GwinnettForum | Number 21.75 | Oct. 7, 2022
AN HISTORIC HOME NEAR ALTO, GA., in Banks County dates back to 1793 and once was known as Fort Hollingsworth. The right side of the house was the original fort. The left side was added in the 1860’s, with a dog trot in between. The entire area is being restored by the White Family Foundation. For more details, see Elliott Brack’s perspective below.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Level Creek UM Church marks its Bicentennial Year
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Family in Banks County restoring 1793’s Fort Hollingsworth
ANOTHER VIEW: Joro spiders back in full force this fall in Georgia
SPOTLIGHT: Aurora Theatre
FEEDBACK: Health of mothers should be free of legislative action
UPCOMING: Gwinnett Police get new ordinance to address drag racing
NOTABLE: Park Springs Foundation scholarships valued at $10,500 each year
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Former Opera House was State Capitol for two years
MYSTERY PHOTO: Where was the photo taken? Also ID the mountains
LAGNIAPPE: Precision Planning of Lawrenceville marks 40th anniversary
CALENDAR: Lilburn to mark 50th anniversary of Lilburn Daze on Saturday
Level Creek UM Church marks its bicentennial year
Level Hill church over the years.
(Editor’s Note: the following is taken from a new book about the 200th anniversary of the Level Creek United Methodist Church, compiled by Pete Fleming of Duluth. The Suwanee and Duluth Methodist churches shared the same ministers of a circuit for 60 years.—eeb)
By Lloyd E. “Pete” Fleming
SUWANEE, Ga. | Founded in 1822, Level Creek United Methodist Church located near Suwanee, on Suwanee Dam Road, celebrated its 200th anniversary on October 2, 2022. North Georgia Resident Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson delivered a message about the power of the church in the world and congratulated Level Creek on providing that power for most of our nation’s history.
Fleming
The Rev. Elaine Kelly Wilder, Level Creek’s pastor, described the church’s history and its many roles in the community. Level Creek developed a 106 page history that it made available to the more than 200 people who attended the event.
One of the oldest churches in Gwinnett County, Level Creek began when Gwinnett was a frontier with few roads and shared space for years with the Creek and Cherokee Indigenous people, a situation fraught with peril and sometimes outright hostility. The people of Level Creek Church built its first sanctuary in 1828, a three sided log structure lean-to, a little over a mile from its present location. It also established a cemetery that still exists in the Lake Forest subdivision, but now is badly overgrown. It contains 39 graves of people “known but to God.” Fifteen of the graves are of children.
As Level Creek prospered, the church launched many Methodist ministers onto very successful careers. Perhaps the most prominent and best known of these served their first pastorate at Level Creek. That person was Will Willimon, one of Methodism’s best-known ministers, authors, speakers, and bishops. He served here as a Candler School of Theology seminary student in 1971.
The church moved to its present location in 1854. It erected the present sanctuary in 1897 with clapboard siding, a high arched ceiling, and clear glass windows that opened at the top for cooling during the hot summer months. Known sometimes as the church with a cemetery, the Level Creek cemetery is a watershed of Gwinnett County history. For example, it contains the remains of many early members, and it also contains the remains of 14 Confederate soldiers and many other war veterans. It is a prominent landmark with its monuments and statues easily visible from Suwanee-Dam Road.
As the 21st century dawned, Level Creek had a membership approaching 200. It has continued a steady growth ever since numbering over 500 members today with a host of programs serving the congregation and the community. Its current pastor, the Rev. Elaine Wilder, has helped retire the church’s debt and has launched many new community outreach programs.
She also steered the church successfully through the COVID 19 pandemic launching, on-line worship services and many other alternate ways to deliver the church’s message. Under her leadership and that of the seven previous ministers who attended the bicentennial celebration, Level Creek has taken its rightful and historic place among the large community of United Methodist churches serving Gwinnett County.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Family in Banks County restoring 1793’s Fort Hollingsworth
Crib at Fort Hollingsworth
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
OCT. 7, 2022 | A North Georgia family foundation is restoring one of the oldest forts in Georgia, dating to 1793. It’s Fort Hollingsworth, located near Alto in Banks County. Beacher and Mellie Segars White obtained the property in 1936. Their children were born and raised here with the property passing to the children in 1980. The White family set up a foundation, “Friends of the Fort,” to preserve the fort and historic houses surrounding it, and to educate and inform the public of this time in Georgia’s history.
Today the property looks much like it did in the 1860s, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The house is two stories, the right side built from hand-hewn logs, with half-dovetailed corner joints.
Other historic structures within Banks County have been moved to the site under the White family’s care. Those buildings include a farmhouse, two pen cribs, a barn, cook’s cabin, smokehouse and a log cabin once housed inside the fort’s walls.
The foundation is now in the midst of erecting a 100-150 person heritage center and rest rooms, much like a community center, for classes, history lessons and events. So far they have raised $130,000, and now need additional funds to finish the restoration project.
There are five White family members involved. Officers of the Foundation are Willete Mote of Demorest, president; Edith Goodson of Banks County, vice president; Trudy Galloway of Banks County, secretary; and Deanna Mote of Habersham County, treasurer.
For 23 years, the White family held an annual festival at their home place, but this was halted when the Covid pandemic hit. They hope to restart a festival when work is completed at the Fort, perhaps as early as next spring.
Some of the buildings at Fort Hollingsworth
There are few remnants left of the once thriving town bearing the name “Hollingsworth.” In the past, it included a general store and post office that served the surrounding area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Just a couple of miles outside that diminished town, however, still stands the structure that harkens back to an important era where this part of the state was considered the “frontier” and is a representation of the post-Antebellum period.
Fort Hollingsworth (also known as the “White house”) by best estimates was constructed in 1793 as part of a series of “forts” built along the boundary lines between the state of Georgia and the Cherokee Nation. This boundary line stretched from Currahee Mountain in Stephens County to the northeastern part of Gwinnett County.
When an earlier owner learned that their land was considered in Cherokee territory, he petitioned to have the boundary line re-drawn. The result was the “Four Mile Purchase” of 1804. The Indians ceded a strip of land four miles wide (from the Habersham – Banks County line on Baldwin Mountain, to Line Baptist Church on old U.S. Highway 441) and 23 miles long (extending from Currahee Mountain to the headwaters of the South Oconee River) which included Fort Hollingsworth.
By 1796, conflicts with local Native Americans were no longer a concern and the string of frontier forts became unnecessary and were repurposed as log farmhouses.
Willette Mote remembers growing up at the site, playing in the fort upstairs, and looking out its windows. “I’ve loved it my entire life. Back as a child, I didn’t understand why people would want to stop on the road and look at our house, or then come in and look all over the house. Since then it’s been my life’s mission to take care of it.”
The property is located at 2307 Wynn Lake Road, Alto, Ga.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Joro spiders back in full force this fall in Georgia
Patrick Cain and a Joro
By Collin Elder
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. | The sticky webs of Joro spiders are back in full force this fall, and they have got scientists researching their nature as predators. Dr. Patrick Cain, a biology lecturer at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC), says of the potentially invasive species. “While they’re not classified as invasive right now, I’d be surprised if that didn’t change soon.”
He identified the criteria for an invasive species, saying that while the Joro ticks off several of the boxes on the list, they don’t hit enough of them to classify as invasive at this point. Some of the requirements for this classification are competition with endemic, or native, wildlife for resources like food and living space, how fast and the volume of their breeding cycle, and their ability to spread across the climate.
Joros hit a lot of those criteria.
They’re moving up the eastern seaboard, with some sightings going as far north as North Carolina and Virginia. Last year, scientists thought that the cold of winter would work to quell the numbers of spiders that were effectively hibernating, as Joro don’t typically enjoy dry and cold weather, but the spider continues to grow in population.
Cain thinks that comes down to adaptability. “Once a species learns to adapt to threats, they become much, much harder to deal with,” he said.
Cain says there is an idea for curbing Joro population growth involving such tactics as supporting natural predators that feed primarily on spiders, which can deal with the current situation, but may impact native life as well. “I don’t know what direction they’re headed,” says Cain. “Joro are part of the ecological puzzle, and we shouldn’t be afraid of them right now.” Though Joro are naturally skittish and aren’t extremely venomous, their bite can be uncomfortable, much like a bee sting.
Joro not only are adapting to their new homes, but they’re learning to travel. The Joro is adept at spreading far because of their practice of “ballooning” where they use some of their silk to catch the wind, allowing them to travel for miles. Some have even been measured thousands of feet up with samples captured by airplanes.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Aurora Theatre
The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today’s sponsor is Aurora Theatre, providing the best live entertainment in northeast Georgia. Aurora Theatre produces Broadway’s best alongside exciting works of contemporary theater. Aurora Theatre manages Lawrenceville Arts Center (LAC) in partnership with the City of Lawrenceville. This $45 million world-class facility with five venues, has the ability to host a wide variety of performances, weddings, celebrations and community events both indoors and outdoors. Nestled on the historic downtown square, Lawrenceville Arts Center has FREE attached covered parking and is surrounded by restaurants and shops. This fall enjoy events such as Nashville’s Six One Five Collective in concert, the Disney classic Hocus Pocus on the big screen, our Festival del Dia de Los Muertos and the Lawrenceville Ghost Tours. Be sure to secure your seats for CHRISTMAS CANTEEN 2022 as it is sure to sell out most performances.
- For more information or to purchase tickets: http://lvilleartscenter.com/ or call 678-226-6222
- For a list of other sponsors of this forum, click here.
Health of mothers should be free of legislative action
Editor, the Forum:
I got quite a kick out of reading Ashley Herndon’s article in GwinnettForum on October 4. Obviously, he is from California, the land of the extreme left. As an evangelical Christian, I obviously would not support abortion on demand.
I feel that the health of the mother should be between her and her doctor and free of legislative action. Hope that doesn’t confuse the extreme lefties.
Having said this, the sad list of changes Herndon foresees is nonsense. I don’t believe evangelicals should hold non-believers to the same standards of morals and values we hold ourselves and each other. Therefore, his long list of “changes” we would make sound like they are from the playbook leftists would love to make. We will never be a theocracy in this country. The framers of our constitution have seen to that. So spout your foolishness to your fellow California residents, Ashley!
— S. Scott Batterton, DDS, Lilburn
Dear Scott: Though Mr. Herndon lives and writes from California, he is a native Georgian, who grew up here and is part of the wider Mason family of Gwinnett. –eeb
Remembering the times of the Princess telephones
Editor, the Forum:
Do you remember when the Princess phone first showed up in homes? Teenagers began spending their evenings talking on the extension phone in their bedrooms.
It reminds me of Bye, Bye, Birdie and “Did you hear about Hugo and Kim?” Ann Margaret was every man’s dream girl and every house took the morning paper seven days a week. That’s where the mothers found the store deals in the paper and dads could hide behind them reading or sleeping. Another era that should probably have a display in the Smithsonian. Western Electric stock boomed from the production of this American icon.
– Byron Gilbert, Duluth
Atlanta sports weekend including professionals, too
Editor, the Forum:
You mentioned all the college teams on the winning side and also the Atlanta Braves on Georgia’s amazing sports weekend. But couldn’t you have at least mentioned the Atlanta Falcons?
After all, the Falcons won and beat the Browns by three points. To top it all for me, my favorite NASCAR driver, Chase Elliott of Dawsonville, won at Talladega. What a Georgia weekend!
– Alma Bowen, Gainesville
Agreed, Alma. It probably mostly showed my bias toward college football. I simply don’t watch the pros, football, basketball or racing.—eeb
Send us your thoughts: We encourage you to send us your letters and thoughts on issues raised in GwinnettForum. Please limit comments to 300 words, and include your hometown. The views of letters are the opinion of the contributor. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Send feedback and letters to: elliott@brack.net.
Gwinnett Police get new ordinance to address drag racing
Gwinnett Commissioners have approved a new ordinance that addresses drag racing on Gwinnett County streets. The ordinance allows Gwinnett Police to impound vehicles involved in street racing for up to a month. State law does not address impounding – only fines. The County’s action is on the heels of cities such as Atlanta and Sandy Springs passing similar ordinances.
In May, Gwinnett Police along with other local police departments made more than 80 arrests on Peachtree Corners Circle and Spalding Drive, leading to at least two dozen impounds. To crack down on this nationwide problem locally, law enforcement officers use several resources to track down drag racing drivers — including the use of intersection cameras.
Gwinnett’s third glass recycling drop off is in Sugar Hill
Gwinnett has teamed up with Waste Management to expand the county’s glass recycling program to E.E. Robinson Park. The program supports residents’ requests to recycle glass.
This is the third drop-off glass recycling location offered through the county’s glass recycling program. It has already diverted 102 tons of mixed glass from landfills at existing sites at OneStop Norcross and Pinckneyville Park in Peachtree Corners.
Residents can drop off their clean, empty glass containers at E.E. Robinson Park, located at 885 Level Creek Road in Sugar Hill. The clearly marked drop-off container is accessible from sunrise until 11 p.m. unless posted otherwise.
Acceptable glass items include clear and colored food and beverage bottles and jars. Glass dropped off at any of the County’s glass recycling locations will be taken to Strategic Materials, Inc., a large glass recycler in the Atlanta area.
Park Springs Foundation scholarships worth $10,500 a year
The Park Springs Foundation, comprised of voluntary members of Park Springs Life Plan Community in Stone Mountain, will award Park Springs employees, spouses of employees and children of employees with scholarships of up to $10,500 each for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Scholarships provide up to $3,000 toward tuition and up to $500 toward books per semester for three semesters each year – fall, spring and summer – for those working toward academic degrees, skill development or certification at any not-for-profit private or public college, university or technical school. In the last ten years alone, Park Springs Foundation has contributed $422,929 to the education of Park Springs employees and their children.
Park Springs Foundation President Pat Shea says: “It is such an honor to play a role in fulfilling the dreams of the Park Springs employees and their children by helping to fund their education. This is our way to take care of the staff and their families in appreciation for their dedicated care for us. At Park Springs, we are one big extended family, and taking care of each other is what we do.”
Scholarships are provided for the cost of education. No application is denied so long as the application meets the basic criteria: applicant, their parent or spouse has been an employee of Park Springs for one year at time of scholarship award and applicant is attending a not-for-profit educational institution. In addition to the financial support, Park Springs Foundation provides each scholar with a mentor to assist them with the application process and to offer guidance throughout the scholars’ educational careers, as desired.
Betsy Pocasangre, is a nursing student at Georgia State University, whose father, Bladimir Pocasangre, has been a cook at Park Springs for nearly 10 years. She says: “I am truly grateful for the scholarship dollars and the mentoring that Park Springs Foundation provides to me so that I can pursue my dream of becoming a nurse.”
2021-2022 Park Springs Foundation scholars are enrolled in various programs, predominantly nursing and health management programs but also including programs such as computer science, early childhood development and history. They are enrolled at 11 educational institutions, one as far away as Louisiana.
Be alert! Study the sample ballot before you go to the polls
With voting a month away, GwinnettForum here presents the Gwinnett sample ballot for the November 8 General Election. Votes should particularly study the Constitutional Amendments that will be voted on in this election. Note that the ballot is presented in both English and Spanish.
- Click here to see the sample ballot
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Send us your recommendations
An invitation: what books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (150 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. Send to: elliott@brack.net
Former opera house was state capitol for two years
On June 30, 1868, a train of 16 railcars left Atlanta for Milledgeville with an order from the provisional governor to bring back the statehouse furniture and furnishings.
Included in this inventory were five full-length paintings—of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, the Marquis de Lafayette, James Oglethorpe, and George Washington—painted by C. R. Parker in 1826. The portraits of Oglethorpe and Lafayette had hung in the house chamber, while those of Washington and Jefferson had adorned the senate chamber. Today, these paintings hang in the capitol rotunda and represent some of the few surviving artifacts from the Milledgeville capitol.
On July 4 the first meeting of the legislature in Atlanta took place in the Atlanta City Hall and Fulton County Courthouse. This structure, built on the same site as today’s capitol, served as the statehouse from July 1868 to January 1869, although it was immediately apparent that the building was not large enough. In August 1868 Atlanta’s city council met with a house committee on the matter, and the city offered either to construct an addition to city hall or to complete an unfinished opera house in Atlanta to be used by the legislators. The legislature chose the latter.
In 1867 the Atlanta Opera House and Building Association had acquired the southwest corner of Marietta Street and Forsyth Street and begun construction of a five-story opera house. By 1868 the outside walls had been erected, but the association’s funds were depleted, and construction was halted. At a receiver’s sale on June 2, 1868, the unfinished structure and the land on which it stood were purchased by Edwin N. Kimball for $31,750.
Within two months Kimball and his brother, H. I. Kimball, were promoting the idea of completing the building and outfitting it for use by the legislature, with the Kimballs promising to have it ready by January 1, 1869. Their proposal also stipulated that Atlanta would rent a portion of the building for five years at $6,000 per year and turn over the rented portion to the state. At the end of the five years, the legislature would either purchase the building or authorize the erection of a new statehouse at another location.
By January 1869 the new building—which would serve as the state capitol for the next two decades—was ready for occupation by the state legislature. In August 1870 the General Assembly approved the state’s purchase of the Kimball Opera House.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Where was the photo taken? Also ID the mountains
Today’s nicely-framed mystery photo comes with an additional question: Not only where was this photograph made, but what are the names of the mountains in the background? Send your guess to elliott@brack.net and tell us your hometown.
George Graf of Palmyra, Va. recognized the last Mystery photo: “Suwanee’s Remembrance exhibit offers an example of art as history. Unveiled September 11, 2013, the display at Town Center Park features a damaged, twisted relic from the World Trade Center.”
Also locating the photo were Lou Camerio of Lilburn; and Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex.
He adds: “It was created by a Statesboro artist and sculpture professor at Georgia Southern University, Marc Moulton. It uses a damaged, twisted relic from an exterior steel panel from floors 101-104 of one of the twin towers that collapsed on 9/11/2001.” Also reporting in was Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill, who also guessed it, but was disqualified as a spotter, since she had forgotten she had sent in the photo.
Precision Planning marks 40th anniversary
Precision Planning, Inc. a full-service engineering, surveying and architectural design firm headquartered in Lawrenceville, marked its 40thanniversary this week. Owners Randall and Gloria Dixon, and President Carla Carraway welcomed clients and guests to a gathering at the offices with homemade foods. It was their first luncheon since the pandemic began, and signaled a rebound for the firm. The firm has 65 employees and has a satellite office in Monroe.
The 43rd Annual Elisha Winn Fair has been rescheduled for Saturday and Sunday, October 8-9, at the Elisha Winn House, Gwinnett’s birthplace, at 908 Dacula Road in Dacula. Enjoy a living history exhibit, good food, craft vendors, music, blacksmithing, weaving, spinning and military re-enactors. The fair is sponsored by the Gwinnett Historical Society.
The 50th annual Lilburn Daze celebration is Saturday, October 8 at Lilburn City Park. Sponsored by the Lilburn Woman’s club, it is co-sponsored by the City of Lilburn. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. This festival allows the club to support and enrich the Lilburn community through scholarships, support of the arts, beautification projects, public health and safety projects, and much more. Come for the shopping opportunities, rides, games, tons of food, and entertainment. There is something to appeal to every member of the family.
Halloween Howl 5K will be Saturday, October 8 at Little Mulberry Park in Dacula. This fifth annual 5K Howl will begin at 8 a.m. and the 1K at 9 a.m. It is sponsored by Canine Pet Rescue. It is SPOOKtacular fun for the whole family!! Costumes are encouraged, but optional! Prizes will be awarded for kids, adults and pups.
Picnic with the police on the Braselton Town Green on Thursday, October 13 from 5-8 p.m. Come enjoy food and drinks at no cost. There will be kid’s activities, police cars and West Jackson fire trucks.
Metro Atlanta Redevelopment Summit, the 12th annual, will be October 13 at Studio Movie Grill in Duluth. The event will feature a discussion of deconstructing malls, using art for community development and downtown revitalization. For complimentary tickets, email Communications Manager Amber Kasselman at akasselman@partnershipgwinnett.com.
Looking at a model of Fort Daniel.
The Fort Daniel Frontier Faire will be held Saturday, October 15, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The Faire will be in Hog Mountain, , just south of the intersection of Gravel Springs Road and Georgia Highway 124. There will be blacksmith demos, ongoing public excavations, museum/lab education, genealogy, living history encampment, frontier life education and lots of fun for all ages. Here a family views a model of what the fort looked like. When built around 1812.
Fourth annual Rewriting Your Story gala in support of the Gwinnett County Public Library foundation will be Saturday, October 15 at 6 p.m. at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Duluth. Three people will be honored: Beauty Baldwin, David McCleskey and Clyde Strickland. Keynote speaker will be Army Master Sergeant Cedric King. For details including ticket information, contact jdifranco@gwinnettpl.org.
The next Snellville Farmers’ Market will be Saturday, October 15, from 9 a.m. until noon in the parking lot behind City Hall.
Fourth annual Rewriting Your Story gala in support of the Gwinnett County Public Library foundation will be Saturday, October 15 at 6 p.m. at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Duluth. Three people will be honored: Beauty Baldwin, David McCleskey and Clyde Strickland. Keynote speaker will be Army Master Sergeant Cedric King. For details including ticket information, contact jdifranco@gwinnettpl.org.
The Braselton Zombie 5K Run/Walk will be Saturday, October 15, starting at 8:30 a.m. Zombies will take over Braselton as top male and female runners will compete in age groups. There will be prizes for the best-dressed zombies. This is a qualifying event for the AJC Peachtree Road Race.
Third annual Bilingual Housing Expo will be October 15 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Central Gwinnett High School in Lawrenceville. It is sponsored by the Gwinnett Housing Corporation, Lawrenceville Housing Authority and LiveNorcross. Attendees will be able to speak to representatives from organizations and companies offering services across the entire housing spectrum. Families facing eviction, wishing to learn about the home ownership opportunities and down payment assistance programs, or needing financial help with home repairs will all be able to learn about available programs and apply on site.
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