South

Join Author and historian Herman Skip Mason Jr. in this unique look at the rich history of the African-American community of East Point, Georgia.

An industrious, spiritual, and neighborly people, the African-American community of East Point, Georgia has a rich and enduring heritage, explored in this volume of vintage photographs. Notable landmarks such as South Fulton High School, Lige Sims Funeral Home, and Union Baptist Church-all long gone but not forgotten-are seen within these pages. The pioneering leaders who have contributed to the town's growth are highlighted as well, including the civic and social organizations they formed for the betterment of the community.

Martha Giddens Nesbit provides a contemporary take on Savannah food and parties with a casual appeal. Photographed in and around beautiful historic and modern homes in the city and at Tybee Beach, these great party dishes enhance traditional and fun Savannah celebrations. Chapters include a birthday dinner, christening party, oyster roast, Christmas dinner, and more.

For more than 200 years, Gainesville, Georgia, has been the trading and business center for Northeast Georgia's mountain region.

Its character dictated by rugged mountain terrain and independent, self-reliant people, Gainesville entertains a uniquehistory quite different from the traditional plantation culture of the American South. Celebrated within these pages are the people and places of this Queen City of the Mountains. With images culled primarily from the Hall County Library and the Archives of the State of Georgia, Gainesville: 1900–2000 captures the memories of the twentieth century on the eve of the millennium. From its days as the Great Health Resort of the South to its transition into a metropolitan community, Gainesville has experienced enormous growth and change. Included in this collection are images of the disastrous 1936 tornado that swept through the city, the mills that were active in the early 1900s, and the poultry industry that became a dominanteconomic force in Gainesville. Residents will delight in the early photographs of the town square that reflect a simpler way of life.

In the late 19th century, some of America’s wealthiest families joined together to form the Jekyll Island Club.

Operating for over 50 years, from 1888 until 1942, the Club attracted an elite clientele, including the families of J.P. Morgan, Joseph Pulitzer, Cyrus McCormick, and William Vanderbilt who all came to enjoy the leisurely pace and recreational adventure of the Georgia coast.The Jekyll Island Clubincludes images of the architecture, clothing, transportation, and natural beauty unique to the island. This exquisite collection is sure to rekindle awe and wonder in the hearts of those who have visited the island, and serve as a wonderful introduction for newcomers.

Discover how Newnan, also known as the “City of Homes” has kept its 19th century charm and architecture, inspiring songs and books to be written.

Newnan, founded in 1828 in the rolling Piedmont section of west Georgia, has long been known as the City of Homes. While many small towns in the South have been burned, bulldozed, or transformed by industry and development, Newnan retains much of its 19th-century charm and elegance, including more than a dozen restored antebellum homes and a 1904 courthouse on the downtown square. The town produced two of Georgia's most progressive governors and provided writer Erskine Caldwell with his earliest, formative memories. Newnan is the small town that country music singer (and native son) Alan Jackson immortalized in his hit song Little Man; in these pages, readers will see the old Lee King's apothecary and other downtown buildings that Jackson found so inspiring during his childhood.

Go inside the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry that is Auburn-Georgia.

The rivalry between Auburn University and the University of Georgia began in 1892 and has largely been a competition more brotherly than bitter. According to one legend, Auburn's War Eagle battle cry originated at the first game between the two schools. The first overtime game in SEC history occurred in 1996, when Georgia topped the heavily favored Tigers, 56-49, in four extra periods. Renowned UGA coach Vince Dooley graduated from Auburn, while Auburn coach Pat Dye was an All-American at UGA. Join award-winning journalist and Athens, Georgia, native Doug Stutsman, who was raised by Auburn graduates, as he recounts the unforgettable games, moments and personalities on the 125th anniversary of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry.

“Cold Case” Clay Bryant unravels a 20-year old cold-case murder. After a daring escape from certain death in a North Vietnamese prison, followed by years in a refugee camp in Thailand, Savang Phovixay and his family sought safety and a better life in the United States. That dream was shattered when their daughter Vieng disappeared in October 1987. In spite of substantial leads, she remained missing until 1989 when her skeletonized remains were found bound to a tree in rural West Georgia. The crime remained an unsolved tragedy for nearly two decades until Bryant took on the case in search of justice for Vieng and her family. 

Author Lee Lancaster unearths the delectable history and classic recipes of the Peach State’s top vegetable.  The Vidalia onion may be small, but it’s as sweet as an onion can be, and it means big business for Georgia, too. Officially christened the Georgia State Vegetable in 1990, it can only be grown in Southeast Georgia. Once sold mostly off a truck tailgate, Vidalia onions now produce an annual crop worth $150 million. And after years of perfecting and fighting off posers and pirates, Vidalia onions are presented as gifts to presidents, governors, close friends and relatives. They are hand planted and handpicked but worth all the trouble to produce the King of the Onion Rings. They are so good, they have their own Vidalia Onion Museum, mascot named Yumion, and a Vidalia Onion Hall of Fame. Vidalia, there’s just something about that name.

Even beyond Atlanta, this amazing, Moorish-style icon is known by most not by its legal name, the Fox Theatre, but as the Fabulous Fox.

Constructed in the late 1920s as a temple for the Yaarab Shrine, the imposing yellow-brick building was designed to out Baghdad Baghdad in its elaborate Middle Eastern appearance. But the onion-domed exterior with its faux prayer towers is nothing compared to the elaborate interior. Movie mogul William Fox leased the auditorium from the Shriners in 1929, transforming it into a movie palace like no other. The theater became a place of spectacular premieres and world-class performances until changing times threatened its very existence in the 1970s. The campaign to Save the Fox proved more dramatic than some of the performances that graced Fox's own stage. Today, the Fabulous Fox is one of Atlanta's best-known and most cherished landmarks.

When the bustle of a city slows, towns dissolve into abandoned buildings or return to woods and crumble into the North Georgia clay. In 1832, Auraria was one of the sites of the original American gold rush.

The remains of numerous towns dot the landscape - pockets of life that were lost to fire or drowned by the water of civic works projects. Cassville was a booming educational and cultural epicenter until 1864. Allatoona found its identity as a railroad town. Author and professor Lisa M. Russell unearths the forgotten towns of North Georgia.

Most people have heard the song: Tis Irish I am and ‘tis proud I am of it. But, what does it mean to be Irish?

When the Irish first came to Savannah, it meant they were either lace curtain or old fort. Lace curtain inferred that the family was prosperous, usually Protestant, and had come to Savannah with letters of introduction, money, and a plan. Old fort meant that the family had come to America in desperation and to Savannah with little but the clothes on their back, the desire to work, and hope for a better future. Old fort Irish were generally Catholic, attending Catholic schools and depending on the Church for far more than just Sunday worship. Today, the Irish have spread all over Savannah like shamrocks, making these designations a thing of the past. The Irish are involved in every facet of Savannah life, from politics, to business, to education. Catholicism remains the predominant religion and churches abound, as do Catholic schools. When the Season of St. Patrick begins, the Savannah Irish begin celebrating.   

Macon has been a crossroads of cultures since Native Americans built the massive earthworks that now form the Ocmulgee National Monument.

In the 19th century, fortunes rose and fell with the price of cotton for small farmers and businessmen, as well as plantation owners. The Civil War destroyed the plantation economy, but it left Macon's historic treasures largely undisturbed. Though manufacturing replaced plantation slavery, cotton and race remained central facts of life as the City of Churches adapted to a changing world. From the 1950s onward, the city's role as a textile center withered, but the likes of Little Richard, Otis Redding, and the Allman Brothers Band built a musical legacy for Macon that survives today.

This pictorial history of Cumberland Island illustrates the people, places, and events that have shaped the area's cultural and natural history.

Rich in history, wildlife, and beautiful coastal landscapes, Georgia's Cumberland Island attracts many an island tourist and nature lover. The island's well-preserved marshes, tidal creeks, and dune fields provide this hidden oasis with a rare natural charm. The area is also home to a wide variety of animal species, including loggerhead turtles, bob cats, manatees, and alligators, just to name a few. Though Cumberland is best known for being the nation's largest wilderness island, its history-dating back to the 16th century-also includes a period of use as a mission by the Franciscans. Among its historic sites are the magnificent ruins of Dungeness, the house built by the Carnegie family during the latter part of the 19th century, as well as the romantic Greyfield Inn. The island's rare solitude and beauty, which have resulted from conservation and preservation efforts in the area, are captured in this carefully detailed book for all lovers of nature and history to enjoy. Though the island permits only very limited human traffic, these images allow the reader to appreciate the Cumberland landscape-laced with wild animals, pirate coves, English forts, and an African-American ""settlement""-from afar.

Long before it came to prominence as the model city of the New South, Atlanta was a hotbed of entertainment, business, and civic life for African Americans.

At the same time that Harlem was undergoing its acclaimed renaissance, Atlanta could boast of excellent colleges, a thriving social environment, and an entertainment scene that could rival those of much larger cities, eventually earning the title “the new Motown. ” From Auburn Avenue, the hub of the city’s African American activity, a spirit of vibrant change and excitement radiated out to reach people across America, and draw them into the Hollywood of the South.

When Rome, Georgia, was founded in 1834, Col. Daniel R. Mitchell suggested the name because of the surrounding hills, much like those of ancient Rome.

Known today as ""The City of Seven Hills,"" Rome has been voted one of the most livable cities in the South. It is the medical center of Northwest Georgia with a population of over 30,000, and a thriving community with abundant opportunities for business, education, and recreation. Historic views of Rome, seen through the eyes of the traveling postcard photographer, fill the pages of this engaging volume. Longtime residents of the community will delight in remembering area landmarks, including the old Clock Tower, Shorter College, Berry College, Myrtle Hill Cemetery, the downtown business section of Broad Street, and the neighboring communities of Lindale and Cave Spring.

As Atlanta finished rebuilding after the Civil War, a new horror arose from the ashes to roam the night streets.

Beginning in 1911, a killer whose methods mimicked the famed Jack the Ripper murdered at least twenty black women, from prostitutes to working-class women and mothers. Each murder attributed to the killer occurred on a Saturday night, and for one terrifying spring in 1911, a fresh body turned up every Sunday morning. Amid a stifling investigation, slayings continued until 1915. As many as six men were arrested for the crimes, but investigators never discovered the identity of the killer, or killers, despite having several suspects in custody. Join local historian Jeffrey Wells as he reveals the case of the Atlanta Ripper, unsolved to this day.

Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, hidden in the northeast region of Georgia, lies -literally and figuratively - one of the Peach State's most treasured areas. Dahlonega, Georgia is known primarily as the site of the first major United States gold rush. But now, as the gold dust has settled, we can look back on the town's complex history - a history more valuable than its famous abundance of precious metal.

Full of little-known insight, Dahlonega, Georgia: A Brief History will expose this quaint city not only as a vibrant home for its residents, but also as an energized destination for history buffs and art connoisseurs. You will learn about the glistening reflection of North Georgia Agricultural College's gold-gilded steeple, which thousands of students view daily as they attend the Leadership Institution and Military College of Georgia. In addition, you will discover Dahlonega's fascinating artistic history, from its involvement in six silent films to the 1993 re-opening of the Holly Theatre, one of the top entertainment venues in the state.

Dahlonega, Georgia: A Brief History is not to be confused with works focusing solely on the distant past. The most up-to-date account available, this book even includes details of the famous 2006 discovery of gold underneath an old Dahlonega hotel.

Settle in for a juicy bushel of Peach State bafflement.

Turn a metaphorical shovel of red Georgia clay to find a world teeming with inexplicable, head-scratching mystery. The legends here predate the state’s founding by hundreds of years, when Native people settled in and began grappling with the land. Now treasure hunters ply Civil War sites for the Confederacy’s lost treasure, with spectral soldiers galloping nearby. Hairy beasts lope through dark woods, while the night sky above bustles with disconcerting activity, like the UFO once spotted by Jimmy Carter. In this Georgia, psychics help convict murderers. The super-strict and thoroughly deceased former owner of Savannah’s Telfair Museum punishes rule breakers, and a ten-foot ’squatch emits a pungent stench at Minnehaha Falls. Join folklorist Alan Brown on a jaunt through the most confounding elements of Georgia’s long history.

Filled with remarkable vintage photographs, Black America: Augusta, Georgia captures the essence of the African-American heritage in this historic Southern community.

The Garden City has produced a wide variety of intellectual and political pioneers, including a handful of educators who were instrumental in the pivotal Brown versus Board of Education case. Within the pages of this volume, their stories unfold.

Discover the history of Warm Springs and how their healing waters attracted Franklin D. Roosevelt; restoring hope and charity to the country.

The Spirit of Warm Springs is what Franklin D. Roosevelt described as the peaceful atmosphere and healing qualities he found along the slopes of Georgia's Pine Mountain. But long before FDR, the warm springs attracted people. Legend has it the Creek Indians used them for healing. European settlers used them as a revenue source. In the 1800s, the springs became a resort area, and the village of Warm Springs, Georgia, was founded. Rail brought visitors to this farming community for decades until travelers sought different destinations. By the 1920s, Warm Springs began slipping into the Great Depression. Destiny intervened when Franklin Roosevelt arrived in Warm Springs seeking a cure for his polio. After his first visit, he was able to move his leg. The news drew others afflicted with polio. Warm Springs provided FDR with hope. He returned the gift through New Deal programs and the March of Dimes while restoring hope in America. The waters are still used for healing, the town of Warm Springs thrives, and FDR's Little White House is a memorial to the foremost statesman and political leader of the 20th century.

Discover the charm and magic of Sapelo Island, Florida as its history is told in vintage images.

The barrier islands of the south Atlantic coastline have for years held a deep attraction for all who have come into contact with them. Few, however, can compare with the mystique of Sapelo Island, Georgia. This unique semitropical paradise evokes a time long forgotten, when antebellum cotton plantations dominated her landscape, all worked by hundreds of black slaves, the descendants of whom have lived in quiet solitude on the island for generations. For more than 50 years of the twentieth century, two millionaires held sway on Sapelo, and it is their story, interwoven with that of the island's residents, that unfolds within the pages of this book. Almost 200 photographs provide testimony to the dynamic forces and energies implanted upon Sapelo by two men, Howard E. Coffin, a Detroit automotive pioneer, and Richard J. Reynolds Jr., heir to a huge North Carolina tobacco fortune. Beginning with a photographic essay about Sapelo's antebellum plantation owner, Thomas Spalding, Sapelo Island moves into the primary focus of the story, the years from 1912 to 1964, an era of grandeur that has left a rich photographic legacy.

Over 200 vintage images document the history of Avondale Estates, uncovering the development of its early businesses to the citizens who first called it home.

Founded in 1924 by self-made millionaire George Francis Willis, Avondale Estates is a unique planned community—the only documented one of its kind in Georgia and the Southeast in the early twentieth century. Located just 7 miles east of downtown Atlanta, Avondale Estates is the antithesis of the bustling metropolis, with beautifully landscaped parks and plazas, an abundance of community-oriented facilities, and historic architecture reminiscent of an English village. A community seemingly frozen in time, it was to its founder the ideal city. In this collection of over 200 vintage images, the history of Avondale Estates is uncovered, from the development of its early businesses to the citizens who first called it home. The impressive commercial buildings, designed by prominent Atlanta architect Arthur Neal Robinson, showcase the only fully-developed Tudor Revival style in Georgia. The small, closely knit community has seen its fair share of local residents achieve fame and notoriety. Noted sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who not only started the carving of Stone Mountain in Georgia but also went on to carve Mount Rushmore, once called Avondale home. Avondale High School was the 1950s alma mater of Whispering Bill Anderson, singer, songwriter, and television star of Grand Old Opry fame. Within these pages, readers will discover these and otherfascinating characters who emerged from the community.

From Macon to Hawkinsville, the history of Georgia's once thriving textile mills is documented in this visual history.

Cotton was once king throughout Georgia. Reconstruction investors and railroad tycoons saw this potential to open textile mills in the South instead of sending cotton up North. Towns across Central Georgia became a prime spot to locate textile mills because of the access to cotton from local farms, cheap labor, and nearby rivers to power the mills. Textile mills were operated in cities and towns across Central Georgia such as Macon, Columbus, Augusta, Tifton, Forsyth, Porterdale, and Hawkinsville, among others. The textile mills provided employment and sometimes a home in their villages to people across Georgia as the agrarian lifestyle gave way to industrial expansion. In these mills, photographer Lewis Hine captured iconic images of child labor. After the decline of production and closing of the mills, many have been revived into new usages that honor the legacy of the mill workers and their families who lived in the villages of the textile mills across Central Georgia.

When Fannin County was created in January of 1854, less than 20 years had passed since the Texas Revolution, but its impact was immense.

War hero James Walker Fannin was born, if legend is correct, near where Tennessee and North Carolina border Georgia; after dropping out of West Point, Fannin was a successful broker in Columbus, Georgia, and then immigrated to Texas. Following several military adventures, including a failed attempt to relieve the Alamo, Colonel Fannin was defeated at the Battle of Coleto Creek, and his command massacred near Goliad. Shortly after the Mexican-American War won the Texas territory for the Union, Georgia honored Fannin's memory by naming Fannin County for him. From an isolated region of mountain farms, gristmills, and wilderness, Fannin County has developed alongside the arrival of the railroad and the inauguration of logging, hydroelectric power, mining, and manufacturing and is currently one of the premier tourist destinations and arts-and-crafts regions in the Southeast.

Nearly two decades after the fact, tragedy meets justice.

One day in 1987, Fred Wilkerson up and vanished in Troup County, Georgia. It was a mystery beset with suspicious circumstances, but the evidence never led anywhere, and the case went cold, Wilkerson’s whereabouts unknown. That is, until a remarkable set of circumstances allowed author and investigator Clay Bryant to breathe life back into the case nearly two decades later. Diving into what had previously been overlooked, Bryant was able to locate and recover Wilkerson’s remains and successfully prosecute the killer, who’d crafted a calculating plot to take everything the victim had and murder him in order to keep it. The story concludes with the Wilkerson Family finally getting closure and the killer getting sentenced to life in prison. Join Byrant as he unravels this West Georgia cold case.

Go inside the people and places that made Atlanta the pop music capital of the United States in the second half of the 20th century.

Former DJ Bill Lowery attracted a galaxy of talent and created an empire of music publishing, production and promotion. In 1956, the Lowery Music Company had its first million copy–selling hit single with “Be-Bop-a-Lula,” by Gene Vincent. Under Lowery’s direction, popular artists like Tommy Roe and Billy Joe Royal flourished. Audio engineer Rodney Mills teamed up with Lowery and future Atlanta Rhythm Section manager Buddy Buie to build Studio One, a recording studio that produced albums from legendary acts such as Joe South, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 38 Special and others. Andy Lee White and John M. Williams offer a comprehensive portrait of the vibrant postwar Atlanta music scene.

Using the heritage area’s archival images and photographs sourced from partners and the community, Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area is a photographic tour through time and place on the nature, culture, and history of southeast Metro Atlanta.

Beginning 20 miles east of Atlanta, the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area encompasses portions of DeKalb, Henry, and Rockdale Counties, with Arabia Mountain and its lunar-like landscape and the historic city of Lithonia at its heart. Dominated by two granite mountains, Arabia and Panola, the area once contained the nation’s biggest rock quarrying and chicken grit operations. Over time, these businesses, along with agrarian industries, would weave a uniquely diverse cultural tapestry that centered on family, faith, and fortitude. Some of these stories include civil rights heroes from Lithonia like Lucious Sanders and Marcia Glenn Hunter, Trappist monks in Conyers who marched with Dr. King, quarry workers at Arabia who helped build DeKalb’s first public school for Blacks, and a landscape architect who worked at the White House and helped preserve Panola Mountain.

An Atlanta-based writer and journalist, Jeff Dingler has written for New York Magazine, the Washington Post, Newsweek, Atlanta Magazine, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and more. Brigette Jones is a historian, speaker, writer, and thought leader whose work has been recognized by the Smithsonian Institute, National Public Radio, the Tennessean, and the New York Times best-selling The Moth Presents: A Point of Beauty.

Bursting with delightful colors and bright illustrations, Local Baby: Savannah engages babies’ attention and encourages families to explore what makes their city so great.

See Forsyth Park and Tybee Island, stroll past historic buildings and spooky squares, cheer on the Savannah Bananas, and celebrate St. Patrick's Day! Explore Savannah with this joyfully grabbable and wonderfully local board book that is sure to bring generations together.

But it is not only this tragedy that has given Walton County a sense of identity. Indeed, other lesser-known events and accomplishments have contributed to its history. Whether boasting Atlanta's first black millionaire, a member of the U.S. Olympic basketball team, or a high school state football championship, Walton County has thrived both in and out of the national spotlight.

Starting as an ice-cream truck in 1929; Carvel has became the standard of ice-cream franchises across America.

When an unassuming, wide-eyed, young Greek immigrant arrived in America in 1910, the world did not yet know that this boy named Tom Carvel would grow up to be an inventor, an innovator, and, ultimately, an American icon. Holding a host of jobs, from drummer to mechanic, Carvel's relentless entrepreneurial spirit led him down a path less traveled. At 26 years old, Carvel met his future wife, Agnes Stewart. He borrowed $15 from her and began selling ice cream out of the back of his truck. What started as an old truck plugged into a pottery store is now more than 500 franchised locations throughout the nation and abroad and is one of the best loved and most recognized names in the industry. Fulfilling the American dream, Carvel is credited for patenting machinery, coining the ""buy one get one"" coupon, starring in his own commercials, and being the ""father of franchising.""

Though little more than an afterthought these days, from the 1890s through the 1920s, postcards were by far the most popular means of communication.

Many of the postcards produced during this “golden age” can be considered works of art, when postcard photographers traveled the nation coast to coast snapping photographs of busy street scenes, documenting local landmarks, and taking photographic portraits of locals only too happy to pose for the camera. This fascinating history of Northeast Georgia showcases more than 200 of the best vintage postcards available; these images, printed as postcards and sold in general stores across the country, can teach us important aspects of yesteryear that we may not find in history books.

From Elbert Colored High School to Blackwell Memorial Cultural Center, this book brings to life Elbert County's African American history.

Elbert County, the granite capital of the world, is nestled in the northeast corner of Georgia, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The educational and political journey of many African Americans in this county began at Elbert Colored High School. African Americans in Elbert County helped shape their community and their country through sheer determination and faith, in the face of slavery and laws biased against them.

Explore the supernatural mysteries of the historic Georgia city of Roswell. A must-read for fans of southern ghost tales, legends, and history.

The town of Roswell is haunted by the lingering ghosts of generations long dead. In this historic Georgia town, spirits roam through ruined mills, antebellum mansions and slave cabins, searching for those lost in the battles of the Civil War. From the banks of the Chattahoocheeto the streets of Roswell's historic district, chilling specters remind us of this charming Southern town's shocking past.

Author Dianna Avena blends Roswell's history with tales of the city's most famous haunts —from the slave quarters of Bulloch Hallto the cracked graves in Founder's Cemetery—to send chills down the spines of locals and visitors alike.

Accompanied by Jonathan Bryan, a planter with an insatiable appetite for virgin tracts of land, Georgia's third and last Royal Governor James Wright visited Buttermilk Bluff in June 1767 and envisioned a city. St. Marys was born, and its street names reflect the surnames of the 20 founding fathers. While the county seat was removed from a quaint St. Marys on more than one occasion, today, the garden spot of Woodbine serves as the seat of county government. Formerly the rice plantation of J.K. Bedell, this small city shares a symbiotic relationship with port of St. Marys and the "City of Royal Treatment" at Kingsland. The history of the county, with its three main towns as well as the outlying, rural areas, unfolds in striking photographs from days gone by. Preserved within the pages of this treasured volume, images reveal Camden and its people in times of tragedy and triumph.

Read about a local baseball game in 1935 in which Babe Ruth took on the South Georgia Teachers Conference. Other chapters detail colonial and Native American influences on the region, the role of Bulloch County residents during World War II and the settlement of a Baptist community in Statesboro. Become reacquainted with Bulloch County's rich and quirky past through this captivating collection.

Join Author Rodney T. Cohen as he reveals the history & beginnings of the Black Colleges of Atlanta and the distinguished alumni they shaped.

By 1865, although Atlanta and the Confederacy still lay wounded in the wake of the Union victory, black higher education began its thrust for recognition. Some of the first of the American colleges formed specifically for the education of black students were founded in Atlanta, Georgia. These schools continue, over a century later, to educate, train and inspire. Through an engaging collection of images and informative captions, their story begins to unfold. Atlanta University was the pioneer college for blacks in the state of Georgia. Founded in 1865, it was followed by Morehouse College in 1867, Clark University in 1869, and Spelman and Morris Brown Colleges in 1881. By 1929, Atlanta University discontinued undergraduate work and affiliated with Morehouse and Spelman in a plan known as the Atlanta University System. A formal agreement of cooperation including all of the Atlanta colleges occurred in 1957, solidifying the common goal and principles each school was founded upon-to make literate the black youth of America. Today, the shared resources of each institution provide a unique and challenging experience for young African Americans seeking higher education. The schools boast a long and distinguished list of alumni and scholars, including W.E.B. DuBois, James Weldon Johnson, Martin Luther King, Henry O. Tanner, and C. Eric Lincoln.

“Every county in Georgia has at least one ghost story, and author Jim Miles has gathered them into three books. . . . Miles traveled to all 159 counties, as well as two counties that ‘went extinct’ during the Great Depression. The completion of the books was a 10-year project for Miles . . . The stories span all of Georgia history, from one with its origins 2,000 years ago to the latest in ‘scientific ghost hunting.’” —Gainesville Times

Every portion of central Georgia is thoroughly haunted. Tobe, the ghost of Orna Villa in Oxford, had an appetite for biscuits. Angry spirits near Augusta drove a family from a beautiful old home. Paranormal entities in a home cobbled together from three old houses created a tapestry of supernatural events. People still seek advice from a fortuneteller dead half a century, and a long-deceased girl hitches a ride home on the same night each year.

Author Jim Miles presents a ghost story from each of the fifty-one counties in this historic region.

Twelve-year-old Gracie Watson is unusually—some might even say morbidly—excited about her upcoming move to Savannah, one of the most haunted cities in the country.

Gracie isn’t one to make friends with the living, but she quickly bonds with a graveyard groundskeeper’s son, who vows to help her on her quest. Together, they set out to find the ghost of another Gracie Watson, who happens to be buried at Bonaventure Cemetery. Like any great adventure, what they find is nothing like what they expected.