After learning about making pottery at the Sautee Nacoochee Cultural Center, we started walking around outside with another docent and got another perspective on life during the 1860s. My highlight from an historical museum led me to research the history of asbestos since it used to be mined in this area.
This area of Georgia had few black people in bondage before the Civil War because they weren’t needed for plantation farming. Most of them were skilled in landscaping and building. After the war, many stone workers moved to Atlanta to use their skills in the rebuilding of the city.
Here are some statistics: In 1860, nearly 1 million African Americans were enslaved in the U.S. In Georgia, over 460,000 blacks and mulattoes were held in bondage. When the war started, White County (where we are) had a population of 3315; of this number, 11 were free black residents and 263 were slaves claimed as property by 47 prominent white citizens. In this valley alone, 124 slaves lived here, half of them owned by E.P. Williams and his brother Charles.
This valley wasn’t part of the South’s “Cotton Kingdom” characterized by vast plantations worked by thousands of slaves. In 1822, slaves who settled here came with early white settlers arriving from the Carolinas. Slaves in northeast Georgia cleared and cultivated the land, labored in mines and mills, served as domestics and skilled craftsmen, and toiled in foundries and fields.
This cabin was built on a stacked stone foundation and framed with hand-hewn timbers. The lumber has telltale marks of a sash saw. The quality shown in the building of the cabin shows the construction skills of the African Americans who were brought here.
Did you notice the plank floors? Slave quarters in the southern part of the state usually had dirt floors.
It’s called a cooling vat. Slaves quarried and hand-chiseled this 2-ton stone trough for the inside of their homes. During that era, cool water preserved perishable foods, such as butter cream, and milk, in clay pots on the shelves of this 19th century refrigerator that was inside of their homes. Cool water from nearby springs filled the trough to keep the food ready to eat.
Bricks made for the White County Courthouse in Cleveland, Ga., were handmade with local clay by black people enslaved by the contractor. By 1859, slave labor finished the courthouse.
The museum part of the building with the folk pottery displays has so much information in it that we’ve seen in so many other museums on our travels. But one display caught my eye: asbestos mining.
Today asbestos is a bad word, but back in the day it was mined in northeast Georgia. Let’s learn about the history of asbestos.
top right and center: some of the buildings at the mine
bottom: a sample of raw asbestos ore
summarized from Wikipedia:
Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. The six types of these minerals are made up of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fiber composed of many microscopic “fibrils” that can be released into the atmosphere by various abrasions: scuffing, scratching, wearing down, marring, or rubbing away, and other processes. Inhaling asbestos fibers can lead to various dangerous lung conditions, including mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer. Today it is a serious health and safety hazard.
Archaeological studies have found evidence of asbestos being used as far back as the Stone Age (2000-4000 years before Christ) to strengthen ceramic pots, but large-scale mining began at the end of the 19th century when manufacturers and builders began using asbestos for its desirable physical properties. Since it is an excellent electrical insulator and is highly fire-resistant, for much of the 20th century it was commonly used across the world as a building material In the 1970s, its adverse effects on human health became widely acknowledged. Many modern buildings constructed before the 1980s are thought to contain asbestos and are being cleaned up.
Now we know the history of asbestos!
After our tours and lunch, we stopped at the nearby Old Sautee Store that sold many items that are made locally. Our box lunches came from a cafe next to this store.
Hope you enjoyed this view of northeast Georgia. If you live close by, please come visit!
