A Search for Old Home Sites Leads to Another Rock Pile Complex (#2) Near Thunderstruck Mtn, Union County, GA |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2019) |
Examining the 1903 topo maps, I had selected two areas to look for old home sites. The first site showed a structure on an old abandoned road by a creek. The second spot showed three buildings along another old trail that paralleled a steep tributary. I readily located the first, which had a nice fireplace-chimney ruin and house foundation. The second area was a mixed bag. While I didn't see any home sites, I did find a vast rock pile - terrace wall complex that reminded me of the Track Rock Archaeological Site 9UN367. |
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A nice chimney - fireplace ruin |
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House stone foundation corner support, with old Mason jar |
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Dry stacked - no mortar... Makes you wonder how long it will remain standing. |
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Following an old road along a creek, I came across a nice spread of Running Cedar club moss (Diphasiastrum digitatum, syn. Lycopodium digitatum) |
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Shortly, the old road I was following branched off to climb along a tributary. This was the road along which I expected to find the old home sites. But the terrain was very steep, with few spots flat enough for a building. This may be a foundation-support wall for an old house. |
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Climbing higher, and searching off the road, I started to find short walls and terraces. |
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It's difficult to see here, but a series of parallel terraces are found as one climbs up this draw. |
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Looking along one of the terrace walls A small branch runs through the middle of the wall. |
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Rock pile |
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A partially collapsed wall... The terraces and rock piles here are similar to those at site 9UN367 on the other side of Track Rock Gap, although on a smaller scale... |
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Another rock pile |
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Groupings of several large rock piles (above and below) on slope of Thunderstruck Mountain. |
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Another rock pile example. |
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One more terrace / wall example For my ID purposes, I'm calling this TR Rock Complex #2. Note: M. E. Brown, lifelong resident of this area, related to me that the lower area was farmed at the turn of the previous century. That location was known as "Green Fields", but he didn't know how high up on the mountain the cutivation went. Some of these rock structures may have been the result of (or been modified by) farming. |