The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1893-01-17

They roll before me with all tnelf uccus.
-OSSIAN.
Searching the pages of Georgia history
strange and interesting, one finds nothing
l" ..44i,a> .',~-. .--'>
the towns that once tiourished but are now
gone gmmering through the dream or
things that were"
1t was matter of history that such
towns as Sunbury, Frederick, Petersburg and
others did exist at one time, and hence 1T
is well known. There is nothing new in
the history. 1t is old and known by heart
to almost every Georgian. A book has
been written on the Dead Towns of Geor-
gia," and that book is on the shelves of
every library of the country. Maps have
been drawn of the old towns showing every
street and alley and giving thorough
knowledge of the outlines and area of them.
But old as the story is; tme-wOrn as the
subject may seem, there is that interest and
charm about the traditions of these old mu-
nlclpallues, once prosperous and thriving
but now wrapped in the robes of decay,
which conjur up sober, serious thoughts
in the mind Of him who pauses in this busy
day and time to dream on the past or think
one original thought as TO whittier we are
drifting.
Lead the average Georgian of modern
tunes out to the banks of the Savannah
river where Broad river empties its waters,
and show him the great valley burdencd
with Sprouting wheat; show him the great
flock of sheep grazing here and there over
those lands at certain seasons where moth
ing obtrudes upon the meditation of great
nature save the tinkling of the bells and
the murmur of the waters of the two rivers
as they roll on to the sea, and tell him that
on this very spot there was once a town
called Petersburg with regularly laid out
streets, with warehouses, stores, churches
and all the other evidences of progress and
thrift known to the average town away from
the railroads of the present day, and he will
laugh at the idea immoderately.
o,, The ruth truth is while S nearly
these towns and has vague idea
that they once really did exist, they simply
regard it with passing thought in a kind of
willingness to take the historians word for
it and let it go for what it is worth. The
real interest about the dead towns of
Georgia does not lie in their Citations to
history rs the bookwriters of necessity treat
them. Think of tneir commercial relations
and of the causes that led to their growth
and then think of the causes that brought
about their ruin, and one finds the true in
tcrcst that attaches to the names of the
Old-time centers of Georgia trade and COM
mercc.
In this connection. it might not be i'm
proper to remark that it is not half so Won
derful that II town like Frederick, or Sun
bury should be wiped literally from the face
of the earth as that Petersburg, Il trading
place. even in later years should have no
trace left to mark its site save the mounds
of earth here and there on the rivers
bank and the quiet cemetery at Il distance.
Frederick and Sunbury were among the first
places settled by the colonists under Oglc-
thorpe. The only home General Ogethorpe
ever had IN this country was built in the
town of Frederick. These places were sig
niticant in their day, but when it is remen-
bcrcd that they We're the first settlements
desirable for building of a city. then it is
not 50 hard to fancy that such town could
be depOpulated in time and more favored
location catch the influx and drift Of the
slim population of those trying times when
wars and other causes made doubtful the
very existence of a settlement of white
men.
They Were Trading Places.
But, there were towns in the state of
Georgia in more recent years, towns which
grew up and became notable trading places
long after the state had become better set
tied and more developed which fell and are
today covered by the mantle of oblivion
Men live now to tell the story of old
Petersburg. though there is not Il single
building left to mark the place where it
used to be. What sounds more ghoStly than
to hear General Philip Cook, the venerable
secretary of state of Georgia, to this day
declare that when h was q young man
on his way by the old stage coach to the
University of Virginia he went by Peters
burg and stopped there for dinner While
it even at that time showed signs of decay
and was lettering beneath the touch of time,
still it was Il town of considerable size and
there We're several stores left to character
iZe it as what had clearly been a notable
trading center. The line of commerce in
those days from that section of Georgia was
out through the Carolinas to Baltimore.
OF course the nearer shipping points We're
Augusta and Savannah. There was a line
of stage coaches from Petersburg to Au-
gusta. and besides this there were boats on
the Savannah river small, but capable of
carrying quite heavy load of freight to the
greater city. The old public road still
leads to Augusta. but it has no terminus at
the fork of the rivers US it used to have. A
simple ferry. rude and unseemly. leads the
traveller over Broad river where Petersburg
used to be and the scene that
confrontS the eye is naught but
a monotonous stretch of lands in annual
cultivation and belonging to Mr.. u. =.
Cade. a wealthy and prosperous farmer
who lives Il high hill overlooking the
two rivers at the fork. There is not
single house left of the old town of Peters
burg The streets are green with wheat
fields and there is absolutely nothing to even
aid one in the effort TO believe that once
there was Il population away up above the
hundreds and into the thousands.
Old Petersburg.
Petersburg was Il great place for the sale
and shipment of tobacco, for III those days
tobacco was the only marketing crop III
this section of the new country. Peters
burg was made one of the inspecting places
and the growers of the weed would bring
the products of their farms from far and
near to the town for inspection after which
they would take it to Augusta, or would
ship it off to the greater cities of the east.
In this way the town had Il chance for
growth, and it made good It's opportunities.
1t had Il rival town across the Savannah
in the name of Vienna, which grew to be
quite as large Washington, Ga, of the
present day, but which too, has faded from
the face of the earth like its neighbour Old
Petersburg. They both sprang into exist
cnce the same trade, and
lived and fourished on it as
long as tobacco was the crop, but
as soon as the planting of cotton began to
oyershadow the culture of cotton the farm
ers would send the products of their farms
by wagon road to the city of Augusta li-
rect. and were not compelled to take it to
Petersburg for inspection, and as the Sa-
vannah was not navigahle so high up as
Petersburg for large boats. Augusta stole
the bloom of life from Petersburg and grew
up in the enjoyment of all the trade that
once went to the old town. 1t soon be
came deserted village, comparatively
Il.