Amicalola Falls State Park - Dawsonville, Georgia

Amicalola Falls

One of the most spectacular sights in the nation, the tallest waterfall in the eastern United States plunges down a mountainside at Amicalola Falls State Park near Dawsonville, Georgia.

From top to bottom, the waterfall measures 729 feet and is more than four times the height of Niagra Falls. The name "Amicalola" is thought to be a corruption of the Cherokee word for "tumbling waters." This is appropriate as the fall on Little Amicalola Creek was known to the Cherokee and their ancestors for hundreds if not thousands of years before the first European explorers pushed into their lands.

Amicalola Falls

The earliest known written description of the waterfall was penned by a Georgia surveyor in 1832 who wrote of its stunning beauty, but also noted - as have many modern visitors - that he was "completely exhausted by the time I reached half-way." He saw it before the Cherokee were forcefully removed from the area and marched west at bayonet point on the Trail of Tears in 1838. Their departure opened the area around Amicalola Falls to settlement and by the Civil War there was a small settlement there that included a water-powered mill and a Methodist campground.

The Crane family, owners of the mill, held the land surrounding the waterfall until 1940 when they sold it to the State of Georgia. It is now the centerpiece of Amicalola Falls State Park, a stunning park area that features hiking trails, overlooks, cabins, campgrounds a 56-room lodge and the southern jumping-off point for the Appalachian Trail.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/amicalolafalls.

Forsyth Park in Savannah, Georgia - A 19th Century Dream is Realized

Forsyth Park in Savannah, Georgia

When the planners of Savannah's antebellum city expansion conceived the idea of a large public park, the visualized it as a place around which neighborhoods would grow as well as culmination of color and beauty for the city's Bull Street Corridor.

More than 150 years later, their vision has been realized in the form of Forsyth Park. A magnificent 30-acre greenspace created in the years before the Civil War, the park is one of the most magnificent to be found in any city in the world. Its beautiful fountain, which can be seen as you approach along Bull Street from Monterey Square, has flowed since 1858 and is patterned after a similar feature in Paris. Shrouded by beautiful oak trees, it is one of the most photographed spots in the historic city.

Forsyth Park in Savannah

The history of this ground actually began long before the creation of the park by early city planners. General Oglethorpe himself reserved this ground when he created Savannah and its 24 magnificent squares. During the American Revolution, French troops camped here and their siege trenches began in what is now the northern end of the park.

By the time Sherman came in 1864, Forsyth Park was a developing reality. His men also camped here and thankfully spared Savannah from the flames they visited on Atlanta, Columbia and other locations they visited.

Today, Forsyth Park is everything its 19th century planners dreamed and more. A magnificent setting, it is popular with residents and visitors alike. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/forsythpark.

Savannah, Georgia - Capital City of the Coastal Empire

Forsyth Park in Savannah

The stunningly beautiful city of Savannah has been a jewel of the Coastal Empire region of Georgia since 1733.
Founded by General James Oglethorpe when he arrived from England to establish the new colony of Georgia, Savannah was built on the Yamacraw Bluff, the first high ground up from the mouth of the Savannah River. Envisioning a city that would one day rival in beauty any in Europe, Oglethorpe developed a plan for the new settlement to grow around a grid of 24 public squares.

Twenty-two of these squares remain today and offer such beauty and peace in the midst of the busy city that it is hard to imagine why more towns did not follow Savannah's example.

Sidewalk Scene in Savannah

A focal point for the popular guided tours of the city, the Savannah Historic District is one of the most beautiful in the world. Beautifully restored homes surround the squares, which are themselves beautifully landscaped with flowers, ancient oaks, benchs, walkways and monuments. General Nathaniel Greene, a famed patriot of the American Revolution, rests beneath a monument on one of the squares, while other monuments commemorate the heroes and critical moments of Savannah's history.

Gracefully dominating the Bull Street Corridor is the city's famed Forsyth Park. The fountain, which provides a stunning vista as you move along Bull Street from Monterey Square, was placed back in 1858 and has been admired by residents and visitors alike for more than 150 years. French soldiers camped on this ground during the Revolutionary War's bloody Siege of Savannah. Sherman's soldiers also camped here after arriving in Savannah at the end of his devastating March to the Sea.

These are but a few of the attractions of Savannah, which is graced by hundreds of historic homes, structures and points of interest. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/savannah.