Moving Through Georgia

In the 'Hands up!' episode I told the story of Bill Miner.  He was a famous train robber from Canada who pulled his last job robbing a train outside Gainesville.  It's a good story, and when I found some further details about the train robbery and Miner's capture, plus two escape attempts from prison, I couldn't resist.  

A quick discussion of the tools and processes that were used in Georgia to find gold.

Ty Cobb was one of the best baseball players ever.  Through the years he gained a reputation as a drinker, a fighter, and a racist- but this reputation may not have been deserved.  For years all I knew about Cobb was that he was from Banks County and that he was a jerk; of course there is more to the story than that.  

A short look at some of the items found in local newspapers around the turn of the century.

How five Northeast Georgia counties got their names, all explained in just under ten minutes- before 'Freebird' runs out.  We discuss who Elbert, Lumpkin, Forsyth, and Towns county were named after, and find one county in Georgia that was named after the ugliest man in England. 

Millions of counterfeit greybacks flooded the South at the start of the Civil War, causing economic mayhem.  The cause of these fakes did business out of a little stationary shop in Philadelphia, advertised in the local paper, and never once feared the law.  

James Longstreet had a long and impressing military career, including being called General Lee's 'Old War Horse".  After the war, however, criticism of his personal politics and his conduct during Gettysburg would cause some to think of him as a traitor to the Southern cause.  This week, the career of a Gainesville resident who rests in Alta Vista Cemetery.

In 1921 the writer H.L. Mencken published the Declaration of Independence in what he called 'American'.  It wasn't the King's English, or the Queen's either.  

The Declaration of Independence as it might have been written today.  This was published by an organization called The Pacific Legal Foundation in an effort to help people understand the rights we were asserting, and were willing to die for, on July Fourth.

It seems like a good idea- power an airplane with a small nuclear reactor so it can stay aloft indefinitely.  The one problem the engineers in the Dawsonville Forest facility faced- how do you do it?

From fifth grade history onward you need to know one fact: Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin.  If he didn't invent it, he did take the credit for it.  Whitney and others revolutionize the production of cotton fabric in this extra episode.

In 1913 Atlanta Leo Frank was tried for the brutal murder of Mary Phagan.  What would follow would be the most notorious trial in Southern history. 

I don't know why the original posting had no sound, but here is the episode again.   We start series three with a tour of Towns and Union Counties.  The story of Hiawassee, some mountains with gory names, and track rock!

He rode for nearly twenty-four hours to warn the people of the approaching British, and his accomplishment was commemorated in an epic poem.  It was the ride of - Jimmy Blair.  Did you expect someone else?  Hear another voice announce 'The British are Coming' as we discuss the namesake of Blairsville in Union County.

This episode comes out on April 17, which The Old Farmer's Almanac says is the best day for harvesting belowground crops, slaughtering livestock, brewing beer, or listening to podcasts!  Farmers for centuries have looked to the signs before planting or harvesting; this week we look at American almanacs and planting by the phase of the moon, or the zodiac.  This will also be the last episode of ser...

An interview show!  It's a short talk with Peter about his work creating a digital component to the Veteran's wall in Cornelia, an upcoming documentary about railroads and the railroad depot, and a project to digitize the county's past and preserve it for the future.   Links mentioned in the show: https://gahistoricnewspapers https://habershamhistory.org/projects/veterans/   Add a name to the wall...

I always wondered how stills worked.  A quick history of the homemade liquor business' contentious relationship with the United States government and how to make corn whiskey.  Raise a glass!

In 1956 the Georgia Tech football team accepted an offer to play in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.  The only problem was that the team they were to play had a black player.  One story of the beginnings of integrated schools and athletics in Georgia.

More true crime from the 1800's.  Radford Crockett would live a life that would result in his being Atlanta's first public hanging.

The Romeo-and-Juliet story of Sautee and Nacoochee that gave these valley their names, plus an account of Hernando De Soto who may have stayed in the best accommodations near Helen.  We'll also dig with the Smithsonian into the famous Nacoochee Mound to find out what-or who- was buried there.

A very short extra on the book 'Cold Sassy Tree', written by a Banks County native and taking place in 1906 Banks County.

Sometimes a love of local history comes from hearing small bits of history that connect you to a place.  This week, history as seen from the car window.  Place names in Banks County, statues of weightlifters in Toccoa, and the Center of the World.

... to the shores of Tripoli...  A hero of four wars, a bunch of duels, a new navy, and a toast that is still debated today.  In this episode we look at the career of Stephen Decatur and the amazing career that led Georgia to name a city and a county after him.

Stories of the Earth's beginning from the Cherokee.  How animals found dry land, how the deer got it's horns, and more.

A brief history of Georgia, starting just a few million years ago.  Where can you find fossils in Georgia?  Were their dinosaurs in Georgia?  Where did the early people of this area come from, and what challenges did they face?  It's Pangea to Desoto!