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The Murder of Peter Cantrell
Peter Cantrell's grave marker, not at actual site of his murder, placed by Dutch Cantrell of Canton. Located on private property on LL 114. During and immediately after the Civil War tensions were high in Pickens County and roving bands of men, sometimes assigned to Home Guards (informal companies of men) would kill their enemies in the county. Peter Cantrell was one of perhaps a dozen men that were
Christopher Feldt
Feb 7, 20231 min read


Beach Mountain, Hounds Ears, a.k.a. Bent Tree
In 1968, The Burnt Mountain Corporation was approached by a real estate developer named H. Dean Spratlin with a proposal. He wanted to...

Christopher Feldt
Aug 19, 20222 min read


The Connahaynee Lodge (1930-1946)
Col. Sam Tate announced the creation of a 10,000-acre estate that would serve as a summer resort for wealthy Atlantans in 1929. At the cost of one-million dollars (seventeen million in today's money) he would construct a 51-acre manmade lake, 18-hole golf course, Dude Ranch, and a premier place to rest and hold events, the Connahaynee Lodge. Situated some 3,300 feet above sea level, atop Mount Burrell (Burnt Mountain today), the giant lodge was built of American Chestnut L

Christopher Feldt
Aug 17, 20224 min read


The Inimitable Blink Drummond
Elizabeth Blink Drummond (nee Thomas) was born in 1906 while her family was stationed in Manilla. Her parents thought it cute that she had a habit of always blinking her eyes, so they gave her the nickname Blink. It stuck with her for the rest of her life. Blink came from a long line of military officers. Her father, calvary officer, Colonel Charles Oscar Thomas, Jr. was born in 1871. His father before him, was born in 1838 in New York State and fought for the Union in

Christopher Feldt
Jan 3, 20224 min read


The Late Great Professor Perrow
The Late Great Professor Perrow By Chris Feldt “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.“ - Henry David Thoreau Eber Carle Perrow, grandfather of Pickens County residents Janet Vardaman and Margo Austin, was born on December 7th, 1880 in Tye River, Virginia. When he was eight-years-old, he moved with his p

Christopher Feldt
Jan 2, 20226 min read


The Moving of the Appalachian Trail, the Oglethorpe Monument and Free-Range Chickens (1958)
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. I Unveiling of monumen

Christopher Feldt
Dec 9, 20206 min read


The Champion Trees of the Tate House (and Pickens County)
The Georgia Forestry Commission keeps a list of all of the champion trees of different species within our state. A champion tree is the...

Christopher Feldt
Nov 20, 20202 min read


Can You Hear Me Now?
Did you know that Frank Spratlin, father of Bent Tree's developer H. Dean Spratlin, helped build a radio tower for Georgia Tech on Burnt...

Christopher Feldt
Nov 12, 20202 min read
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