The Avalanche in Ellijay

On March 6th, 1963, About 25 men from the Gilmer County Public Works camp started their early day working at a rock quarry located on the northwest side of Highway 52 near the present day Oak Hill Independent Church. The night before had been filled with heavy rain.

As soon as their day began, two prisoners and a guard were caught in an unexpected landslide. A guard named F. M. Miles, and two prisoners, Robert Hamby and Lawrence Mulkey were trapped under the debris. Twenty men were able to escape the landslide and quickly returned to dig the men dug out.

Sadly, prisoner Lawrence Mulkey wasn't able to be saved. The guard and other prisoner were taken to the local hospital to recover.

Today, the sheer rock face above the site of the landslide can be seen from Highway 515 headed north near the last northbound traffic light in Ellijay. It has a white cross planted in the ground above the vertical drop and a red heart has been painted on the rocky face itself.

The tragic story above is one explanation for the placement of the cross. Other stories include, but aren't limited to the following:

A cross was planted atop the cliff because:

of a mining accident during the 1800s

because of a landslide that took the life of a convict

of a grieving man whose brother committed suicide

as a way to thwart evil

as a reminder of Jesus's crucifixion

because of a hang gliding accident

for no reason

for secret reasons

for the Cherokee Indians

Of all of the possible explanations above the only verifiable story was the one of the victim of the landslide. That doesn't mean the cross was put there for that reason. It very well may be because of the death of a loved one or as a symbol of Christ or both.

The mountain's name itself, Jarrett Mountain, has largely been forgotten over time. However, the Jarrett family owned the hotel that was near the old train depot.

The Jarrett Hotel in the late 1800s.

Jesse Israel Jarrett advertised for his boarding house in the Ellijay Courier in 1877. See his ad below.

 And the Jarrett cemetery is located across the tracks and just up the hill from the old hotel.

Located behind the train depot and adjacent to the Cajun Depot Restaurant in Ellijay, Georgia

There's a good chance that the Jarretts settled in that vicinity and owned much of the land at one time.

While researching convict labor, I was surprised to see the name of the Logan family so intimately connected with scandals involving the illegal use of labor for private gain. Although this practice was outlawed at the time, it was nowhere near as uncommon as one might believe.

To read more about local abuse of convict labor in Dawson County, please click here.

To read about the Convict Lease System of Georgia, click here.