Georgia history, scenic attractions and Southern lifestyles

Summer 2008

Summer 2008




SUMMER, 2008 • VOLUME 7, NUMBER 2 | TABLE OF CONTENTS
6 Poole's Mill Covered Bridge
Everyone loves a covered bridge (except, it would seem, thoughtless vandals).
BY KATIE CALDWELL • FORSYTH COUNTY
12 Georgia's Mysterious Silver Crosses
Archaeologists, historians, and sci-fi buffs have long debated the origin of ornate, silver ornaments found more than a century ago in a north Georgia burial mound.
BY JIM MILES • MURRAY COUNTY
15 Georgia's Forgotten Air War
From the mountains to the coast, bombers, fighters, and trainers filled the skies over Georgia during WWII.
BY M. L. SHETTLE, JR • STATEWIDE
19 Rebel Lion Redux
With a talent for oratory and a passion for politics, Robert Toombs reached great heights in government, yet his weaknesses prevented him from achieving the pinnacle of power.
BY RAY CHANDLER •
WILKES COUNTY
24 Sensational Salamanders
Two biologists who become lost while driving in the mountains find a previously unknown species of salamander.
BY DIRK J. STEVENSON •
NORTH GEORGIA
29 Georgia's Little Amazon:  The Wild and Beautiful Altamaha River
The Altamaha River and its tributaries have long carried commercial and passenger traffic between the coast and inland ports, yet this majestic river remains superbly untamed and unspoiled.
BY MARY ANN ANDERSON •
SOUTH GEORGIA
34 Crossing the Altamaha
As the Union army advanced toward the coast, with mayhem and madness swirling about, a desperate refugee had to cross the rain-swollen Altamaha River.
BY JOSEPH LE CONTE •
LONG COUNTY
36 Big Things Come in Small Packages
We'll bet most readers haven't heard of Tanglewood Miniatures Farm, but this ranch in the foothills is home to some delightful little critters.
BY CAROL THOMPSON •
CHEROKEE COUNTY
38 Vanishing Georgia:  Tallulah Gorge
For decades, tourists from around the country and worldwide came to see the mighty river that roared through Tallulah Gorge's great chasm.
BY DENISE WEIMER •
HABERSHAM AND RABUN COUNTIES
46 Poison and the Professor
The Georgia State Crime Lab traces its origin to a murder in a small mountain community in 1941.
BY JAY JARVIS • HABERSHAM COUNTY
51 Lydia Stone:  Queen of the Okefenokee
With just a cow and a sow, an exceptional woman started an empire worth millions near the Okefenokee Swamp.
BY ROBERT L. HURST • BRANTLEY COUNTY
56 Genuine Georgia Backroads:  Bookends of the Civil War Era
Come on, forget the Interstate highways!  On your way to the beach this summer, take a leisurely drive through Georgia's countryside and sample some interesting history on the way.
BY LYNNE TAYLOR • SOUTH GEORGIA
61 You Can Go Back
A former employee at Panola Mountain State Preserve returns to the park 30 years later and reflects on the changes wrought by time and progress.
BY ANN FOSKEY • ROCKDALE COUNTY