Georgia

No Picture
Seeing America

The ‘Niagara of the South’

February 20, 2010 Todd DeFeo
TALLULAH FALLS, Ga. — Starting in the 1880s, Tallulah Gorge and the surrounding waterfalls gained notoriety as a tourist attraction. Hotels and related businesses soon sprang up in the area around the gorge, and the Tallulah Falls Railway shuttled tourists to see the two-mile-long, 1,000-foot tall gorge and the “Niagara of the South,” as the falls were known. In the 1880s, a tightrope walker named Professor Leon crossed the gorge — a publicity stunt for a nearby
No Picture
News

TSA expands use of ‘Explosive Trace Detection’ technology

February 19, 2010 Todd DeFeo
ATLANTA — The Transportation Security Administration is increasing the use of Explosive Trace Detection (ETD) technology at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and a number of other airports nationwide. “Explosive Trace Detection technology is a critical tool in our ability to stay ahead of evolving threats to aviation security,” TSA Acting Administrator Gale Rossides said in a statement. “Expanding the use of this technology at checkpoints and at departure gates greatly enhances security to keep the traveling
No Picture
News

MARTA renames ‘Yellow’ line to avoid ‘racially insensitive’ perceptions

February 17, 2010 Caboose Chronicle
DECATUR — MARTA announced that it is changing the name of one of its lines to avoid any perceived “racially insensitive” overtones by the Asian community it serves. In October, MARTA introduced color-coded rail lines — similar to systems in other major cities — saying it will help cut down on rider confusion. With the change, the former Northeast-South Line, which serves Doraville and Chamblee on the Northside, became the Yellow Line. “In light of
No Picture
Seeing America

Remembering Gen. James B. McPherson

February 16, 2010 Todd DeFeo
ATLANTA — Interstate 20 roars in the background, but McPherson Avenue is otherwise a quiet road. It’s hard to imagine what this land was like 145 years ago — completely undeveloped and ravaged by war. Commercial and residential development has replaced trenches and battlefields over time, but at the intersection of McPherson and Monument avenues stands a reminder of the war that once raged here. On July 22, 1864, during the battle of Atlanta, Union Gen. James
No Picture
Roadside Oddities

What’s with the rocket on the side of the road?

February 16, 2010 Todd DeFeo
CORDELE, Ga. — A Cold War-era rocket on the side of the interstate isn’t an everyday occurrence. But, that’s what makes it worth the visit. “That was the very point. It’s a unique and unusual landmark for Cordele and Crisp County,” The Cordele Dispatch in 2008 quoted John Pate as saying. As president of the Cordele Rotary Club, Pate pushed to acquire the Titan I missile that stands along Interstate 75. The missile was acquired from
No Picture
News

Snowstorm strikes Atlanta, Southeast

February 13, 2010 Caboose Chronicle
ATLANTA – A rare snowstorm walloped the Southeast Friday, dumping upwards of five inches of snow. A number of businesses closed early and various events – especially at public schools – were canceled because of the weather. The city of Atlanta said its public works department spread “a mixture of sand and salt over all bridges and overpasses and segments of streets with steep grades” before it started snowing. “Subsequent spreading of sand and salt
No Picture
Seeing America

The day Union troops destroyed the mill

February 12, 2010 Todd DeFeo
ROSWELL, Ga. — Gen. William T. Sherman is not a revered man in Georgia, to say the least. And the fate of the Roswell Mill during 1864 doesn’t do much to build his case for popularity among southerners. In the decades leading up to the Civil War, Roswell King built a cotton mill along the banks of the Vickery Creek on land he bought from the Cherokee Indians. The Roswell Manufacturing Co. was in operation by