Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 24G
i FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, March 28, 1999
SPORTS, LEISURE & ENTERTAINMENT
County continues effort to preserve historic Poole’s Mill Bridge
By Thareae Allen
Staff Writer
The Forsyth County Parks and
Recreation department spent
$200,000 to renovate the area
now known as Poole’s Mill
Park.
The 100-year-old covered
bridge is refurbished and the
surrounding area has been
groomed and landscaped. A
pavilion with bathrooms and
picnic tables has been added as
well as a few park benches.
The park has been dedicated to
former County Commissioner
Charles Welch and a plaque
stands near an arbor to com
memorate the dedication. In the
past the bridge and creek has
been a summertime, weekend
Mecca for Forsyth County resi
dents. The natural beauty of the
area is breathtaking, a wide and
deep creek flows under the
bridge then around a bend, the
water flows quickly down large
moss covered rocks forming
deeper “swimming holes” at the
end of the rapids. On a summer
day adults lounge in the sun and
children splash, hot-dogs are
cooking on grills and some
where a dog is catching a
Frisbee.
With the county working dili
gently to preserve the bridge
and increase public access to
the area, more and more resi-
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Photo/Tom Brooks
Poole’s Mill Park is open to the
community for picnics, swim
ming and more. It is also the
location of the Charles Welch
Memorial.
dents can enjoy the park. A
large paved parking area
replaces the old method of just
parking on the side of the road,
(where often before, someone
got stuck in the mud.) The park
is now handicap accessible with
specialized parking and paved
sidewalks. The old road to the
bridge has been permanently
Photo/submitted
closed. “The only way to get to
the bridge is by foot,” said Jerry
Kinsey with the Forsyth County
Parks and Recreation.
Unfortunately last year, arson
ists set fire to the bridge leaving
a sizable hole in the floor.
Kinsey said that the State will
be repairing the damage in the
near future. Playground equip-
Memorial honors Charles Welch
A bronze plaque I
which bears the like
ness of Charles F.
Welch was unveiled
by his family and
County Administrator
Stevie Mills during
the rededication cere
monies of Poole’s Mill
Bridge Park on
Thursday, Oct. 22.
According to Mills,
Welch was first elected
to the Cumming City
Council in 1972 and served until his
resignation on June 11, 1986 to
seek election to the county commis
sion. He served two terms as a com
missioner and was secretary in
1991 and chairman in 1994. He was
the first commissioner to obtain cer
tification from the Association of
County Commissioners of Geoigia,
Mills said.
Welch was also a Vision 20/20
ment will be added by the year
2000. County officials remind
the public to swim at their own
risk, there are no lifeguards pre
sent at Poole’s Mill. Also, no
camping, fires or alcoholic bev
erages are allowed.
Other Georgia counties have
not been as lucky with their his
torical bridges.
Photo/Tom Brooks
Pictured Marie Welch and sons, Chuck
and Justin, view the memorial marker.
committee member, secretary of the
Board of Health, on the Lake
Lanier Watershed Advisory
Committee, a charter member of
the Forsyth Rotary Club and the
first president of the Lanier 400
Bulldog Club. Involved with the
Chamber of Commerce, Welch was
chairman-elect at the time df his
death. He was to have served as
chairman in 1998.