1 - Old Homesite UN58 - Von Hof property, off Hwy 180, Union County, GA
January, 2026
After an unsuccessful hunt along nearby Townsend Branch for a homesite that showed
on the old map, I visited a chimney that Sheldon had told me about. Unfortunately it
was much collapsed since he had last seen it, although still quite recognizable.
|
 |
Old chimney at Homesite UN58
From this angle, it doesn't look like much more than a pile of rocks.
|
 |
Circling around, the lower chimney structure becomes apparent.
|
 |
The rear of the fireplace remains relatively intact.
|
 |
From another angle, as I continued around...
|
 |
I'm not sure what this was, set into the ground near the chimney.
|
 |
This adjacent creek was their probable water source.
|
2 - Old Homesite UN59 - Tributary of Frick Creek, Union County, GA
Late January 2026
Sheldon and I had looked for this site at the end of a day of exploring
in April 2024, but hadn't gone quite far enough downstream.
|
 |
I was examining a flat area when I saw these stacked rocks.
|
 |
Glancing around, I could see a large pile of rocks nearby.
|
 |
Circling around the pile, I saw the structure of the base of a chimney.
|
 |
Remains of the collapsed chimney.
The rocks of the chimney stack had fallen out of the frame to the right.
|
 |
One more view of the stacked rock chimney base.
|
 |
A couple of basins I found nearby.
I don't know if they're the same era as the old chimney.
Maybe left by the Army Rangers who train in this area(?)
|
 |
Speaking of the Army training...
We're always finding discarded gear in the woods around here. This
is a 200 round linked ammunition box for the M249 SAW machine gun.
|
3 - Old Homesite UN60 - Frick Creek, Union County, GA
Late January 2026
Continuing down the tributary to the main Creek, I found a passage through the rhododendron and searched the north side of the creek for another homesite that the old map showed. It took a while to find, but I finally located it almost a hundred yards from the creek.
|
 |
Frick Creek is pretty in this area, with a nice gravely bottom and several cascades.
|
 |
I had about given up on finding anything else when I came across this pit.
|
 |
Continuing a little further, I came across a large pile
of rocks that I knew was a collapsed chimney.
|
 |
From the opposite side, the rear of the chimney was evident.
What appeared to have been a large chimney had pitched forward long ago.
|
 |
Rear angle of the collapsed chimney base.
|
 |
Looking down from the rear on the remains of the firebox.
|
 |
From the right-front side.
|
 |
Leaving the homesite, I immediately stumbled
(literally!) across some old barbed wire fencing.
The several steel fence posts remaining were almost 4 inches wide, much larger than
what we buy nowadays. These were flanged U-posts, not the thicker / heavier T-posts.
|
 |
On my way back, I came across a huge hemlock,
which was still topped with green branches.
You don't see many of these old stalwarts anymore,
since the introduction of the woolly adelgid.
|
