The town formerly known as Milltown

Ok, so this is a new one. The town of Lakeland (known as Milltown until 1925) has lifesize murals painted on most of its mainstreet buildings, showing how life looked in the town in earlier times. Little strange, but impressive, especially with how detailed some are. Anyway, enjoy these, and we're almost home!

Don't see these around much anymore.

Marker for Lanier county below
Lanier County courthouse
And war memorial
Here is their memorial to E.D. Rivers (remember him from last post?) He was born in Arkansas and went to college in GA at Young Harris College, then became a lawyer in Cairo, GA (see post titled "Walk like an Egyptian".) He helped create Lanier county, then moved here in 1920 where he also helped change the town's name to Lakeland. (Why they changed it, I can't say, people just liked it better that way.) He became Mayor of Lakeland, then elected to the House of Representitives, then Governor of GA 1937-1941.
And finally, here's another thing you don't see everyday anymore. The store is long gone, but the sign is still there.

Banks Lake NWR

Ok, next stop was at Banks Lake NWR, a natural mill pond created by tidal action. It's size was increased with the creation of a small dam by Joshua Lee in the 1800s, but it was later threatened by drainage by the E.D. Rivers estate in the 1970s to harvest the trees in the lake. The Nature Conservancy bought it in 1980, and it was turned into a NWR in 1985. It is managed by the operators of the Okeefenokee swamp, a short distance to the east.

Below are growths seen in the lake.

How to build a boardwalk around trees

Marker for the home of E.D. Rivers
Marker for Joshua Lee

Quitman (What a great name)

Ok, little quick one here. This was the next stop heading east, the town of Quitman, seat of Brooks County. Here's the courthouse.
Confederate memorial
County Marker
View of the town
War memorial

Thomasville

Ok, so continuing east, my next stop was Thomasville, county seat of Thomas County (imagine that.) Above is the county courthouse. Below is the marker for and a picture of the town's "old cemetary".

A monument to a local named Capt John Triplett.
Below: Marker for Thomas county
American Legion War memorial
Confederate memorial
First Black graduate of West Point marker above, grave below.

Monument at the American Legion Post to veterans
Marker for the Old Coffee road
And finally, ending with another old ad painted on a building. I don't know why I like these so much, they're just so charming.

Walk like an Egyptian?

Buddventures is back! Sorry for the delay, I had a "business trip" of sorts. Ok, so back to the sights. After leaving Bainbridge, GA (last post), I continued travelling east towards home and came to Cairo, GA, county seat of Grady County, and also the birthplace of Jackie Robinson for you sport fans out there. Just a few pictures from around the courthouse here, pictured above. Marker describing the county below.

Grady county war memorial below.
Marker for Veterans Square, around the courthouse, above, and the county Confederate memorial below.

Memorial to Seaborn Anderson Roddenbury, a local (I assume) member of Congress. Below another marker describing the county.

The Seminole War

Ok, so this is a good time to put here somre sites I saw related to the early part of the Seminole Wars. Unfortunetly, many of these sites are lost except for historic markers, and few people know much about or have even heard of the Seminole wars. Yet they were the country's longest and most expensive Indian wars, and were a constant point of argument, mainly between North and South, eerily similar to the power struggle before the Civil War. The Seminoles, who were descended from other Indian tribes, including hostile factions of Creeks defeated a few years earlier, were constantly in skirmishes with white pioneers along the Florida Georgia border. Important to note is that at this time, Florida still belonged to Spain, and as such, many Southern slaves ran south into Florida for freedom, where they found sanctuary among the Seminoles. With tensions quickly growing between the two sides, a fort was built in southern GA, named Fort Scott (previously known as Fort Crawford.) This fort was located near the Seminole village of Fowltown, which was informed that they were on white lands according to the Treaty of Fort Jackson. The village leader, named Neamathla, responded that the treaty was void because his village did not recognize it. According to Seminole tradition, he was technically correct, because there was no way for any Indian to speak for all the individual tribes and villages. This problem continued to plague the US for the rest of the war. But consequently, on Nov 21, 1817, soldiers from Fort Scott were sent to Fowltown to bring Neamathla to Fort Scott. The Seminoles resisted and two days later the village was burned. A state of war now existed. The army selected Andrew Jackson to lead the fight against the Seminoles and he raised volunteers from Southern states which he led to Florida. Within a year, hostilities had ceased, and the first of three Seminole Wars was over. Most Seminoles were now in the peninsula of Florida, with some remaining around the Appiachicola river. The photo above is in Bainbridge, GA, where Fort Hughes was located. The fort was named for the first US casualty, a bugler named Hughes, killed on Nov 28, 1817. The two markers below are located south of Cordelle, GA (see earlier post) marker points along Jackson's march south.


Site of Herod town (below), where Jackson led his men South through, and was joined by a friendly Indian named Herod and his men. It is located south of Dawson, GA (see earlier post).
Early marker for Herod Town.

Site of Fort Scott, where soldiers were based that attacked Fowltown. Jackson also collected his forces here prior to invading Spanish Florida to attack the Seminoles. It is located on the southern bank of Lake Seminole, west of Bainvridge, GA. Below: the site of Fowltown, the attack on which signaled the begining of the First Seminole War.
Site of Fort Hughes, in Bainbridge, GA. The closer of the two canon was originally placed at Fort Scott, before the site was covered by Lake Seminole. The farther of the canon is on the site of Fort Hughes. They are protected in the J.D. Chason park.