and concrete bridges, an early pioneer, James Douthit, operated a ferry prior to the construction of a bridge across the river, and again operated a ferry after the Civil War prior to construction of the wooden bridge to replace the destroyed bridge. He is buried on the hilltop on the left, near the bridge.

18. At or near the bridges, there were 2 Indian burial mounds, one on each side, which have been plowed under. The mound on the south (left) was within the River Chase Subdivision.

19. The rock weirs at several places across the river were Indian fish traps that date prior to 1500 A.D.

20. Down river, the river bends through the property of Confederate General PMB Young, an 1861 West Point classmate of Union General George Armstrong Custer. Troops commanded by Young and Custer fought against each other during the Civil War. After the War, General Young served as a United State Congressman and Ambassador to Guatemala and Russia. Custer went on to Little Big Horn.

21. On the left side, just before crossing under the Highway 61/113 Bridge, one thousand years before the Etowah Mounds were built around 900 A.D., there was a large Indian village with a palisade wall around it. The village included 3 mounds and numerous burials have been excavated by archaeologists on the site. Spanish artifacts dated prior to 1600 A.D. have been found, leading to the belief that Desoto visited the village in about 1540. The mounds were used as fill dirt in construction of Highway 61/113 around 1940.

22. On the right at Rowland’s Bend, a few hundred yards away is Ladd’s Mountain, upon which there were pre-historic rock walls that encircled the crest of the mountain. These walls were studied and diagrammed by Smithsonian Institute Archaeologists in 1886. There was similarity with the rock walls atop Fort Mountain in Murray County, Georgia. In 1936, the rocks were crushed and used to pave Highway 61/113 through Cartersville.

23. The rail road trestle next to the Highway 61/113 Bridge was constructed originally about 1870 for the Cartersville Van Wert Railroad Company, with bond proceeds that were embezzled by Georgia’s Reconstruction era Governor Rufus Bullock, resulting in public scandal, resignation and criminal indictment and acquittal.

24. Downstream on the bluff above the river on the left, until about 1900 stood the white columned plantation home of Mrs. Cecilia Stovall Shelman, which burned when struck by lightening. During the Civil War, Union General Sherman spared Mrs. Shelman’s home because of a past romance.

25. Further downstream on the right lies the property of the Norton family descendants of the original settlers, the Sproull and Fouche families, who constructed the magnificent brick and white columned plantation home constructed in the late 1830’s. Former owner Sproull Fouche served in the United States Consular service in Romania in 1920’s and traveled as a commercial attache´ for the Secretary of Commerce in India, China and Japan.

26. The next bend in the river travels through the property of the Knight family, descendants of William Henry Stiles, former congressman from Savannah, who initially acquired several hundred acres as a summer retreat from the coastal climate, but eventually moved his family to Bartow County in the late 1830’s. The Stiles were close personal friends with Robert E. Lee and kept up a friendship for many years. Mr. Stiles built his plantation home called Etowah Cliffs near the river, and his relative Juliette Gordon Lowe, as a child, visited several summers and swam in the shoals of the river. During the Civil War, General Sherman and several thousand Union soldiers forded the river at those shoals in 1864. Sherman telegraphed General Grant that he had crossed the “Rubicon” – During the 1850’s Mr. Stiles served as U.S. charge-d-affairs to Austria for several years.

27. Down river is iron truss Milam Bridge which replaced the wooden bridge destroyed during the Civil War. The rock piers predate the Civil War. Thousands of Confederate and Union troops crossed the bridge and/or forded the river near here. In the 1950’s the last person electrocuted from Bartow County was sentenced to death for murdering a 12 year old girl from Rome, Georgia and throwing her body in the river from Milam Bridge after weighting her with chains and concrete blocks. The bridge was abandoned in the 1980’s.

28. Near Milam Bridge, Euharlee Creek runs into the river in the small city of Euharlee, which was a farming community during the 1800’s. There was a grist mill with only foundations left, near one of the most picturesque wooden covered bridges over the creek.

29. The river turns north now and after some distance passes under the iron truss Harden Bridge (formerly Gillem’s Bridge) which is still in use for cars, soon to be replaced with a new concrete bridge. The rock piers predate the Civil Ware and the former wooden bridge was crossed by thousands of Union troops under Sherman’s command. On the right bluff on both sides of the bridge are remnants of Civil War trenches built for protection of the bridge, but it was burned anyway. On the right is the antebellum home of Col. William Harden, who served the U.S. as agent in dealing with the Cherokee Indians prior to their removal to Oklahoma in 1838.

30. Then there is a southerly bend in the river. In the middle of the bend on the left side is the site of an ancient Indian village that was excavated and reported upon by archaeologists working for the U.S. W.P.A. during the 1930’s with many significant artifacts discovered.

31. Down river is Island Ford. An island used as a river ford prior to the construction of bridges. The island is now owned by 2 men from Cartersville. What would you do with it?

32. After passing under the bridge at Highway 411, where Two Run Creek joins the river there is the site of Two Run Village, a Cherokee village of some size shown on maps dated as early as 1755. Many burials and artifacts have been discovered in the area.

33. The next bend in the river is called Reynolds Bend, after the Benjamin Reynolds family who built a brick home in the 1840’s a short distance from the river. Again, it is still owned by descendants of the original builder

34. In the middle of Reynolds Bend on the right is the Skinner/Bass plantation and home, complete with a widow’s walk. They were early settlers and the home was built in the 1840’s. It has been restored, but much of the property has been sold off.

35. The rock piers in the river next are the ruins of Wooley’s Bridge, which was burned during the Civil War and never rebuilt. The Civil War era Wooley’s lived on the right side of the river.

36. Also on the right side of the River can be seen where tracks once were for the Railroad from Rome to Kingston, and I am told that there are ruins of an old river crossing trestle, maybe over into Floyd County. This is the Railroad upon which the locomotive “Texas” traveled to Kingston and into the Great Locomotive Chase in 1862. I believe that this Railroad operated until the 1960’s, but I am not sure. At some point the iron tracks were taken up and sold for scrap iron.

37. I believe it is just past Wooley’s Bridge on the left where Ravenel Cave is located. During the Civil War, the Confederate Government conducted a nitre extraction operation. See attached Exhibit “B” for further details.

38. The next bend in the river loops around the current site of the Atlanta Steeple Chase, and into Floyd County.

39. Just over into Floyd County is the site of the Bass Ferry. The Bass family bought the property in the 1840’s, but did not live on the property and operate the ferry until after the Civil War. Descendants of the Bass family owned the property until it was sold by my Great Grandmother Martha Gordon Gibson in 1954.

40. The River and its tributaries from Allatoona Dam to slightly over into Floyd County is on the National Registry of Historic Places as an approximately 40,000 acres district since the mid 1970’s, in large part because of the area’s significance archaeologically as to prehistoric Indians, and the Civil War activities in the area; and because of the plantation culture and homes that predate the Civil War.

The Archaeology and History of the Leake Site: A Prehistoric Ceremonial Center in the Etowah River Valley

This article series is dedicated to the archaeological details, history, and significance of the Leake Mounds and several related archaeological sites in Bartow County.

While most people in Bartow County know of the Etowah Mounds, not as many people may know that the Etowah River Valley held many more earthen mounds that were also constructed by the American Indian peoples who occupied and visited the valley over thousands of years. One of these mound sites, the Leake Mounds, is located in a large bend of the Etowah River, two miles overland and about three miles downstream of the more well-known mounds that take their name from the river. Predating the Etowah Mounds and occupied for approximately 1,000 years from circa 300 B.C. until 600 A.D., the Leake Mound site developed from a small local village into a large ceremonial center associated with a vast religious and cultural interaction network that stretched across eastern North America.

Article 1

The Leake Site: History of Discovery and Documentation

The bend of the Etowah River where the Leake site is located is known as Rowland’s (sometimes spelled Roland) Bend, after the landowner of the middle to late 1800s. This bend is labeled as such on numerous maps of the period, and a crossing/ford of the Etowah River is frequently depicted and labeled as Rowland’s Ferry (Figure 1).

Originally known as the Rowland Mounds after the landowner at the time of the Civil War, this group of mounds eventually became known as the Leake Mounds following the transfer of property ownership to the Leake family. The earliest known documentation of the Leake site occurred in 1883 by James D. Middleton (1883) and John P. Rogan (1883), both of whom were employees of the Smithsonian Division of Mound Exploration of the Bureau of Ethnology under the supervision of Cyrus Thomas, who synthesized their findings in his reports on the numerous mounds in the U.S. that his employees were recording (1891; 1894). Rogan conducted the Mound Exploration Division’s actual field investigations within Bartow County (he also excavated at Etowah Mounds). During the archaeological investigation of the Leake site, the author acquired a copy of Rogan’s field notes for his work at Leake (Rogan 1883), which include information on the mounds and a few rough maps of the site. Importantly, one of the maps (see Figure 2) show three mounds, the river, and the railroad, as well as the distances between the mounds and his calculations. While Rogan’s documentation is certainly not up to today’s professional standards, his plan map of the site provides very significant information about its layout that was previously lost due to the razing of the mounds circa 1940 for road fill. Upon locating this map, archaeologists were then able to use GIS to tie it to the modern ground surface through a process known as georeferencing, providing them with an idea of where the mounds were mapped on the ground at that time.

Rogan’s co-worker and colleague James D. Middleton also drew a map of the site (Middleton 1883) which also depicts three mounds (Figure 3). Like Rogan, Middleton also documented various mounds in Bartow County (and other Georgia counties), including the Leake site. From the documentation, we are unable to determine how Middleton’s work correlated with Rogan’s, in terms of the chronology and collaboration. While Rogan did excavate a portion of one of the mounds (Mound B), there is no evidence that Middleton actually excavated any portion of the site. Rather, his notes consist of a description of each mound and a map of the site (Figure 3), suggesting it may simply be that he cleaned up Rogan’s work for their boss Cyrus Thomas. While his map closely approximates Rogan’s in terms of the mound locations, the most significant component of Middleton’s documentation is the shape description of Mound C, as it is the only known for this mound.

The next known field documentation of the Leake site dates to 1917, consisting of a photograph of one of the mounds with Ladd’s Mountain in the background (Anonymous 1917). Discovered in the files of the Georgia State Archives during the 2004-2005 archaeological data recovery investigation of the site (Figure 4), this is the only known ground-level photograph showing the site prior to the razing of the mounds circa 1940 (Keith 2010). Apart from the mound in the foreground, also visible in the photograph are the railroad and its bridge over the Etowah, the southernmost knoll of Ladd’s Mountain to the right of the trees growing on the mound, and the Ladd’s Lime Works buildings and operations on the side slope below the knoll. The prominent summit on Ladd’s Mountain corresponds to the knoll shown just northeast of the label “Quarry Mtn” on the 1992 Cartersville 15’ topographic quadrangle, and was the location of a stone wall that enclosed this summit (to be discussed in a subsequent article in this series). The railroad also emerges from behind the mound in the far right center of the photograph, just barely visible.

The perspective of this photograph indicates it is of Mound B, taken from the northern side of Mound A. This is suggested by the apparent proximity of the railroad to the mound, for Mound B is to the north of Mound A and is thus situated closer to the railroad. Also, the tall grass in the bottom of the picture frame suggest the photographer was standing on the northern edge of Mound A, which likely would not have been plowed due to the slope (similar to the periphery of the mound shown in the photograph). More evidence that this photograph shows the southern side of Mound B is the absence within the frame of the original course of the Dallas-Rockmart road (now Highway 113). Clearly visible in the 1938 aerial photograph (Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service 1938) seen below in Figure 5, this former road course cut into the southeastern portion of Mound A. This general course was in place in some form at least by 1876, as evidenced by its depiction in this location on a Civil War map (see Figure 1), and it also follows this course as shown on the 1940 Bartow County road map (Figure 6). This road crosses the river at the former location of Rowland’s Ferry, which appears to be in the same location as the current Highway 113 bridge. If the photograph is of the southern side of Mound A, then this road should be visible, yet it is not apparent. Thus, the photograph appears to be of Mound B.

By the time the 1943 aerial photograph was taken, several changes had occurred to the Leake site (Figure 7). Specifically, the Dallas-Rockmart Road was relocated to the northwest to the location that it follows today, so that is traverses directly over Mound B. The signature of Mound B is no longer indicative of trees, but rather of open ground. At this point, the above-ground portion of this mound would have been removed. Mound A still displays a similar signature to the 1938 aerial photograph, so it appears that this mound may not have been razed by the time of this photograph. Mound C is visible as an open area, suggesting that this mound was destroyed between 1938 and 1943, likely a result of the road building activity. The ditch feature visible in the 1938 photograph is largely indiscernible in the 1943 photograph.

Between 1938 and 1940, Robert Wauchope conducted documentary investigations at various archaeological sites in northern Georgia, and based on a visit to the Leake site, he characterized it as “three mounds, a village site, and a lithic station” (Wauchope 1966:238). He noted that one or more of the mounds was completely leveled during highway construction so that the site was “largely destroyed”, to the point that he could not find it during his return years later in 1957.

In 1940, local amateur archaeologist Pat Wofford, Jr. “observed the destruction of the mounds and salvaged as much material as possible” (Fairbanks et al. 1946:126). Wofford seems to have alerted archaeologists Charles Fairbanks, Gordon Willey, and Arthur Kelly of the significant remains, so that they came to visit the site, resulting in a co-authored short description of the site (Fairbanks et al. 1946). While they recognized the likely association of Leake with the vast Hopewell interaction sphere that developed circa 0-500 A.D. in the Eastern Woodlands in the area extending from present-day Wisconsin to Florida, although a year prior to this article archaeologist Antonio J. Waring, Jr. (1945) was the first to formally recognize the Hopewellian connections of Leake and Ladd’s Mountain.

Leake was not the subject of any other formal archaeological investigations for the next several decades. In 1986, archaeologists with the GDOT conducted an archaeological survey through the site as part of a proposed replacement and widening of bridges Highway 113, with the area examined restricted to a corridor along the road (Georgia Department of Transportation 1987). Following this, another survey which extended through the site was conducted as part of the road widening project, and several of the individual archaeological sites that make up the larger Leake site were recognized as potentially significant for the data they contained (Price 1994). The findings of that survey led to more detailed testing of these sites several years later (Pluckhahn 1998). Testing revealed extensive and significant deposits at the sites, and it was recommended that Leake be protected from any adverse effects from the proposed road widening, and that if the site were not able to be protected, then full-scale excavation designed to recover the data which would be lost by the road widening should be carried out. Because the road design could not avoid impacting the Leake site, large-scale data recovery excavations were carried out between 2004 and 2006 (Keith 2010). Overseen by the author of this article, these excavations uncovered approximately 50,000 square feet, resulting in the recordation of extensive archaeological deposits and tens of thousands of artifacts.

Several other archaeological excavations have been conducted at the site. In 1988, 1989, and 1990, archaeologists with the University of Georgia conducted three summer field school excavations at the site (Hally 1989, 1990a, 1990b; Rudolph 1989). Another investigation was spurred by the beginning stages of construction of an 84 Lumber Company facility on the site (Southerlin 2002). After construction activity exposed artifacts and midden deposits, artifact collectors began to take items from the site, and construction work was subsequently halted while a professional investigation could be conducted. As a result, the City of Cartersville made a land swap with the 84 Lumber Company, so that this tract within the site is currently protected from development.

Figure ? shows the location of the various excavations that have been conducted at the Leake site. These numerous excavations have yielded very important data that provide archaeologists with clues and information about when the site was occupied, what activities were conducted at the site, and the various peoples that lived at or came to visit the site.

More details on the archaeological findings and what they reveal to us about the Etowah River Valley – and beyond – will be included in another installment for this EVHS series on the Leake site. Stay tuned!

References Cited

Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service

1938    Aerial Photograph No. IZ-3-48. Aerial Photography of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, 1934-1954; Record Group 145; Cartographic and Architectural Records LICON, Special Media Archives Services Division, National Archives, College Park, Maryland.

1943    Aerial Photograph No. IZ-2C-52. Aerial Photography of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, 1934-1954; Record Group 145; Cartographic and Architectural Records LICON, Special Media Archives Services Division, National Archives, College Park, Maryland.

Anonymous

1917    Indian Mound on Leake Property, 4 Mi. S.W. of Cartersville. Hu-52, Nov. 1917. Photograph mmg01-0052, State Geologist Photographs and Negative Files, Department of Mines, Mining, and Geology, RG 50-2-33, Georgia Archives, Morrow.

Fairbanks, Charles H., Arthur R. Kelly, Gordon R. Willey, and Pat Wofford, Jr.

1946    The Leake Mounds, Bartow County, Georgia. American Antiquity 12(2):126-127.

Georgia Department of Transportation

1987    Projects BHF-018-1(41) and (44), Bartow County, No Adverse Effect Findings. Letter report from Georgia Department of Transportation, Atlanta to Mr. Louis M. Papet, Federal Highway Administration, Atlanta, Georgia.

Hally, David J.

1989    Excavations at the Leake Site. In LAMAR Briefs 13:6.

1990a  The Leake Site (9Br2). In LAMAR Briefs 15:4-5.

1990b  Leake Site Excavations. In LAMAR Briefs 16:1.

Keith, Scot J.

2010    Archaeological Data Recovery at the Leake Site, Bartow County, Georgia. Prepared for the Georgia Department of Transportation by Southern Research, Historic Preservation Consultants, Inc., Ellerslie, Georgia.

Middleton, James D.

1883          Material concerning the archaeology of Bartow County, Georgia. Manuscript 2400, Box 2, Georgia, Smithsonian Institution National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Museum Support Center, Suitland, Maryland.

Pluckhahn, Thomas J.

1998    Highway 61 Revisited: Archeological Evaluation of Eight Sites in Bartow County, Georgia. Submitted to Georgia Department of Transportation, Office of Environment/Location, Atlanta by Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc., Athens, Georgia.

Price, T. Jeffrey

1994    An Archeological Resource Survey of Proposed Widening Along State Route 61, Bartow County, Georgia. Submitted to Georgia Department of Transportation, Office of Environment/Location, Atlanta by Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc., Athens, Georgia

Rogan, John P.

1883    Notes on Mounds in Georgia. Inventory of the George E. Stuart Collection of Archaeological and Other Materials, 1733-2006, Collection Number 5268, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Rudolph, James L.

1989    1989 Excavations of Mound A at the Leake Site (9Br2). In LAMAR Briefs 14:4-5.

Southerlin, Bobby G.

2002    Archaeological Evaluation of the 84 Lumber Tract, Cartersville, Georgia. Submitted to 84 Lumber Company, Eighty-Four, Pennsylvania, by Brockington and Associates, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia.

Thomas, Cyrus

1891 Catalogue of Prehistoric Works East of the Rocky Mountains. Bureau of Ethnology,

Smithsonian Institution. Government Printing Office, Washington.

1894 Report on the Mound Explorations of the Bureau of Ethnology. Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1890-

1891. Government Printing Office, Washington.

Wauchope, Robert

1966    Archaeological Survey of Northern Georgia. Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology, Number 21, Salt Lake City, UT.

Waring, Antonio J., Jr.

1945 “Hopewellian” Elements in Northern Georgia. American Antiquity 11(2):119-120.

Cartersville’s Railroad Car Manufacturing Age

A Possible Discovery to Cartersville’s Post War Reconstruction
By Joe F. Head

Following the Civil War, Cartersville, for a short time, pulled itself back on track with a railroad manufacturing economy. Little known to today’s citizens of Cartersville and Bartow County is a long forgotten industry that thrived in the center of downtown Cartersville. These forgotten businesses spanned less than two decades, but provided a major boom to the post war city regarding jobs, growth and service to the railroad industry.

Well before the row of familiar buildings standing left and right of the Grand Theater, today’s Museum Avenue was a bustling manufacturing giant. According to 1870 deeds and newspaper ads Cartersville once had a thriving railroad car manufacturing industry located in the heart of what is now the downtown square adjacent to the CSX Railroad (Western and Atlantic) and Grand Theater vicinity.

This business existed between 1870 and 1880. According to deeds, it occupied a footprint of approximately four city blocks. Deed records “roughly” describe boundaries as being between Tennessee Street (including Gilmer Street) and west to the Western and Atlantic Railroad (W&A RR) with Main Street to the south and Church street to the north. The plant was composed of steam power tools, kilns, painting buildings, wood planer and carpenter shops.

An article that appeared in the Cartersville Semi-Weekly newspaper on October 24, 1870 page 3 reveals an enthusiastic editorial about a proposed manufacturing company that would engage in the production of railroad cars. The article proclaims this business development as evidence of local prosperity and names the primary officer, Col. Padgett of Quitman, GA as the mechanical mind to lead the enterprise.

A follow-up editorial in the Cartersville Express on January 13, 1871 declares that all the Car Factory stock has been bought up, officers elected and a location for the business has been selected. That article continues with a flavor of chastising local talented citizens who declined the offer to participate as they must not have understood the good reasons for the business. However, the article concludes with a positive twist to proclaim that all would agree that it is all for the good improvement for “our miniature city.”

According to newspaper articles the corporation is headed by, E. N. Gower, President and H. Padgett, Secretary. (It also should be noted that E. N. Gower is a principle officer in the Gower and Jones Carriage business.)

By 1871 the Car Company is vigorously advertising in local newspapers. Initial ads feature the construction of railroad cars. Subsequent ads announce the company was authorized to expand to serve as a building association as well. The company revises its name to become the “Cartersville Car Factory and Building Association.” A number of deeds were discovered in the deed office that reflected land transactions on Cassville Road and other locations related to the Building Association activity.

When one considers the viability of a railroad car manufacturer, it becomes apparent that such an industry held merit in the area. Given the vital Western and Atlantic Railroad running between Atlanta and Chattanooga, it is plausible that a plant to manufacture cars would be useful. However, the added demand of local mining and its dependence on rail cars to transport ore to the main line is also a substantial reason to have such a convenient industry. And, just north was the Kingston wye and the Rome Railroad that also needed rolling stock.

Subsequent car factory newspaper advertisements would hype its services as offering contractors, builders and dealers fine materials in pine, walnut, oak, ash or poplar lumber in rough or dressed condition. Additionally the factory offers to fill orders such as sashes, blinds, doors, moldings, brackets and other items at low prices. They further tout offering passenger cars, boxcars, flatcars unlike any in the South. Some speculate that the factory could employ up to 400 hands.

As the factory builds out operations it begins to feature testimonials in the local paper including a strong testament from former Governor, Joseph Brown who proclaims the first cars turned out for the W&A RR are first rate.

The Cartersville Car Factory eventually negotiates to acquire the prominent Bolivar Scholfield Foundry in what seems to be a graduated deal between 1872 and 1874. The foundry was conveniently located to the Car Factory and may have adjoined the property. However, the foundry came with what appears to be a great deal of debt. As an expansion Mr. Charles Wallace financially backs the endeavor. He begins to piggyback on Car Factory ads as the new proprietor of the former Scholfield Foundry and the president of the Car Factory Foundry and Machine Shops.

By 1877 an editorial appears in the October 11, 1877 Cartersville Express newspaper by W. H. Hackett entitled, “Manufacturing in Cartersville.” It expresses the rich manufacturing opportunities and resources available in Bartow County. A portion of the article describes the Cartersville Car Factory and its location next to the Western and Atlantic Railroad. He includes a brief inventory consisting of a main building with dimensions of 40 x 80 feet, erecting shop of 40 x 100 feet, other buildings of equal size and machinery such as 30 horse power boiler and engine, 40 foot Daniel wood planer, double cylinder planer and machine saws, molding machines and tools. He concludes the Car Factory description portion of the article by advising it is now for sale.

According to an article that appeared in the Free Express on June 30, 1881 hard times had fallen on Bartow. It briefly encourages enterprising citizens to purchase the old car factory and suggested it be converted into a furniture factory. It further mentions how highly adaptable it would be for that purpose and plenty of timber can be had at any price. The article lists a variety of people, businesses and farms that are struggling.

By 1880 a competitive operation surfaces called the Georgia Car Company. This enterprise has indirect connections to the officials operating the Western and Atlantic Railroad. Deeds in the Bartow County Court House find this operation located about two tenths of a  mile south of the Cartersville Car Manufacturing site also adjacent to the W&A RR.

Deed and newspaper articles describe its footprint to be approximately four acres beginning at the intersection of Leake Street and fronting the W&ARR running 200 feet east toward Tennessee Street and cornered by the Wallace Foundry. Several deeds were filed to assemble an area of about 600 feet by 200 feet. (Approximately between current day Tribune News building on West Avenue and Leake Street intersection along W&A RR.) A June 9^th 1881, article in the Express reveals that the City is delighted to announce the prospects of this car factory and that the authorities have exempted them from taxation for a term of five years.

A June 30^th, 1881 article in the Free Press page 3, states that the company will be a boom for the town and double the machinery is expected to be installed as was first thought. It appears conditions were favorable to resurrect a car factory as a demand still existed for the industry and a waiting and skilled labor force was in place remaining from the first car factory of 1871.

Tragedy struck the Georgia Car Works on February 17, 1882 when a boiler exploded and killed six negro men. Those that perished were: Lawrence Choice, Matt Bowman, Hand Hammond, David Richardson, Richard Patterson and Sam Davis. Also Ellis Laws, Henry Hickson and Ed Hand were expected to die from severe burns. Mr. C. E. Lucas, inventor of the Lucas sleeping-car was also injured. Several others suffered broken ribs and burns. The explosion inflicted terrible damage tearing the greater portion of the building to pieces.

An April 6, 1882 article in the Cartersville Free Press offers an impressive description of the plant. It speaks of a 40 x 210 feet erecting building, 40 x 240 feet paint building, a working building of 40 x 180 feet, machine shop of 40 x 180 feet and a blacksmith shop of 40 x 90 feet, plus office buildings. The dry kiln is cited as the very first built in the south at a cost of $3000.00 and contains over a mile of pipe. The article mentions that the Car Works employs over 100 hands and added nearly 500 to the population of Cartersville.

The officers of this corporation are President John H. Flynn of Atlanta, Superintendent C.E. Lucas and Secretary/treasurer Major C. T. Watson. The clerk of the plant stated that currently they manufacture about twenty-five cars per week. Production primarily consists of freight, stock and coal cars and soon to be moving to passenger cars. The company will invest over $25,000.

Articles in the Cartersville Free Express between September 22, and December 8^th, 1881 continue to credit the original Cartersville Car Factory with good pay and employing 150 hands. The promise of a second car factory along with existing gristmills and iron manufacturing are yet more reason to be encouraged for the future of the city.

According to the September 21, 1882, issue of the Free Press news the Georgia Car Company will be served by the foundry of Murry, Stephenson and Mc Entyre with forty hands currently employed. They already have orders for 800 car castings. The car factory will begin production with manufacturing five cars per day. Initial contracts cite the Memphis and Pickburg railways ordering 800 cars. A great deal of pride is touted that the car company will be able to produce and sell cars much more cheaply than other competitors.

The 1883, Cartersville City Directory lists the Georgia Car Company as being established in 1881 and making all classes of cars. It further states that it employs 200 hands, operates a foundry and has added greatly to the material wealth of the city.

It is not clear in deed records or news articles of what happened respectively to these two railroad car manufactures. They were obviously over lapping and competing for a short time. It appears the Cartersville Car Factory began to struggle by the late 1870’s and eventually closed.

A November 7^th, 1883 deed reveals that William Noble, President of the Georgia Car Company sold what appears to be the core manufacturing property to Mr. Puckney S. Hightower consisting of 4. 5 acres. The deed describes the tract as likely being the production site between the Leake Street and W&A RR junction, running south approximately 600 feet and bounded on the east by Tennessee Street.

In retrospect, this research perhaps reveals a new piece of unknown reconstruction suggesting how Cartersville and Bartow County emerged from the post Civil War carnage. The railroad car manufacturing age coupled with mining and agriculture provided resurgence to employment and revenue allowing the populations of Cartersville to recover from post war destruction.

Above is an 1850 deed plat diagramming the Cartersville Public Square with numbered land lots. This plat is prior to the Civil War and the railroad car factories. As of today the only fixed or remaining building site would be the depot located in the center of the plat. (Deed Book I, Page 560, Bartow County Deed Office)

Bibliography/Sources

Newspapers/Directory 

Cartersville Semi-Weekly, October 24, 1870

Cartersville Semi-Weekly, January 13, 1871

Standard and Express, February, 27, 1873

Standard and Express, August 7, 1873

Standard and Express, October 11, 1877

Free Express, April 6, 1882

Free Express, Page 3, June 30, 1881

Free Press, Page 3, August 25, 1881

Free Press, Page 3, August 11, 1881

Cartersville Express, Cover page, September 22, 1881

Free Express, December 8, 1881

Cartersville Express, June 9, 1881

Free Press, Page 3, September 21, 1882

Cherokee – Cartersville Resident Directory, 1883-84

Etowah Valley Historical Society Newsletter, January 1994

GenDisasters. Com, Cartersville, GA Car Works Explosion, Feb.1882

Waukesha Freeman Wisconsin, Car Works Explosion, February 2, 1882

County Records

Deed Book H, Page 206, 1848

Deed Book I, Page 560, 1850

Deed Book S, Page 304, February 1872

Deed Book S, Page 246-247, November 25, 1873

Deed Book S, Page 299-300, April 23, 1874

Deed Book V, Page 151, January 4, 1875

Deed Book X, Page 347-348, November 7, 1880

Deed Book W, Page 79-80, November 7, 1880

Deed Book W, Page 42, October, 11, 1881

Deed Book X, Page 347, November 7, 1883

Acknowledgements

Lynn Gentry, Bartow County Deed Office

J.B. Tate, Retired Professor of History, Kennesaw State University