Vanishing Georgia: New Manchester Mill

Recently I visited Sweetwater Creek State Park, in Lithia Springs, Georgia. I posted about it here. An interesting feature of the park is the New Manchester Mill, or rather, three walls of the mill, which was built prior to the beginning of the Civil War and was destroyed by Sherman in the Atlanta Campaign. The approach to the mill is by a footpath, making it difficult to believe that the area was once a city of 400-600 people. Just like my back yard, if you leave foliage alone long enough, it will obscure any evidence of human trespass.

In the south, mills pre-date railroad history, as before reliable railroad transportation, water was the way to go. In order to do much more than run a family farm and stay alive, settlers had to have power. A river provided both transportation and power. First, you could carry most anything up or down a river. Second, the water power itself would generate power if you built a mill on it. Mills could make cloth. Mills could cut trees into lumber. Mills could grind corn. All to be moved up and down the aquatic highway. And, if you were smart, if you could swing it, you could build a mill, or you could run a ferry, and that made you an instant celebrity, well, at least until someone got the idea to build a bridge next to your ferry.

At any rate, there are at least 15 historic ferries in the Atlanta area, most serving to move people along the Chattahoochee River. Most were built in the 1820's and 1830's. Vann's Ferry, run by a man half Cherokee-Half Scottish and one of the most infuential Cherokee leaders of his time. Power's Ferry, owned by James Powers, a plantation owner. Pace's Ferry, owned by Hardy Pace, one of Atanta's earliest citizens.The Roswell Mill, located not far from the New Manchester, made the uniforms for the Confederate soldiers. They even called the color of the uniforms "Roswell blue" after the mill. And the New Manchester made the material for the tents. Some say, as a result of this, both became targets for destruction in Sherman's Atlanta campaign.

And now the New Manchester, once a center for Georgia commerce, hated by men, sits gracefully in a lush bed of vegetation. You could ask a dozen Georgians, even people living close by, and I wonder how many would even know it existed. Draw your own conclusions as to whether or not Sherman accomplished his goal. He certainly put the mill out of commission, but I hope that Georgians do what they can to preserve their heritage, by enjoying the beauty of the surrounding rocks, creek and forest. I think that's a pretty nice way to remember the place.

--Laura