The Perseverance Quarry can still be seen on the north side of Cove Road. In the 1850s Summey and Hurlick operated a marble operation there for a few years. Prior to them, the discoverer of Georgia marble, Henry Fitzsimmons had owned the site before being murdered by an unknown assailant.
About three decades later, James Harrison of Atlanta, the owner of the Atlanta Printing Company, leased the land near the Perseverance Quarry from the Tate family.
Harrison agreed to buy the land for $22,000. However, by 1896, Harrison had only paid the Tate family $1000. The Tate family took Harrison to court and won. It should be noted that the mineral rights to the mine were retained by the Tate family through all of this.
In those days, there was a non-commuter track that ran from Tate, south over Four Mile Creek to Nelson. The nine-mile section carried the newly quarried marble to the finishing plants of Nelson. On November 4th, 1904, tragedy struck when James Harrison, the General Manager of the Herndon and Atlanta Marble Company and seven other men were traveling with a marble load from Tate to Ball Ground. The train was approaching Four Mile Creek and Freeman’s Mill, when it was halfway across, Freeman’s Trestle collapsed and the train and men fell 47-feet to the valley floor below. The fall instantly killed Harrison and Roadmaster A.C. Gaddis. Engineer Owens was badly injured. Fireman Henry Ingram broke his back in the fall. Y.J. Thomason was scarred from the steam on his face. And “Bud” Howard was roughed up. Pat Jordan and his brother Pete were unscathed.
Just beyond Four Mile Creek, and to the right of the collapsed trestle phot stood Freeman's Mill. Freeman's Mill and Freeman's trestle were named after John Freeman, a prominent land owner and businessman.
James Harrison and A.C. Gaddis lost their lives that day. Other survivors like Henry Ingram dealt with tremendous pain for the rest of their lives.
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