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50@50 – Northeastern Georgia

“Georgia” conjures up a diverse array of images: the languid coast, southern charm, the Civil War, a bustling city with a vibrant arts scene, and the Appalachians.  Rare are the places whose cultural threads are unbroken and retied by history’s revisionists. Georgia’s culture seems, in places, to be evolving even more dynamically than…well, many other states. Surprisingly, it is the land of eastern Georgia that dramatically impacted human history in North America, and its legacy thrives in the region’s culture today.

Eight miles north of Augusta, in Savannah River, the oldest pottery in North America has been found on Stallings island. The ancient people who live here were the first to develop and create pottery nearly 4500 years ago. Called fiber-tempered pottery, the Stallings Culture (named for the island) used moss or sometimes leaves to bind the clay, and fired in an open pit. Within about 1300 years or so, pottery migrated throughout the southeastern region of the present US and into eastern Canada and northern Mexico.[*]

Pottery making in the region continues to be an important art form today. Europeans had brought their own ceramic processes, and after the Creek and Cherokee were removed, the aboriginal technology disappeared until the 1990’s. Present folk pottery developed in the early 1800’s using locally dug clay, glazing the jars using ashes an/or sand. Skilled potters were important to farmers, distillers and to the dairy industry.  By the dawn of the 20^th century, estimates figure 90 potters from a handful of “clay clans” operated in Georgia – most in the Northeast.  Many of today’s folk potters near Cleveland, Lula and Gillsville are descended from these same families. [†]

Two significant changes early in the 20^th century nearly extinguished the potters’ livelihood. Prohibition in Georgia began in 1907 – 12 years before the nation as a whole.  Consequently, demand for whiskey jugs plummeted. Secondly, glass and metal containers became increasingly affordable, replacing pottery for milk, and canning.

While artistic designs slowly emerged in the 1930’s, Arie Meaders is credited for the rise of artistic pottery in the 1950’s. She created figurines, favoring birds. Her son revitalized the tradition of adding faces to the jugs. In 1978, the Smithsonian Institution created a documentary “The Meaders Family: North Georgia Potters” as part of their Folklife Study series. I saw a snippet of the film when I visited the Folk Pottery Museum in Sautee. One side of the museum exhibits the process of pottery making, while the other displays both utilitarian and artistic wares from the region. I was quite engaged with the knowledge of one of the staff members. In Augusta, a local potter has even begun replicating the ancient practice using hand dug clay from the Savannah River banks and moss which hangs from the trees.[‡] Land doesn’t shape culture much more than this!

Hikes are abundant in the area. Nearly 20 parks have trails. Anna Falls is very nearby. I planned to hike in Black Rock Mountain, Georgia’s highest state park, with vistas of the Southern Blue Ridge Mountains, but in late February, the trails were closed. A few miles south, is the spectacular Tallulah Gorge. In the 19^th century, the waterfall was known as the Niagra of the south, and tight-walkers crossed the gorge as early as 1886!  The park contains over 20 miles of hiking and biking trails. The most accessible is a 2 ½ mile rim to rim trail with 10 overlooks. The loop steps dramatically down to a suspension bridge providing a great view of the gorge and falls. The only tough part is the 310 steps back up to the rim (tip: in the afternoon, go up the south steps).

As with all of these cultural explorations, I come away with a new way of seeing the place I’ve experienced, and a greater appreciation for the traditions of its people.