Georgia, state of adventure: historical commission sites [1965]

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GEORGIA
HISTORICAL COMMISSION SITES

VANN HOUSE EAGLE TAVERN NEW ECHOTA FORT KING GEORGE DAHLONEGA COURT HOUSE ETOWAH MOUNDS TRAVELER'S REST FORT JACKSON FORT MORRIS CRAWFORD W. LONG MUSEUM FORT MCALLISTER MIDWAY MUSEUM THE MACKAY HOUSE CONFEDERATE NAVAL MUSEUM WASHINGTON - WILKES HISTORICAL MUSEUM

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The Georgia Historical Commission was created in 1951 within the Department of the Secretary of State. The members and secretary are appointed by the Secretary of State, Ben W. Fortson , Jr. The duties and powers of the Commission are to promote and increase knowledge and understandin g of the history of Georgia from earliest times to the present ; to promote and publici ze hi storical resources of the State ; to coordinate its objecti ves wi th simil ar agencies; to cooperate and coun se l with loca l organi za tion s for hi storical purposes . In additi o n to maintainin g hi storical sites, the Commi ss ion has ere cted hi storical markers o ver the State, th at Georgia' s past may be known in detail to residen ts and touri sts.

VANN HOUSE
Built by James Vann, the son of a Scotch trader and his Cherokee wife, in 1804, Vann House is an outstanding example of Cherokee wealth and culture. Bricks for the hou se were made o n Vann's plantation and nai ls and hinges were produced in his own blacksmith shop. Hand carving, with the Cherokee Rose predominating, is featured inside and outside the hou se. To the left of the mai n entrance, is an elaborately carved stairway which is the oldest example of cantilevered construction in Georgia. James Vann, who was instrumental in the establishment of the Moravian Mi ssio n at Spring Place, was kill ed at a tavern on the old Federal Road in 1809. Hi s so n, Jose ph, who acqui red the hou se and much of hi s father's other property soo n became known as " Rich Joe Vann " because of hi s successfu I business dealin gs.
Allowed to deteriorate for more than a century, Vann House was restored by the Georgia Hi sto rical Comm issio n in 1958. Visitors to the home on Highway U.S. 76 between Dalton and Chatsworth will find appropriate furnishings and many priceless relics of the Vann fami ly.
vann house

NEW ECHOTA
Three miles east of Calhoun on Georgia Hig hway 225, the Georgia Historical Commi ssion is recon structing the town of New Echota. Officiall y designated the Cherokee capital in 1825, New Echota was named for Chota, an "old beloved town" in Tennessee and served as the seat of Cherokee government until the Indians were forced to move W est.
A remarkable development in Cherokee progre ss came in 1821 whe n the principal men adopted a written form of their native language. It was the invention of a mixed-blood Cherokee named Sequoyah (or George Gu ess or Gist). Sequoyah, who with so me 800 Cherokees had participated in the Creek War of 1813-14 o n the side of the United States, succeeded after many years of trial in creatin g a syllabary for the Cherokees. The symbols in his langua ge represented syll ables. The Indi ans had but to memorize the characters and they were literate. Thus the Cherokees had a mean s of communication unique amon g American Ind ians of that time.
Thi s invention, so important to the Cherokees, was put to use at New Echota in the Print Shop, which the National Committee and Council approved in 1826. Here the Cherokees established a nation al press and newspaper. While the print shop was being erected at New Echota, type, a press, and other equipment were secured. From the New Echota print shop the first iss ue of the Cherokee Phoenix appea red on February 21 , 1828, printed in Cherokee and English. The paper was published un til 1834.

One of the ablest mi ssio nari es sent out by the American Board of Commi ssioners for Forei gn Missions was Samuel A. Worcester, who arrived in New Echota in 1827. He built a home which rem ained sta ndin g while other New Echota buildings disappeared. This house has been renovated as part of the New Echota Re sto ratio n. An upper room in this buildin g wa s used as a mission schoo l by Mr. Worce ster but the large classes led him to utili ze the public buildings whe n Council and Court were not in session.
In the Court House, which has been reconstructed, the Cherokee Supreme Court met to hear cases appealed from Cherokee circuit and district courts.
Vann Tavern, among the buildings at the New Echota Restoration , is a Cherokee built structure which was moved to ew Echota when its original site was flooded bv Lake Lanier. Originally built by James Vann as a "public stop" at the Ch attahoochee River crossi ng near O sca rville, the large rough-hewn struct ure is represe ntative of so me of the Indi an taverns which stood in this vicinity. Several Indi an dwellings were at
ew Echota, as were a number of stores. In addition to the reco nstructed and restored buildings at New Echota, the Georgi a Historical Commi ss ion ha s a modern Visitor Center at the si te.

th e pri nt shop

ETOWAH MOUNDS ARCHAEOLOGICAL AREA
The Etowah Mounds, the largest and most important Indian settlement in the Etowah Valley, was occupied between 1000 A.D. and 1500 A.D. Etowah, the center of politi ca l and religious life in the Vall ey, was th e home of chiefs w ho direc ted the growin g, sto rage, and di stribution of food.
At its peak there may have been severa l tho usa nd Indi ans living in th is fortified town, surro und ed except for th e river sectio n, by a wood post stockade and a dee p moat. Within the pali sa de the peopl e of Etowa h built windowle ss houses, usi ng a post framework, clay-p lastered walls, and grass thatch or cane mat roofs.
Seven pyramids were gro uped aro und two public squ ares in the town . Carryi ng basketsful of earth from borrow pits near the moats, the Indians constructed the se mounds.
Elaborate reli giou s ritu als centered on the buri al of chiefs. Several hundred buri als have bee n excavated arou nd the base of Mou nd C dnd beneath the f loors of funeral te mples w hich stood on its summit.
etowah indian mounds

DAHLONEGA COURTHOUSE GOLD MUSEUM
The Dahlonega Courthou se Gold Museum, housed in the ol d Lump ki n County Courthou se, commemorates the exciting era when the natio n's first gold ru sh to o k place in Geo rgia. The di scove ry of go ld in North Geo rgia in 1828 brought hordes of prospectors into the territory then occupied by the Cherokee Indi ans. Dema nd s for the removal of the Indian s increased and in 1831 , the Georgia Legislature created Cherokee County from the entire area. Th e fo ll owi ng year, Cherokee County wa s divided into ten smaller counties and land lots were distributed throu gh a statewide lottery.
The land lot selected as the county seat of the new Lump ki n County was soon settled and given the name Dahlon ega, the white man's form of the Cherokee phrase " TA LO NE GA" meaning " pl ace of yellow money." In 1836 the Courthouse was built and a year late r a United States Branch Mint was completed . From 1838 to 1861 mo re than $6,000,000.00 of Georgia gold was coined at the mint. Mining, o n a small sca le, co ntinu ed in the area as late as World War II.
dahlonega court house

EAGLE TAVERN
Eagle Tavern, early Georgia stage-stop and sto re, was built about 1820 when Watkinsville was a busy crossroads of travel to Athen s from Greensboro and Madison. Taverns we re centers of political and social life, and Eagle Tavern was no exception. An 1843 newspape r reported that the Watkinsville Independent Blues, after listening to " a chaste and eloquent oration" at the church, " marched to th e Eagle Hotel and partook of an excellent dinner, prepared by the proprietor, Richard Richardson , Esq. " The years prior to the Civil War were the busiest for the Tavern.
Richard Richard so n died in 1871 and hi s daughter, Martha, and her husband, Edward Swepson Billups, ran the Tave rn for seve ral years. However, the expansion of railroads, the decline of the plantation economy, and the shifting of Georgia's capital to Atlanta , all meant less business for a tavern-hotel in the eastern part of the State. Appropriately furnished and featuring exhibits on early travel in Georgia, Eagle Tavern recreates the pre-Civil War, pre-railroad era when wagon and stage travel was at its height.

WASHINGTON-WILKES HISTORICAL MUSEUM
Often referred to as the Barnett-Slaton House, the Washington-Wilkes Historical Museum is a white frame house of two stories on a high basement. There are eighteen rooms, numerous hallways, and a total of thirteen doors leading outside.
The earliest part of the house was built probably in 1835 or 1836 by Albert Gallatin Semmes, half-brother of Brigadier-General Paul Jones Semmes of the Confederate Army, and a cousin of Admiral Raphael Semmes of the Confederate avy. The first floor of the mu seu m is restored as a kitchen and storage area, including a dry well . The second floor is furnished as a typical double parlor, dining room, and bedroom of the ante-bellum period.
A collection of Civil War relics on the third floor of the hou se, gathered for many year by the Last Cabinet Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confed eracy, is one of the finest in the South . It includes Jefferson Davis' camp chest given him by English sympathizers and used until he left his genera ls, cabinet members and staff afte r the final cabinet meetin g.

eagle tavern

wash ington-wi Ikes

THE MACKAY HOUSE
Famou s for a Revo luti o nary battl e and martyred Am eri ca n patriots, thi s hou se, traditi o nall y ca ll ed th e " Wh ite Ho use", was co nveyed to th e State of Georgia by th e Ri chmo nd Co unty Hi sto ri ca l Society in 1956. Th e late Thomas G. Little, emin ent hi sto rical architect, decl ared th e stru cture to be " the fin e t exa mple o f Co lo ni al frame res identi al architecture south of the Potomac." Damage wrought by fires and time had altered the building's original appearance, and on Mr. Little's recommendation , the Commission decided to restore it to the Revolutionary Period . The first floor with 18th Century furnishings compatibl e with the elegance and refinement of the architecture ; the second with exhibits pertaining to the Southern theatre of operations during the Revolution; and the third devoted tc the pre-Revolution Indian trade.

After the work of restoration began , the Commi ssion discovered that the hou se was not painted white until some time during the 19th Century. Original 18th Century colors of grayish-blue for the framing and red for the shutters were detected, and the restored home has been painted these colors.
A Virgi nia planter named Thomas Red bought the land on which the Mackay House stands in 1757 and sold it five years later to John Francis Williams, a wealthy trader. Sometime durin g this period , the house was constructed. Williams had a trading partnership with Robert Mackay, a Scot, and about 1770 Mackay, his wife, and their small son moved into the house and lived there until Mackay' s death in 1775. Williams' and Mackay's active trade with the Indians was continued by Mackay after the dissolution of their partnership . At this time, Augusta was the largest trading ce nter in the Southeast; each spring some 600 men with 2,000 pack horses came to Augusta for trading, and M ackay's Tradin g Post appears prominently in the records of this period .

interior and exterior of mackay hou se

The prominence of this structure in Georgia hi story came, however, from the Revolutionary engagement that took place there. In September, 1780, Colonel Elijah Clark, one of Georgia 's bravest patriots, attempted to take possession of the Mackay House, which was held by a company of British soldie rs and Cherokee Indi ans. After a four day siege, British reinforcements arrived, forcing the Americans to retreat. Twenty-nine wounded Americans were captured. The han gin g was perhaps merciful , for the remaining prisoners were the victims of Indian torture. Details of the engagement are also given by Lieutenant Colonel Richard Henry Lee, known as " Lighthorse Harry" Lee who was the father of General Robert E. Lee. Lee was in command of the troop s who joined with those under General Andrew Pickens and Colonel Elijah Clark in the military actions which finally freed Augu sta of Briti sh occupation eight and a half month s after the engagement at the Mackay House.

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FORT JACKSON MARITIME MUSEUM
From the earliest days of the Colony, the site occupied by Fort Jackson, at Five Fathom Hole on the Savannah River, was a strategic location for fortifications protecting the City of Savannah. The commanding view of the River at this point and the deep anchorage provided by Five Fathom Hole led to the establishment of a battery in thi s vicinity as early as 1734. By 1798 a "M ud Fort" had been erected on the site. In 1808 the property was sold to the United States Government as the site of a new fortification, which was named in honor of James Jackso n, Revolutionary so ldier, Governor of Georgia, and United States Senator.
In 1811 , Fort Jackson was described as "a n inclosed work of masonary and mud, mounting six heavy guns, two small brick magazines, and a wooden barrack for one company of men and officers." Local military

units were assigned to Fort Jackso n during the War of 1812, but from 1822 to 1825 one company of United States troops was regularly stationed there. In 1833 the Fort was partially destroyed by fire and, when rebu ilt nine years later, brick walls were added on the si des and the rear and the Fort was enclosed by a moat.
This Fort was garrisoned by United States troops until 1849. The Fort was next occupied in 1861, when State troops moved in following Georgia's secessio n from the Union. Although no sig nificant military action occurred there during the Civil War, Confederate forces held Fort Jackson until Savannah fell to General Sherman in December, 1864.
The Fort is not associated with any major military action. For this reason, it has not been restored to any specific period but adapted to use as a museum devoted to the maritime hi story of Georgia.

artifacts from fort jackson parade ground excavations in front of the fort and siege cannon

the seal on the bottle in the photo to the left revea ls an 1825 patent date

FORT KING GEORGE

Fort Kin g George was, in 1721 , the southe rnm ost English outpost !n America. It w as the first se ttlem ent in what is now Georg1a. O cc up1ed m force for less than a decade, it was built by j o hn Barn we ll and h1 s Caro lina scouts to protect the Caro lin as from Spani sh and French agg ression.
The site of Fort King George is located about o ne m ile east of US 17 at Darien . It is situ ated on a low bluff which is bounded o n the south by a branch of the Altamaha River known as Lower Bluff Creek, on th e eas t and north by marshland and Bl ac k Island Cree k, and on the west by a Darien residential area and wo ods.
Fortun ately, there is much detailed information avai lab le on Fo rt King George. Col. Barn we ll kept a viv id and detailed jo urn al o f his preparation s for the trip to locate the o utpost, th e voyage from South Carol1na to the Altamaha River, probi ems enco untered in constructing the fo rt, and details of its erection. On jul y 13, 1721, Barnwell and hi s men bega n construction of the fort.
The fort was a ga bl ed blockhou se, 26 feet square, and built of cypress. The outer defenses were shaped in an irregu lar triangle encl os in g the fort and barracks, which were severa l palm etto thatched huts. A pali sade and moat surrounded the enclosure. Barn we ll desc rib es this area at that t:me as abandoned Indian fields heav il y grown ove r wit h bru sh. Fort King George was ga rri soned by an independent compa ny of British soldiers until it was accid entall y burned in th e wi nter of 1727. The fort was half-heartedly rebuilt but the idea of the necessity for ga rri so nin g the Lower Bluff began to lose favor. Late in 1727, the stru ct ure was abandoned with only two " looko uts" left to man the fort.

The remainin g history of th e Fort King George Historical Site was sha ped almost entirely by sawmilling ope ratio ns. Mill in g had been of prime importance at the Lower Bluff eve r sin ce Colonel Barn we ll , in the co urse of constru cti o n of Fort King George, set " 3 white sawye rs to whom I added one of the slaves to saw 4 inch planks. . . ." In 1940, as part of an archaeo logica l survey of the Georgia coast, limi ted excavations were made o n the site, locati ng the graves of 15 English soldiers in an area that indi ca ted stron gly a Spa ni sh mi ssio n site. In 1952 , the Georgia Hi stori ca l Commission arranged a further sea rch. Th e co ncentration of Spanish majo li ca, postholes of buildings, and other evidence tend to co nfir m certain docu mentary evidence that thi s was an impo rtant Spanish si te.
In 1961, the Fort King Geo rge hi stori c stie was acq uired by th e Georgia Hi sto ri ca l Commi ssion. It pl ans to mai ntai n the area as an hi stori c site and has erected a mu se um build in g to interpret th e si te. Th ere will be further excavations and reco nstru ction in th e future.
plan depicting fort ~i n g george in the 1720's
I I I I I I I

Fort King George, the oldest fort in Georgia, is unli ke all others that have been set aside as hi sto ric si tes. Fort Pulaski is brick . Fort Frederica is tabby. Fort Morri s and Fort McAllister are ea rth works.

The 12-acre tract which includ es the site of Fort King George co ntain s

an earlier hi story th at is equ ally important. Col. Barnwell reported th at

he had located the fort on the site of an early Indi an town . Th e Spanish

protested to the En gli sh th at the fort had been pl aced " on th e spo t

where our people have lived in friendship for so long wi th the Indi ans."

After the founding of Savannah by Genera l O glethorpe in 1733, it became evident that an outpost settlement was needed to protect the exposed southern frontier of Engli sh colonial adva ncement. In j anuary, 1736, the

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Fort King George area was settl ed by a group of 177 Scottish Highland soldiers, women, and children . They subseq uently co nstru cted Fort

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Darien somewhere near the Lowe r Bluff, and the town of Darien , for a

time called New Invern ess, grew up on the ri ver a mil e to th e west.

FORT MCALLISTER
Located o n th e so uth bank of the Great Ogeech ee Ri ver, Fort McAlli ster is an outstandin g exa mpl e of the earthwork fo rtifica ti o ns of the Confed eracy. By its success ful re sistance to the attacks by monitor-type ve ssel s o f the Uni o n Navy, it demonstrated th at ea rthen fortification s co uld stand up aga in st th e heav iest naval ordn ance employed up to th at time. Th e batte ry, beg un in the summer of 1861, wa s the southernmost Co nfed erate fo rtifica tion th at guarded Sava nn ah from attack by the sea . Th e Fo rt is named in honor of the McAlli ste r famil y who owned a pl antation nea rb y.
In late 1864, Fo rt McAlli ster became an important obj ecti ve of U n1 o n forces. As long as it dominated the Ogeechee Ri ver, Sherman 's troo ps w ere un abl e to obtain suppli es from Union vesse ls wa itin g off sho re. After fifteen minutes of desperate hand-to-hand fig htin g on Dece mber 13, 1864, th e 230 man ga rri son wa s overpowered . The loss o f Fo rt M cAlli ster rendered Savannah defenseless. Seven days late r th e City was evacuated.

MIDWAY MUSEUM
Midway Mu se um, a raised-co ttage sty le ho use, typi ca l o f tho se buil t on th e coas t in th e 18th Century, ho no rs th e fo und ers o f thi s hi storic co loni al settl ement. Th e Mu se um contain s furni shed room s, a library and num erou s exhibi ts whi ch tell the sto ry of th e M idway co mmuni ty . Found ed in 1754 by a group of se ttl ers fro m Do rches ter, So uth Caro lina, who orga nized th e Midway Society alon g th e lines of a New En gland to wn ship, th ey held annu al meetin gs of th e citi zen s to elect se lec tm en w ho governed the community as w ell as the church.
When Georgia failed to send d elega tes to th e Seco nd Co ntin ental Congres s in 1775, Midway se nt its ow n d elega te, Dr. Lym an Hall. The follo w in g yea r, two Midway men, Lyman Hall and Butto n Gwinn ett, participated in th e Con gress which drafted the Decl arati on of Ind ependence . When th e Revo lution reached Midway in November, 1778, th e Church and all oth er buildin gs in th e area w ere burned by the British. Midway Church, which wa s rebu il t in 1792, survive d th e rava ges of w ar in 1864, and rem ain s standin g to day.

map of fo rt mcalli ster made durin g th e civil war
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FORT.."rJCllLLISTER
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midway col o nial museum

CONFEDERATE NAVAL MUSEUM
The Confederate Naval Museum in Columbus through the pre ervation and exhibition of the remains of the CSS Muscogee and the CSS Chattahoochee, raised from their Chattahoochee graves a century after the Civil War, commemorates the navy improvised by Southerners to defend their coasts and rivers for the Confederate cause.
Constructio n was begun o n the CSS Muscogee in June, 1862, at the Colum bu s Iron Wo rks. Ham pered by the So uth 's scarcity of material reso urces, thi s two hundred fi fty-foot iro nclad was not successfu ll y launched unti l Decem ber, 1864. Before her six-gun battery and armor cou ld be insta ll ed, Gen. James H. Wilson's Union raiders attacked Columbus on Apri l 16, 1865. The Muscogee burned and sank twenty-five miles from Col umbus. On e hu ndred miles south of Columbus, at Saffo ld, Georgia, the woo d en gunboat, Chattahoochee, was constructed in 1862 and 1863. When the Un ion attack came in 1865, the Chattahoochee was set aflame and sunk to p revent capture.
r:.s.s. chattahoochee (?rtlst's conceptio n)

OTHER HISTORIC SITES
The Georgia Historical Commission has custody of the following othe r historic sites.
Chehaw Indian Monument-located three miles north of Leesburg on Georgia highway 195. This Monument marks the site of a large Indian town, home of the Chehaw India ns who were a friendly agricultural people of the Creek tribe who aided our early settlers. They contributed me n, food and horses to subdue the hosti le Seminoles. Here Andrew Jackson and his army rested and were given help by the Chehaws in 1818.
Fort Morris, site of Revolutionary fort located at Sunbury ten miles east of US 17 at Midway. Erected on a natural slope overlooking the Midway River, Fort Morris was the largest fortification of its kind in .Georgia at the time and was the last post upon which the Colonial Colors floated after Savannah had fallen. It was here in November, 1778 that Colonel John Mcintosh refu sing to surrender the fort to an overwhe lming force of the enemy, sent to the British Commander hi defiant message : "Come and take it!"

C.S. S. CHATTAHOOCHEE

New Hope Church Monument-Important batt le site of the Civi l War located on Georgi a highway 92, four miles northeast of US 278, at Dallas. The Battle of New Hope Church , May 25-28th, 1864, resulted in losses of 3000 to the Confederates. and 2400 to the Federals. The troops engaged were those of General John B. Hood's Confederate Corps and General Joseph Hooker's Twentieth Army Corps of the Union Army.
Troup Tomb- Ei ght miles from Soperton on Georgia 199 is the site of the tomb of George M. Troup, Georgia Governor who dared a President to send troops to Georgia and prepared to halt them at the State line. Th e President was John Quincy Adams. The issue wa s the insistence of Governor Troup that the Creek Indians leave Georgia at once under a treaty engineered by Creek Chief Willi am Mcintosh. Other chiefs rep udiated the treaty and assa si nated Mcintosh. The atio nal Congres approved a later treaty which did not require the Creek to leave Georgi.a at once . Subsequently, the Federal Government gave in and the Creek la nds were disposed of by lottery under the original Mel ntosh treaty. George M . Troup was born on the Tombi gbee River in what wa s then Georgia. He operated a large plantation which still exists in Laurens County, near Dublin. He se rved in Congres from 1807 through 1815 the n went to the U. S. Senate in 1816, retirin g in 1818. He was elected Governor in 1823, serving through 1827, and was drafted for the Senate aga in in 1829. He died April 26, 1856.

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The co lored numbe rs rep resent the approximate location of historical sites and areas. Fo r more acc urate location,
consult a standard road map.

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1 Va nn Ho use, Ga. 225, US 76 a t Sprin g Pl ace.
2 New Echota, no rth o f Ca lh o un, o n Ga. 225, 2 miles e as t of US 41.
3 Etow'ah Mounds Archaeologica l Area, we st of US 411 a nd US 41 a t Ca rtersville .
4 Da hlonega Co urth o use Gold Mu seum, US 19 at Dahlonega.
5 Hi storic Travel e r's Rest, US 123, 6 mil es east of Toccoa.
6 Crawford W . Lo ng Me di ca l Mu se um, US 129 a t Jefferso n.
7 Eagle Tave rn , US 129, US 441 a t W a tkin sville.
8 W as hin gton-W ilkes Hi storica l Museum, US 78, US 378 in W as hin gto n.
9 Mackay Hou se, 1822 Broad Street in Augusta.
10 Fort Jackson Ma ritime Mu se um, 3 miles e ast of Sava nna h on Isla nd Boul evard .
11 Fort McAlli ste r, 10 m iles eas t o f US 17 a t Richmond Hill.
12 Midway Mu seum, US 17 a t M idway.
13 Fort Kin g Geo rge, e as t of US 17 a t Da rien .
14 Co nfederate Nava l Mu seum, 4 th Street ju st w e st of US 27 in Columbu s.
15 Ch e haw Indi a n Monume nt, Ga. 195, 3 miles north of Leesburg.
16 Fort Morri s, 10 mil es east o f US 17 a t Midway.
17 New Hope Churc h Monum e nt, Ga. 92, 4 miles no rth east of US 278 a t Da llas.
18 Troup Tomb, 8 mil es wes t of Soperto n o n Georgia hi ghway 199 .

For further historical attraction information, write:
Georgia Historical Commission 116 Mitchell Street, S.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30303

For vacation information, write:
Tourist Division Department of Industry and Trade P. 0. Box 38097, Atlanta, Georgia 30334