In 1930, Colonel Sam Tate had just built his Tate Mountain Estates – which included his stunning Connahaynee Lodge, Lake Sequoyah and a beautiful 18-hole golf course. That October, Colonel Tate gathered with state legislators, Georgia’s Governor Hardman and the Mayor of Atlanta, to unveil the monument dedicated to the founder of the Colony of Georgia, General James Oglethorpe, and to celebrate the changing of the name of Grassy Knob to Mount Oglethorpe.
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Unveiling of monument, Oct 1930
It also served another function, beginning that same day, the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail began at the monument. From there, one could begin the 2,050 plus mile trek to Mount Katahdin in Maine. And people did just that. Thousands of people arrived to start their journey from two ways. Some would travel east from Tate and then approach from the south, coming through what would later be Bent Tree Drive to the Dude Ranch (located where our 6th hole is) and then up Hendrix Mountain to Mt. Oglethorpe. Others would travel from Jasper up Highway 136 to what then was known as Firetower Rd. (Present day Monument Rd.)
As years passed, The Georgia Appalachian Trail Club began “blazing the trees” for markers along the way, and hikers stayed at a shelter beneath the Firetower (where the present day Firestation on Monument Road is) that was built by our local Civilian Conservation Corps in 1934. In 1938, the GATC assembled the first sign marking the Southern Terminus of the AT, after carrying it up in segments from the then abandoned Dude Ranch to Mount Oglethorpe.
Southern Terminus sign
But the logging industry, vandals and the elaborate growth of the chicken breeding industry in North Georgia ended up destroying most of the viability of the Oglethorpe section of the trail.
Note: I’ve read accounts online about Moonshiners being a part of the problem, but in all of the historical literature, they are not mentioned.
World War II had created an agricultural demand for chickens. President Roosevelt went as far as to seize control over part of the chicken industry with his War Food Administration, and by the time the war was over, Americans were eating nearly three times as much chicken as before. In 1951, a Chicken of Tomorrow contest was held in 42 states to see who could produce a broiler that would be able to make chickens so thick you could cut them like steaks.
Charles Vantress pictured far left.
Charles Vantress, a farmer from California won the contest. In fact, his chicken
breeding method (crossing California Cornish males with New Hampshire females) is still employed today.
Chicken of Tomorrow
By the early 1950’s, the start of the trail was overrun by 40,000 thousand free-range chickens that were being bred on the east side of Oglethorpe Rd at the 3,000 acre Vantress Poultry Experiment Farm. Named after the above-named Charles Vantress and his successful hybrid chicken. The free range chickens allowed Vantress to test the growth, livability and disease resistance in actual field conditions.
Vantress Experimental Poultry Farm
The only known photo of the chicken farm in the mountains of North Georgia
The chickens had left so much detritus on the ground that many hikers simply could not make it to the monument without falling in the mess. Additionally, its remote location had made the monument a partying spot for the locals and some 50,000 discarded cans of beer and other drinks littered around the area. People were known to use the monument for target practice. General Oglethorpe’s face was damaged badly. Horses had done their business on the base of it, and as a final, albeit logical blow, it was struck by lightning over and over.
Vandalized spire
In 1958, because of the above-mentioned problems (and because the start of the trail was on private land – meaning they couldn’t force the owners to keep up the property) the start of the Appalachian Trail was moved to Springer Mountain, with the new approach trail, instead of being through Pickens County (Bent Tree land) was now through Dawson County beginning at Amicalola State Park.
By the 1970’s, the poultry farm was long gone as were its thousands of chickens. But the spire sat next to an AT&T tower and other FCC equipment at the top of the mountain. It had become a non-important relic of a bygone age.
Spire next to towers
Finally, after 60 years of being abused atop Mount Oglethorpe, the marble spire was brought down to Jasper in 1998 and restored by a Finnish marble artist named Eino. The once front-facing face of Oglethorpe now looked to the side, and a marble ball that once stood atop the monument (missing since the 1960’s) was eventually replaced.
Today, the spire stands sentinel near the Woodbridge Inn - a poignant reminder of an age gone-by, Georgia Marble and its eccentric founder.
Oglethorpe Monument today - Downtown Jasper, Georgia.
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