A day of exploration with my friend Sheldon, visiting old
sites and places in southern Towns and Union Counties.
1 - We began the day climbing up to a high gap where
Sheldon had come across an old chimney many years ago.
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Approaching the first gap, we found what looked like the remains of an old stone support foundation.
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Nearby was the possible remains of a small chimney, long collapsed.
Many of the rocks were flat, like those used in early fieldstone chimneys.
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Continuing our climb to the next gap, we immediately found the old homesite chimney.
Although the uppermost section is missing, this one is a beauty.
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Two old metal wheel rims act as a lintel to support the fireplace header.
The fireplace is still chinked with Georgia clay, giving the stone an orange-red appearance.
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Rear of the chimney
I later found that this property was purchased by the USFS from Frank E. Conley in 1938.
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Sheldon provides some scale to appreciate the chimney's size.
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2 - Brookshire-Jacks Cemetery
Our next stop was an old graveyard, where the grave markers are all fieldstones:
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We had been told that this cemetery was the Jacks family graveyard.
I have since seen it referred to as the Brookshire-Jacks Cemetery.
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I'm guessing that the nearby "Jacks Gap" was named for this family.
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Three stones in a row.
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There are about 15 stone markers here.
I don't know if all are headstones or if some are footstones...
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Two more gravestones...
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At least two burials here are known:
Solomon Jacks (1785-1869), and
George W. Brookshire (1838-1911)
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Years ago, Sheldon had come across some old bunkers in the woods. They were
used by the CCC to store explosives during construction of the nearby mountain roads.
3 - Bunker 1:
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We found the first bunker pretty easily.
Unfortunately, a huge tree had recently fallen directly onto the bunker.
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Screened vents ventilated the bunkers on each end.
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Hoist eye-ring
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Lifting up the bent cover, we found the inscription "CCC F15".
Hiawassee's Civilian Conservation Corps camp, located just down the road, was CCC Company 1443, F-15, Camp Soapstone.
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Inscribed date 3-11-37 (March 11, 1937).
We scraped some of the moss out of the engraved numbers to better see them.
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There was additional lettering in the concrete, but it was difficult to make out.
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The nearby Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp F-15 (Soapstone) in March 1936.
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Sheldon photographing the CCC inscription...
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4 - It took us a bit longer to locate Bunker 2:
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Explosives Bunker 2, made of stone with a concrete rim.
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Quite mossy!
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Looking through one of the screened vents in Bunker 2.
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5 - Sheldon originally wasn't sure in which of two drainages the second bunker was located.
We headed up Garrett Branch first and didn't find the bunker, but found some nice falls.
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Lower Garrett Branch Falls
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Upper Garrett Branch Falls
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Falls detail
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