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TODAY'S
ISSUE
Future of log cabin
in downtown Norcross is in doubt
By Anne Webb
Special to GwinnettForum.com
(Editor's Note: Anne Webb is a retired teacher
and Norcross resident.-eeb)
APRIL 13, 20034 -- On spring and summer afternoons, visitors strolling
Main Street in Norcross can catch the crack of a baseball bat on
the breeze as it reverberates through Lillian Webb Park . Nestled
atop a rise overlooking the historic ball field at the end of Jones
Street sits the little log cabin, a familiar landmark emoting turn-of-the
century Americana.
 The
fate of the historic log cabin is uncertain as the mayor and city
council make plans to build a community center replicating the old
school house that once stood on the site.
Meanwhile, residents are divided between bottom line economics
driving the town's revitalization and concern for the diminishing
number of era-defining properties depicting the unique railroad
town.
At issue is whether the cabin, moved to its present location in
the 1970s, has integrity to withstand another move now that termites
have taken up residence in the structure. The last serious rehab
and maintenance work was about ten years ago when rotting wood was
removed and new supports added to the floors along with heating
and air conditioning, using a $25,000 grant, according to Councilman
Barry Payne.
The city council budgeted $30,000 in both 2002 and 2003 for the
cabin's maintenance but did not spend the money. Citing alleged
"cutbacks,"city officials budgeted only $10,000 for 2004.
Resident Dale Marlowe says: "If those who tore down the old
school house had had vision and historic preservation in mind, we
would not be forced to build a replica. We would have the real thing."
She urged the council to initiate termite treatment immediately.
Norcross is the only town in Gwinnett with a downtown registered
in the Department of Interior's National Registry of Historic Places.
Gretchen Brock, National Registry Coordinator at the State of Georgia
Preservation Office, says that too many changes within its historic
district could cause a re-evaluation of the district's National
Registry status, as well as jeopardize federal tax incentives.
Longtime resident Richard Garner recalls a post-depression 1934
when the Epworth Pioneers, a group organized by Henry B. Mays, Jr.
at the First Methodist Church, began planning a young people's recreation
building behind the church as a place for food, fun, and fellowship.
That same year Ruth Davenport came to Norcross to begin a career
teaching at the Norcross Elementary School once located on the cabin's
present site.
Logs were donated from the property of fellow teacher Nell Jones,
located at the present site of The Forum shopping center on Peachtree
Parkway.
"There wasn't much to do in 1934," laughs Ms. Davenport.
"Young businessmen of the town scaled the logs while the young
women made sandwiches and coffee and helped to paint," she
remembers. Another teacher and she created a picture of the cabin,
and townspeople paid a dollar to have their names inscribed on the
logs as a fund-raiser for the project.
The log cabin soon became a focus of the town's social life with
young people from other churches participating in the various events,
plays, and entertainment offered for the group which met every Sunday
evening.
Councilman Payne remembers a group of old timers who used to hang
out in front of the cabin, bringing their lawn chairs each morning
and each evening, catching up on the day's events as they watched
traffic go by.
"I would hate to see the cabin torn down. It represents a
lot of friends who are gone whose memory I cherish," Ms. Davenport
said.
Without committing to a final decision on restoration, the city
council voted in its March meeting to seek bids by May 15 to explore
costs for moving the cabin.
Several council members suggested building a replica if the original
structure lacks integrity to be moved.
ELLIOTT
BRACK
Gwinnett
passes DeKalb in population; now second in state
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com
APRIL 13, 2004 -- July 16, 2003, was a day that marked a milestone
in Gwinnett. On that date, Gwinnett passed DeKalb County as the
second most populous county in Georgia.
 That's
what the straight-line interpolation of the July 1, 2003 census
population estimates show. The figures, released Friday, said that
on July 1, 2003, Gwinnett had an estimated population of 673,345
people, while DeKalb had an estimated population of 674,335 people,
or 989 more people than Gwinnett.
Yet we all know that Gwinnett is growing far faster than almost
all the counties of Georgia. Between the census of 2000 and the
July 1 estimate of 2003, Gwinnett grew at a rate of 84,897 people,
or an average of 26,122 people per year.
DeKalb, meanwhile, also had growth, but averaging only 2,605 new
people annually. That meant that the Gwinnett population is growing
about 10 times as fast as DeKalb. With these figures, you can project
that it took Gwinnett only 18 days in July to surpass the DeKalb
figure.
And if you interpolate those figures until April 1,2004, you could
come up with a Gwinnett population of 694,569, while DeKalb would
have an estimated population of 676,287.
It wasn't that long ago, back in 2001, that Gwinnett passed Cobb
County, then the third largest county in Georgia. As of April 1,
2003, Cobb had an estimated population of 651,027.
Though Gwinnett passed Cobb and DeKalb Counties in population in
short order, it won't gain a higher spot soon. The most populated
county in Georgia is Fulton County, with an estimated population
as of April 1, 2003 of 818,322.
The top 10 counties in population in Georgia as of April 1, 2003
are:
1. Fulton, 818,322
2. DeKalb, 674,334
3. Gwinnett, 673,345
4. Cobb, 651,017
5. Clayton, 259,736
6. Chatham, 235,270
7. Richmond, 198,149
8. Muscogee, 185,702
9. Cherokee, 166,639
10. Hall, 156,101.
Except for Chatham (Savannah), Richmond (Augusta) and Muscogee
(Columbus), all of the top ten counties are in North Georgia, which
says a lot about relative shifting of the population. And note that
Bibb, once a ranking center of population in the center of the state,
now ranks 11th, at 154,287.
Only two of the 10 largest counties lost population since the census
of 2000: Richmond, down 1,626 residents, and Muscogee, losing 589
residents. Yet one of the slower growth counties was Fulton, up
only 2,316 in population since the 2000 census.
* * * * *
Another interesting sidebar from the recently released figures:
Georgia is now the ninth most populous state, surpassing New Jersey,
in the April 1, 2003 estimates. The Georgia population is estimated
to be 8,684,716, while New Jersey is 8,638,396.
Taking this one step further, New Jersey is the most densely-packed
in state, averaging 1,164 residents per square mile, while Rhode
Island is the only other state with at least 1,000 residents per
square mile, at 1,030 people.
Georgia has a density of 149.9 persons per square mile, show the
2003 figures. But Gwinnett tops all Georgia at 1,540 persons per
square mile. But interpolating the estimates for April 1, 2004,
since last July the density in Gwinnett has grown to 1,589 per square
mile.
Yep, you were right: we are getting closer to one another!
* * * * *
By the way, the five smallest counties in Georgia all have less
than 4,000 people. They are Early, 3,999 people; Clay, 3,358; Glascock,
2,636; Webster, 2,295; and Taliaferro, 1,957. And the residents
per square mile? It will make you salivate. You don't want to know!
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FEEDBACK
4/13: Pet peeve is
government not halting entry of illegal aliens
Editor, the Forum:
My pet peeve is that 2,000 illegal aliens pour across our borders
every day and our elected representatives do nothing, absolutely
nothing, to stop them. And then they take my tax dollars and reward
these lawbreakers with Medicaid, Social Security benefits, free
health care, and driver's licenses. Guest workers my foot! These
people are bankrupting our hospitals, overcrowding our schools,
and giving our children TB and leprosy, diseases that were once
eradicated but now brought back due to unscreened illegal aliens.
They should be deported, every last one of them.
-- Kelly Stone, Lawrenceville
4/13: Feels president
needs to be on the job much more often
Editor, the Forum:
After being told that Osama planned to attack the United States,
President Bush took off for the entire month of August 2001. He
insists that the country is at war - why is he not now at the White
House? Forty-five marines have died for him this week, thousands
of Iraqis are on the march, and he's giving interviews to the Ladies
Home Journal! Iraq is going up in flames, and George W. Nero is
not only fiddling, he's not even around to watch!
-- Jim Stillwell, Los Angeles, CA
NEWS
4/13: Suwanee motorists
face resurfacing of roads coming soon
Over the next couple of weeks, a City of Suwanee contractor will
be resurfacing more than a dozen streets. A slurry seal overlay
will be applied to these streets, sealing the existing pavement
and prolonging pavement life.
The affected streets are:
--Azalea Crest Walk
--Cherrystone Walk
--Fair Point Pass
--George Pierce Court
--Industrial Court
--Leaf Lake Drive
--Pierce Arrow Circle
--Paddle Wheel Court
--Roberts Road
--Riverview Run Lane
--Suwanee Creek Court
--Scales Road
--Timberlost Trail
--Treemont Trace
--Whitlock Avenue
Except for cul-de-sacs, one side of the affected street will remain
passable at all times. Vehicles need to stay off freshly paved surfaces
for three hours in order to allow the material to cure. Road work
is set to begin tomorrow, April 13, and should be completed within
two weeks, depending on weather conditions.
UPCOMING
Hudgens Center plans
"Robot Ball" for April 23
The Hudgens Center for the Arts in Duluth was recently given the
gift of the giant robot from the Mall of Georgia. This 41 foot tall,
10,000 pound gift is the latest addition to our permanent collection,
a work of pop sculpture.
To celebrate this gift and to give the robot a new name, the Center
is having a black tie "Robot Ball." on Friday, April 23.
Partygoers will enjoy "Gourmet Bytes" from Max Lager's
American Grill and Brewery, tidbits from Godiva Chocolates, liquid
libations, Out of This World Antiques, and other entertainment.
A special raffle will be held, and the winner will have the honor
of turning the robot's lights on for the first time! There will
also be a special video premiere depicting the adventure of how
the robot came to be at the Hudgens Center for the Arts! Tickets
are $50 per person or $90 per couple, and they may be obtained by
calling 770-623-6002.
ENCYCLOPEDIA
TIDBIT
4/13: Georgia gets
black eye in connection with Yazoo lands
The Yazoo Land Fraud, in present-day Mississippi, was one of the
most significant events in the post-Revolutionary history of Georgia.
The bizarre climax to a decade of frenzied speculation in the state's
public lands, the Yazoo sale of 1795 did much to shape Georgia politics
and to strain relations with the federal government for a generation.
 Georgia
was too weak after the Revolution to defend its vast western land
claim, called the "Yazoo lands" for the river that flowed
through the westernmost part of the state then. Consequently, the
Legislature listened eagerly to proposals from speculators willing
to pay for the right to form settlements there. Georgia politicians
used the "Yazoo" label to bludgeon opponents for almost
20 years following the Congressional settlement.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Universal method
of measuring progress
"All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on
the part of every organism to live beyond its income."
-- Samuel Butler, Notebooks.
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