Scull Shoals (Greene County, Georgia)

 

After putting so many miles on my aging knees yesterday and so many hours away from my aging mother, whom stays with my wife and I, I decided it might be nice to take it easy today and go on an adventure that she might be able to enjoy with me. In addition to mountain tops, caves, rock art, and other natural wonders, I also enjoy visiting ghost towns. One such area that has been on my to-do list for a while is Scull Shoals.

Though the Indigenous Peoples of the area had left plenty of evidence of earlier habitation, the area known as Scull Shoals was "first settled" around 1784 by the invading European immigrants. They built Fort Clark in 1793 and Georgia's first paper mill in 1810. By all accounts, the small town mostly thrived until flood waters from the Oconee River covered most of the town in the late 1880's. Over the next decade, the town was abandoned and left to the ravages of weather and time. The land was purchased by the federal government in 1935 and now exists in a state of arrested decay.

As we walk around the now overgrown town, we find the obvious remnants of some of the buildings, the most notable of which is Fort's company store, of which three walls remain standing. Beyond, there is a small arched bridge, now covered in grass, which in days past allowed passage to the town's power plant. Only a few foundation stones remain of that structure and today, they are surrounded by a mucky, muddy pond. 

We walk out to the river, which even today is flowing at a good pace. I can only imagine how horrific it would have been to have lived here when the waters surged over the river banks and flooded the town. While it seems remote now, there was nothing in the area to be remote from at the time and so, this was civilization. I wonder where the townsfolk had to flea too to escape the rising river.

After a short time exploring a few other unremarkable ruins, mostly piles of rubble, we had back to the jeep for the return trip home. It was very interesting to see this early settlement. I hope the ruins remain for generations to come and enjoy.