31 October 1844: A Youth Library Offered "at the New York Price"

On this day, Albon Chase began advertising a new set of books, available together or individually at his "Book-Store," for the impressionable young men and women of Athens. 

 

Primary education in 1844 was reserved for those who could afford both to pay to have their children educated and did not require their labor at home. Athens had a highly literate population, but there were no free schools. The cheapest schools in the 1840s charged $3.00 per quarter for basic primary education, akin to $93.10 in today's dollars. 

Those with more money could hire private tutors for their children, or send them to one of the local academies that taught basic English, grammar, writing, rhetoric, arithmetic, geography, history, chemistry, astronomy, Latin Greek, natural philosophy, music, drawing, painting, and French. Schools such as The Female Academy (which offered co-ed education), offered subjects on a sliding scale ranging from $4.00 per quarter for the most basic instruction to $8.00 per quarter for everything except more artistic pursuits, which could be purchased as separate lessons. 

Most education for girls focused on softer learning, such as arts, recitation, and French, rather than the speeches of Cicero or higher mathematics. It was this lack of rigorous higher education for women that caused the Lucy Cobb Institute to be founded in 1858, for Athenians believed their daughters should be as well educated as their sons, and did not want to send them away to school for the necessity. 

Albon Chase was a member of the class who could afford education for his children. He was born in New Hampshire in 1808. became the publisher of the Southern Banner 1832. He established with John Linton the Pioneer Paper Manufacturing Company located on Barber Creek, just southeast of Athens, a venture that cleared 60% profit in its first year.

In 1845, he moved the newspaper offices to a three-story wooden building at the corner of College Avenue and Front Street (now Broad), with his newspaper offices above the bookstore. Many newspaper publishers also printed books, ledgers, and other sorts of paper materials for sale other than news; Chase also offered colored wrapping paper for gifts.

He retired from the Banner in 1846 after 14 years of work, but his son, William, purchased part of it in 1858 and acted as co-editor. According to the book Antebellum Athens, "political opposition charged that regardless who was the editor, the Banner was controlled by Howell Cobb."

Chase was a founding and guiding member of other local business ventures, such as the National Bank of Athens, the Athens Building & Loan Association, the Georgia Equitable Insurance Company, and the Southern Mutual Insurance Company, where he served as Secretary until his death in 1867.

He was also active in the practical running of Athens, serving as one of the city's first commissioners, starting in 1839, and representing Ward 2 off and on until 1859. In 1852, Albon Chase served as Intendent of the city, akin to being Mayor today; Chase Street is named for him.  Two of his homes are still standing in Athens, at the corner of Hull and Clayton Streets downtown (now apartments), and at 243 Dearing Street. He is buried at Oconee Hill Cemetery.


Learn More:

• Southern Banner, Mar. 18, 1842 - Mar. 6, 1845 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Antebellum Athens and Clarke County Georgia by Ernest C. Hynds in the Heritage and general collections.
• Annals of Athens: 1801-1901 by Augustus Longstreet Hull in the Heritage collection.
• History of Athens and Clarke County by H. J. Rowe in the Heritage and general collections.
• Historic Dearing Street by Frances Taliaferro Thomas in the Heritage collection.
• Oconee Hill Cemetery, Athens, Georgia, Volume I, by Charlotte Thomas Marshall in the Heritage and general collections. 
• Measuring Worth website.
• Digitized copy of Anecdotes of the Revolution.
• Digitized copy of Fables from Northcote and Others.
• Digitized copy of Hutton's Book of Nature.
• Digital copies of Beauties of American History.
• Digital copies of Lives of the Most Eminent Sovereigns of Modern Europe.
• Digitized copy of Juvenile Companion and Fireside Reader.

10 October 1912: "Athens Is a Plenty Good"

On this day in 1912, a small item appeared between news about the upcoming Stewart County soil survey and an ad for the Atlanta Coal and Ice Company ("phone 117") in the Athens Banner:

Says Athens Is a Plenty Good

Mr. L. M. Leathers, who moved to Atlanta several months ago, has returned to Athens. He prefers Athens to Atlanta. He will be at his place of business at 1366 Foundry street. His family will return in a few days.

- Athens Banner, 10 October 1912, p. 8, col. 4.

According to a mid-century business directory for the city of Athens, the L. M. Leathers company started in 1907 and moved to Athens in 1909. They specialized in roofing and other metal work, including doing all the cornice, sheet metal and roof work on the new courthouse in 1913. Their phone number for decades was 264.

Mr. Leathers retired from the company in 1942, and his three sons, Fred, Claude, and Milton, took over the business. By the 1940s, their manufacturing building was located at 675 Pulaski Street, and the company had expanded their offerings to refurbishing Coca-Cola bottling equipment, and "orchestrated the mass production of two of America’s favorite snacks- the peanut butter cracker and the Moon Pie."

Their manufacturing building was refurbished by Athens firm D.O.C. Unlimited, with an emphasis on retaining much of the original structure, including skylights, the company name on the exterior of the building, and high ceilings with brick walls inside, while also making the space pedestrian-friendly with plant beds and platforms that act as porches for the businesses now in the space. In 2005, the renovation won an award from the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation. 

Some of the current occupants of 675 Pulaski Street include Rubber Soul Yoga, Koons Environmental Design, and Shiraz Fine Wine & Gourmet.


Learn More:

• Athens Banner, July 1912 - Dec. 1, 1912 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• The Leathers Building page on Facebook.
• Athens, Georgia: A Pictorial History by James K. Reap in the Heritage and general collections.
• Athens, Georgia Business Directory (n.d.) in the Heritage collection.
• Redefining Southern Culture: Mind and Identity in the Modern South by James C. Cobb in the general collection.
• Origins of the New South: 1877-1913 by C. Vann Woodward in the general collection.
• The Metalsmiths by Percy Knauth in the general collection.
• Redux: Designs that Reuse, Recycle, and Reveal by Jennifer Roberts in the general collection.

31 July 1840: Printing Apprentice Wanted

On this day in 1840, the Southern Banner published this notice that they were looking for an apprentice:

Apprentices were often used by a variety of businesses as cheap labor and to pass down the trade: printing presses, carriage or harness makers, merchant clerks, physicians, tailors, bakers, milliners, apothecaries, gas fitters, chefs, or other skilled trades.  An "eligible situation" in this ad indicates that not only is this opportunity available, but it is a good opportunity for some young man, perhaps as young as 13 or 14, to learn a trade that he could use to support himself and his family through life. In 1840, printers didn't just publish the local newspaper, but also created ledgers and other business forms, stationery, and sometimes books for their community.

Typically, apprentices lived with, were fed and clothed by, the craftsman to whom he or she (in the case of millinery or seamstress work) was apprenticed, with a guarantee of a small sum and appropriate new clothing to start in the business themselves after a set period of time. Often, the situation involved a contract that laid out all these terms, including the forfeiture of guaranteed clothing and cash should the apprentice leave before the end of their term.

Not all apprenticeships were open environments; when the Charleston Orphan House indentured their charges to businessmen as a way to ensure the children learned a trade, the child was bound to that indenture until the end of their term, when the child turned 21 years of age. Should the businessman not comply, a fine of $60 "liquified damages" would apply. The Orphan House, however, insisted that the child agree to the indenture, and often refused requests for apprentices if the position (such as factory work) was not seen as self-supporting occupation. This standard did not apply to their female charges, who were primarily put into domestic situations since a "successful life" for them mean marrying someone who could support them.


Apprenticeships still exist today, and are skill trade versions of internships. The Department of Labor's Registered Apprenticeship program lists opportunities in dozens of fields, including carpentry, medical technology, machine repair, refrigeration maintenance, welding, masonry, building inspection, and ironwork. 




Learn More: 

• Southern Banner, Mar. 23, 1839 - Mar. 11, 1842 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• History and Records of the Charleston Orphan House, 1861-1899 by Susan L. King in the Heritage collection.
• Apprentices of Virginia, 1623-1800 by Harold B. Gill, Jr. in the Heritage collection.
• Building the Great Cathedrals by Francois Icher in the general collection.
• Greenjobs: A Guide to Eco-Friendly Employment by A. Bronwynn Llewellyn in the general collection.
• Becoming a Chef by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page in the general collection.
• Registered Apprentice page on the United States Department of Labor website.
• Athens Technical College website.

 
 

21 February 1913: "Electric Hatched" Chicks

On this day in 1913, this vision of the future of poultry production was published in the Athens Banner:

Now, of course, the use of electricity-powered heat and air conditioning as part of poultry production is standard. According to the University of Georgia Extension Service, when brooding new chicks in a backyard  coop or on an industrial scale, newly hatched chicks require a 90-degree Fahrenheit ambient temperature, which can be lowered by five degrees per week until reaching 70 degrees, the ideal temperature for chickens.


The State College of Agriculture became part of the University of Georgia in 1932, and has continued to assist Georgia farmers state-wide improve their yields in everything from crops to livestock, but poultry farming has been Georgia's greatest agricultural success. 


In 2009, 54% of Georgia agriculture production came from poultry, with 26 million pounds of chicken being produced daily by the state. The industry brings $18.4 billion into the Georgia economy each year, employs over 100,000 people, and 105 of the state's 159 counties, including Clarke and Oconee counties, produce over $1 million in poultry-related revenue each year.



Learn More:

• Athens Banner, Feb. 1913 - Jun. 1913 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Department of Poultry Science at the University of Georgia.
• History of the College of Agriculture of the University of Georgia by Calvin C. Murray in the Heritage collection.
• Georgia Poultry Facts (pdf) from the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences website.
• Poultry Tips from the Department of Poultry Science Extension Service at UGA.
• Management Guide for the Backyard Flock from the Poultry Extension Service at UGA.
• The University of Georgia College of Agriculture: An Administrative History, 1785-1985 by Stephen J. Karina in the Heritage collection.
• The University of Georgia: A Bicentennial History, 1785-1985 by Thomas G. Dyer in the Heritage and general collections.
• A Century of Georgia Agriculture, 1850-1950 by Willard Range in the Heritage and general collections.
• Problems of Plenty: The American Farmer in the Twentieth Century by R. Douglas Hurt in the general collection.
• Keeping Chickens with Ashley English: All You Need to Know to Care for a Happy, Healthy Flock by Ashley English in the New Books collection.
• The Joy of Keeping Chickens: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Poultry for Fun or Profit by Jennifer Megyesi in the general collection.

1 January 1917: "A Great Deal of Excitement Was Caused"

On this day in 1917, news of an eclectic collision on Milledge Avenue was reported in the Athens Daily Herald:

Learn More:

• Athens Daily Herald, Jan. 1917 - Jun. 1917 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• A Postcard History of Athens, Georgia by Gary L. Doster in the Heritage and general collections.
• Horsecars, Cable Cars, and Omnibuses by John H. White, Jr. in the general collection.
• Breaking Gridlock: Moving Toward Transportation That Works by Jim Motavalli via PINES.
• Getting There: The Epic Struggle Between Road and Rail in the American Century by Stephen B. Goddard in the general collection.
• Henry's Wonderful Model T, 1908-1927 by Floyd Clymer in the general collection.
• Saddlery and Horse Equipment by Sarah Muir in the general collection.
• Cable Car by Christopher C. Swan in the general collection.
• Harvest of the Cold Months: The Social History of Ice and Ices by Elizabeth David via PINES.
• Get Up and Go: The History of American Road Travel by Sylvia Whitman in the children's collection.
• Automobile Age Atlanta: The Making of a Southern Metropolis, 1900-1935 by Howard Preston in the Heritage collection.
• Buses, Trolleys, and Trams by Charles S. Dunbar in the general collection.
• The Athletic Horse: His Selection, Work, and Management by Carol Foster in the general collection.
• Wheels for the World: Henry Ford, His Company, and a Century of American Progress, 1903-2003 by Douglas Brinkley in the general collection.
• Divided Highways: Building the Interstate Highways, Transforming American Life by Tom Lewis in the general collection.
• Travels with Zenobia: Paris to Albania by Model T Ford, A Journal by Rose Wilder Lane in the biography collection.

1 September 1885: "Everybody Will Be Happy"

On this day in 1885, the Weekly Banner-Watchman published this happy assessment of the future of Athens:

Learn More:

• Weekly Banner-Watchman, July 7, 1885 - April 17, 1888 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• U. S. Census Bureau Reference Shelf web page.
• American: Beyond Our Grandest Notions by Chris Matthews in the general collection. 
• Redefining Southern Culture: Mind and Identity in the Modern South by James C. Cobb in the general collection.
• Athens, Georgia: The Classic City--Tradition with Progress by Donald A. Smith in the Heritage collection.
• Cities in Our Future: Growth and Form, Environmental Health and Social Equity, edited by Robert Geddes in the general collection.
• Occurrence and Availability of Groundwater in the Athens Region by Dean B. Radtke in the Heritage collection.
• A Postcard History of Athens, Georgia by Gary L. Doster in the Reference, Heritage, and general collections.
• Athens, Georgia: In the Heart of Expansion, A Very Pleasant Place to Live by the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce in the Heritage collection.
• A Modern Southern Reader, edited by Ben Forkner and Patrick Samway in the general collection.
• Athens: A Pictorial History by James K. Reap in the Heritage and general collections.
• Cathedrals of Kudzu: A Personal Landscape of the American South by Hal Crowther in the general collection. 
• Athens for All/Athens para Todos: A Bilingual Guide to Spending an Hour or a Lifetime in Georgia's Classic City by Paul Matthews in the Heritage, Reference, and general collections.

20 August 1862: Cook Brothers to Build Armory

On this day in 1862, the following bit of local business news was published in the Southern Watchman:

 

Ferdinand and Francis Cook were brothers who had a contract to produce 30,000 Enfield rifles "complete with sabre-bayonet, sheath and frog" for the Confederate military in 1862. However, they had to flee New Orleans when the city came under occupation by the United States military, and escaped with "most of their armory machinery and a schooner of iron and steel." 


Like many other refugees during the war, the Cooks came to Athens, seeking an out-of-the-way place in which to re-establish their business. They purchased 63 acres of land with access to water power, and began building their factory. The armory was estimated to be worth over $600,000.00 after just six months of operation. Their first inspection was in January, 1863, by General Benjamin Huger, and a follow-up visit in March, 1863, noted that their guns were "the finest I have seen of Southern manufacture."  


The armory made infantry rifles, artillery rifles, and muskatoons; horseshoes for the cavalry; bayonets; and non-military agricultural items such as sorgham mills. Though hopes had been high for the manufacture of 100 guns per day, the reality was that the war had caused a severe labor shortage, and over time, also brought about shortages in basic necessities such as food and clothing.  The armory suspended production in July, 1864, when the Confederate government fell behind on payments. They produced only about 4,000 weapons for the Confederate military. 


The workers at the armory formed the 23rd Battalion, Georgia,  Local Defense, also known as the Athens Battalion, the Enfield Rifle Battalion, or Captain Cook's Battalion. They were a separate force from the Athens Home Guard, Mitchell's Thunderbolts, though some residents were members of both, such as John Gilleland and Jack O'Farrell. They were called into action for the Battle of Griswoldville, Georgia, in November, 1864.


Ferdinand Cook was killed less than a month later during a battle in Hardeeville, South Carolina. Francis Cook tried to keep the armory running, but the war came to an end, and the armory campus was sold for $18,000.00 to Athens Manufacturing Company in 1870. It would later be known in Athens as "the Check Factory," and in 1897 would become the first factory in Georgia to run on electricity. It is now the location of the University of Georgia Physical Plant, Information Technology Outreach Services, Marine Extension Services, and Small Business Development Center.




Learn More:

• Southern Watchman, Aug. 1861 - Aug. 1865 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Transition to an Industrial South by Michael John Gagnon in the Heritage and general collections.
• Chicopee Mill History by Olivia Bloomfield Carlisle in the Heritage collection.
• Confederate Athens by Kenneth Coleman in the Heritage and general collections.
• Athens, 1861-1865: As Seen Through Letters in the University of Georgia Libraries by Kenneth Coleman in the Heritage and general collections.
• Annals of Athens, 1801-1901 by Augustus Longstreet Hull via Internet Archive.
• Fields of Gray: The Battle of Griswoldville by Gary Livingston in the Heritage and general collections.
• Griswoldville by William Harris Bragg in the Heritage and general collections.
• The Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare, edited by Geoffrey Parker in the Reference and general collections.
• Weapons of the Civil War by William C. Davis in the Heritage collection.
• Weapons of the Civil War by Ian V. Hogg in the general collection.
• Arms and Equipment of the Civil War by Jack Coggins in the Heritage collection.
• Confederate Service Records for the 23rd Georgia Battalion in Fold3 History and Genealogy Archive via GALILEO. (Fold3 is the new name for Footnote.)
• Confederate Citizen Files in Fold3 History and Genealogy Archive via GALILEO.   (Fold3 is the new name for Footnote.)
• British Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle on the Smithsonian Institution Civil War website.
• 1864 Cook and Brother Carbine Rifle on the Smithsonian Institution Civil War website.

8 July 1899: Opera House Hosts Night School Exhibition

On this day in 1899, the East Athens Night School hosted its second annual exhibition at the Athens Opera House. The Athens Daily Banner announced the event and location on their front page the day before, along with the Honor Roll for the term:

The East Athens Night School began in 1897 and was put under the direction of Miss Louie A. Lane, the daughter of the longtime pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Athens. She was a graduate of the Lucy Cobb Institute, and became a school teacher. Known to all as "Miss Louie," she never married and became, in the words of Susan Frances Barrow Tate, "a one-woman welfare society."  

Miss Louie lived in East Athens, where many of the mill workers also lived. As a teacher, it bothered her that so many children in Athens had to work while the public schools were open, and therefore would never get an education or have a chance at improving their lives. Whenever a family needed clothes for their children, blankets, even food, Miss Louie would consult her list of good hearted women of Athens to find the items she needed. Many of these same women were responsible for setting up the East Athens Night School in the first place, publicizing the cause in the newspaper and holding socials at the Y.W.C.A. to raise money and get donations of school books, notebooks, paper, pencils, and even desks and chairs. They were always in need of more school books, as well as books of all types for the school's small lending library, which received heavy use by the students. Even after the Night School was incorporated into the Athens school system, donations were still required to meet demand.

The first night of school in early December, 1987, 10 students enrolled. Less than a week later, there were 18 students enrolled, including "two girls, 12 and 13 years of age, who are just now receiving their first opportunity to learn their alphabet." Twenty days after the school opened, there were 27 students enrolled, and they had, as a group, decided not to take any holiday for Christmas. After a month of operation, 40 students had enrolled and 15 more wanted to, but the room, an empty store front on Oconee Street, could not hold more students. A new room was added, and by the end of the term, a total of 68 students had enrolled. 

According to the 1900 U.S. Census, most of the students on the Honor Roll listed in the story above were between 12 and 21 years old in 1899, and most worked at the cotton or knitting mills, though the Patterson brothers were listed as "Harness Makers." 

Classes lasted from 6:30pm to 9pm "every night in the week except Saturday." Miss Louie told the Banner that the students "are anxious to learn and that her work is thus rendered exceedingly pleasant." The following term, Miss May Smoak was added as a teacher's assistant, but the school continued to grow, and by 1901 had over 150 students enrolled, including many adults who had never been taught to read and write. Business classes in bookkeeping were added, and over the years, the school allowed children who worked in the mills during the day to have the skills to eventually work as clerks in downtown offices as well as start their own businesses. All of them remembered and would often visit with Miss Louie, who never left her little home in their old neighborhood.

When Miss Louie died in October, 1939, the Athens Banner-Herald called her "the Jane Addams of Athens, who devoted her life to a career of unselfish service to humankind."  She was called "unassuming, understanding, generous, intelligent, and loving" and the paper noted that "she could hardly help being held up by others as a shining example of the things she strived so hard to inculcate in all with him she was associated."  Among her pall bearers were some of her students from the East Athens Night School's first few years. She is buried in an unmarked grave with her family at Oconee Hill Cemetery.

Learn More:

• Athens Daily Banner, July, 1899 - Dec., 1899 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Athens Observer on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Remembering Athens by Susan Frances Barrow Tate in the Heritage and general collections.
• The First Presbyterian Church of Athens, Georgia 1820-1970 by the Sesqui-Centennial Committee in the Heritage and general collections.
• Oconee Hill Cemetery, Athens, Georgia, Volume I by Charlotte Thomas Marshall in the Heritage and general collections.
• Up Before Daybreak: Cotton and the American People by Deborah Hopkinson in the children's collection.
• Child Labor: An American History by Hugh D. Hindman in the general collection.
• The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience by Kirstin Downey in the biography collection.
• January 1905 by Katharine Boling in the children's fiction collection.
• The Men and the Mills: A History of the Southern Textile Industry by Mildred Gwin Andrews in the general collection.
• The Most They Ever Had by Rick Bragg in the general collection.
• So Far From Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl by Barry Denenberg in the young adult collection.
• Rise Gonna Rise: A Portrait of Southern Textile Workers by Mimi Conway in the general collection.

4 July 1911: "College on Wheels"

On this day in 1911, the Athens Banner ran the following editorial about the recent railroad tour of the state made by the State College of Agriculture, which at the time was still a separate institution from the University of Georgia:

 

 (click to enlarge image)

In 1911, the train from the State College of Agriculture visited 154 towns in 120 counties in 47 days. The train carried a passenger car for the educators and staff, livestock cars, and cars with modern farming machinery, with a center flat car that served as a stage. At each stop, the flat car was used for speeches promoting proven practices in farming methods, demonstrate the farming machinery, and exhibit the livestock. The train would stop overnight, with those on board eating at local restaurants and staying in local hotels near the railroad station, a boost to Georgia businesses outside agriculture.

These tours of extension education to improve agricultural outputs in Georgia began in 1908 and lasted until 1917. Extension work was highly promoted by College President Andrew M. Soule, and were immediately popular. Their first tour in 1908 brought out only about 150,000 people, but had ballooned quickly to "nearly four hundred thousand people" within just a few years. Dr. Soule believed that the State College of Agriculture was truly "the college with the state for its campus." 

Other outreach work included welcoming Georgia farmers to the campus farm and other cooperating farms for "field days" where they could demonstrate results of pasture development, winter grazing and foraging crops for livestock, and the effects of different practices on crop and livestock production. One of the earliest successful outreach campaigns was conducted with the Veterinary School to introduce the widespread vaccination of hogs to protect that industry from a devastating strain of cholera.

Formal offices for Agricultural Extension Services were not created until 1914. In later years, working at first with the Georgia Federation of Women's Clubs, the College's extension work expanded to other areas, with demonstrations of fireless stoves and iceless refrigerator, and the effectiveness of screening the home to prevent disease from insects. Later, new female Home Economics graduates from the College of Agriculture would hold community meetings to discuss health and nutrition, parenting techniques and child training, canning and pickling for food preservation, art, and physical education. 

The Agriculture College also helped set up "corn clubs" for boys around Georgia, a forerunner to the current 4-H Clubs. Within just a few years, the average per acre yield of corn by the boys' Georgia corn clubs was three times higher than the average per acre yield for the rest of the state.

The result of this groundwork in Georgia agriculture over the past century is Georgia's strong industry today: one-third of the state's land is used for farming, and sales of agricultural products earn nearly $7 billion. Despite ranking #28 in the United States for number of acres devoted to farmland, Georgia is the #1 producer of broilers (chickens), peanuts, and pecans; #2 in cotton, cotton seed, cucumbers, spring onions, rye, and snap beans; #3 in cantaloupes, bell peppers, sweet corn, and watermelon; and #4 in blueberries, peaches, and squash.

Learn More:

• Athens Banner, Jul. 1911 - Nov. 1911 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• History of the College of Agriculture of the University of Georgia by Calvin Clyde Murray in the Heritage collection.
• The University of Georgia College of Agriculture: An Administrative History, 1785-1985 by Stephen J. Karina in the Heritage collection.
• The University of Georgia: A Bicentennial History, 1785-1985 by Thomas G. Dyer in the Heritage and general collections.
• The University of Georgia Under Sixteen Administration, 1785-1955 by Robert Preston Brooks in the Heritage collection.
• UGA College of Agriculture and Environmental Science website.
• UGA Cooperative Extension Services website.
• Georgia Statistics web pages on the National Agricultural Statistics Service website.
• The United States Department of Agriculture website.
• The United States Census Bureau website.
• The Georgia Department of Agriculture website.
• Linoleum, Better Babies, and the Modern Farm Woman, 1890-1930 by Marilyn Irvin Holt in the general collection.
• The American Family Farm: A Photo Essay by George Ancona and Joan Anderson in the Heritage collection.
• The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture by Wendell Berry in the general collection.
• The Essential Agrarian Reader: The Future of Culture, Community, and the Land, edited by Norman Wirzba in the general collection.
• Atlas of American American Agriculture: The American Cornucopia by Richard Pillsbury and John Florin in the Reference collection.
• The Profitable Hobby Farm: How to Build a Sustainable Local Food Business by Sarah Beth Aubrey in the New Books collection.
• Chicken Tractor: The Permaculture Guide to Happy Hens and Healthy Soil by Andrew Lee and Patricia Foreman in the general collection.
• Storey's Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance, edited by Deborah Burns in the general collection.

3 June 1917: An "Astonishing" 37.4 Miles per Gallon!

On this day in 1917, Talmage Hardware Company ran the following ad in the Athens Banner:

Talmage Hardware was located at 131 East Clayton Street downtown, where Lamar Lewis Shoe Store is today.

In 1917, the cost of a gallon of gasoline in the United States 20 cents per gallon, approximately $3.22 in today's dollars. The Fuel Administration established during World War I was primarily focused on the nation's coal supplies, and urged citizens to conserve electricity and order their coal early in the winter. Gasoline rationing came in the autumn of 1918, through a voluntary action of "gasolineless Sundays." The war ended before stricter constraints were deemed necessary.

According to a story run on the same page as the ad, demand for automobiles was high in Clarke County thanks to "premium prices" for food crops brought on by the war. All the dealers interviewed had sold out of their stock and had waiting lists for a variety of models. According to Mr. Griffeth, the local Ford agent, "Farmers are buying these handy little machines to haul their produce into town and carry their supplies out." 

The article noted that "with the products of the farm soaring there is no reason why the farmer for once in his life should not ride and ride comfortably," and asserted that such purchases were patriotic support of American industry during a time of war. 

The automobile was also touted as a modern way to improve well-being, with the author quoting famous New York Evening Journal editor Arthur Brisbane, who likened riding in a car to indoor plumbing: "you pay for running water as a matter of course. Just as important...to health is the running air that fills your lungs and clears your blood as your car rushes through it. To call a car a 'luxury' ...is trivial nonsense. As well call running water and a bathtub in your house luxury."

Learn More:

• Athens Banner, Apr. 1917 - Oct. 30, 1917 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• 1909 Athens City Directory in the Heritage collection.
• 1912-1913 Athens City Directory in the Heritage collection.
• The American Automobile: A Brief History by John Bell Rae in the general collection.
• Those Wonderful Old Automobiles by Floyd Clymer in the general collection.
• The Automobile Age by James J. Flink in the general collection.
• America on Wheels: The First 100 Years, 1896-1996 by Frank Coffey in the general collection.
• Wheels for the World: Henry Ford, His Company, and a Century of Progress, 1903-2003 by Douglas Brinkley in the general collection.
• Over Here: The First World War and American Society by David M. Kennedy in the general collection.
• The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century by Jay Winter and Blaine Baggett in the general collection.
• Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil by David Goodstein in the general collection.
• Fuel in the DVD collection.
• Measuring Worth website.
• U.S. Economy in World War I web page from the Economic History Association website.
• Automotive Industries, Volume 39, in Google Books.
• Stromberg Carburetors website.
• Model T Facts web page.

21 April 1869: Power and Potential of Water in Athens

On this day in 1869, the Southern Watchman published this inventory of horse power availalbe in the Athens area:

Water Power in and Around Athens, Ga.

   We are indebted to JAMES D. PITTARD, ESQ., for the following useful information, which we are assured is perfectly reliable: 

     Athens Factory Shoals, Athens, on Oconee River; 200 horse power; 100 in use.

     Georgia Factory Shoals, 4 miles from Athens, on Oconee River; 300 horse power; 125 in use.

     W. A. Carr's Shoals, Athens, on Oconee River; 125 horse power; none in use.

     S. J. Mays' Shoals, 3 miles from Athens, on Oconee River; 150 horse power; none in use.

     Cook's Armory Shoals, Athens, on Trail C'k; 75 horse power; 10 in use.

     Smith's Shoals, 6 miles from Athens, on Oconee River; 100 horse power; none in use.

     Wm. A. Carr's Creek Shoals, Athens; 10 horse power; none in use.

     Elijah Carr's Creek Shoals, one mile from Athens; 25 horse power; none in use.

     Barnett's Shoals, 4 miles from Athens, on Nocatchie Creek; 10 horse power.

     John Saye's Shoals, on Little Sandy Creek; 14 horse power.

     W. P. Talmadge's two Shoals, on Sandy C'k, 4 miles from Athens; 12 and 25 horse power.

     Wm. Patman's Shoals, on Middle Oconee River, 8 miles from Athens; 150 horse power; none in use.

     Fowler's Shoals, on Middle Oconee River, 7 miles from Athens; 200 horse power; none in use.

     Mitchell's Shoals, 4 miles from Athens, on Middle Oconee River; 150 horse power; none in use.

     Epps' Shoals, 2 1/2 miles from Athens, on Middle Oconee River; 90 horse power; none in use.

     Princeton Factory Shoals, 3 miles from Athens, on Middle Oconee River; 400 horse power; 40 in use.

     Simonton's Bridge Shoals, 4 miles from Athens, on Middle Oconee River; 100 horse power; none in use.

     Mar's Hill Factory Shoals, 7 miles from Athens, on Barber's Creek; 50 horse power; none in use.

     Epps' Shoals, on Barber's Creek, 4 1/2 miles from Athens; 50 horse power; none in use.

    Paper Mill Shoals, 4 miles from Athens, on Barber's Creek; 75 horse power; 50 in use.

     Colt's Mill Shoals, 7 miles from Athens, on Big Sandy Creek; 50 horse power, 25 in use.

     Jennings' Mill Shoals, 6 miles from Athens, on McNut's Creek; 30 horse power, 20 in use.

     Epps' Shoals, on McNut's Creek, 3 1/2 miles from Athens; 25 horse power; none in use.

     Barnett's Shoals, on Oconee River, 8 miles from Athens--two Shoals, 500 horse power each; 60 feet fall; none in use.

   It will thus be seen that there is a vast amount of water-power running to waste in the vicinity of this town.

Southern Watchman, 21 April 1869, p. 3, col. 1

James D. Pittard served as Intendant of Athens for two one-year terms, in 1867 and 1868, and was Mayor in 1873. (Athens did not have a mayor until 1872, when the state legislature granted Athens a city charter.)  He died in 1884 after a long illness, and is buried in Oconee Hill Cemetery.

Though still somewhat impoverished by the war, the Athens industry was growing and expanding rapidly throughout the 1860s. By the end of the century, water would power not just the local mills and factories, but would electrify Athens homes, businesses, government, schools, and transportation options.

Learn More:

• Southern Watchman, Jan. 1868 - Feb. 1871 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Transition to an Industrial South: Athens, Georgia, 1830-1870 by Michael J. Gagnon in the Heritage and general collections.
• Oconee Hill Cemetery of Athens, Georgia, Volume I by Charlotte Thomas Marshall in the Heritage and general collections. 
• History of Athens and Clarke County, Georgia by H. J. Rowe in the Heritage and general collections.
• Annals of Athens, 1801-1901 in the Heritage collection. 
• Chicopee Mill History by Olivia Bloomfield Carlisle in the Heritage collection.
• Paper Town/Cord Mill: A 150 Year Old Community by Larry Parr in the Heritage collection.
• Scull Shoals: The Mill Village That Vanished in Old Georgia by Robert Skarda in the Heritage collection.
• The Power of Water: Four Early Mill Sites on Georgia's Oconee River by Karen G. Wood in the Heritage and general collections.
• Hydropower for the Future: New Ways of Turning Water into Energy by Allison Stark Draper in the children's collection.
• Producing Your Own Power: How to Make Nature's Energy Sources Work for You by Carol Hupping in the general collection.