Newspaper Page Text
V
V
I'
> -mi ( w
i
■ 1 K, *
■ 3 —
...
9 i«> rebate
\
—\ :
’W
-4-..
a. *
< J T
► ► /
VOL. XVI.
HARRIS COUNTY.
Something of its Geography, History,
Soil, Climate, Products, Etc.
Stretching from the Savannah riv¬
er to the Chattahoochee, entirely
across the state of Georgia, is a belt
of red land. This belt varies in
width, but is clearly marked from one
side of the state to the other. When
the state was settled this belt, upland
and lowland,was covered with a dense
forest composed mainly of oak and
hickory. It runs centrally through
Hairis county, and in such high es¬
teem was this land held by the early
settlers that not a foot of it was left
unoccupied as soon as it was open to
settlement. Thus as soon as western
Georgia was open to settlement by the
removal of the Indians to the east
bank of the Chattahoochee, the coun¬
try was settled as if by magic. Hun¬
dreds of well-to-do farmers in the old¬
er counties of Putnam, Hancock,Mon¬
roe, Henry and the adjoining counties
came into the new territory and gave
it at once a population noted for
thrift, intelligence and enterprise.
These first families of Harris can be
pointed to with as much pride as the
first families of any country of the
globe. The country was rich and it
was settled by the thrift and enter¬
prise of the country contiguous.
LOCATION.
Harris county lies south of Troup,
corners with Meriwether on the north
east, has Talbot on the east, Muscogee
on the south and Alabama on the
west, from which it is divided by the
Chattahoochee river, It is a little
over twenty miles square, being some¬
what broader than it is long, and was
laid off in 1828, from territory taken
from Troup and Muscogee counties.
The Indians left the country about a
year before it was laid out.
OUR MOUNTAINS. < £/ v .
On the north-east corner o£ tfce
county the Pine mountains enter its
border and in a south-westerly direc¬
tion continue across it to the river,
the chain being cut more and more
frequently with gaps, until near the
river it loq^s more like a succession
of high hjlls.. South of the Pine
mountains are tKe Oak mountains,
4
JOSEPH L.DENNIS,
PROPRIETOR.
running almost parallel to them, from
one to five miles distant, the chain
breaking off at Hamilton, which is
near the centre of the county. The
average height of the summit of these
mountains is about 1500 feet above
the sea level, the more lofty peaks
rising two or three hundred feet above
their neighbors. Their sides are cov¬
ered with forests of oak, pine and
hickory, with an occasional grove of
chestnut or growth of other hard
wood.
SOIL AND climate.
The soil of the county has an un
derlying red clay, which is frequently
quite near enough to the surface to
give its color to the soil. In localities
however this clay is covered with a
light gravelly soil, which gets to be
sandy in places. Indeed it would be
hard to tell which soil predominates,
the red clay or the light gravelly, and
it would be equally hard to deter
mine which has the strongest friends,
For certain crops one is the superior
of the '
other, root crops gen
erally succeeding better on the gray
lands, while grain crops are supposed
to mature better on the red lands.
Cotton does well on both, maturing
HAMILTON, GA., NOVEMBER 16,1888.
-« o o
Breathes there the man with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own my native land.
Whose heart within him ne’er hath burned,
As home his footsteps he hath turned,
From wandering on a foreign strand.
If such there be, go mark him well;
For him no minstrel’s lays shall swell,
High though his title, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim
Despite those titles, power and pelf,
The wretch concentered all in self,
Living shall forfeit fair renown,
And doubly dying shall go down
To that vile dust from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonored and.unsung. A
V
—«•( ! O • » - —
better on the gray, but being less sub
ject to rust on the red. On many
farms both soils are to be found.
census of 1880.
According to the census of 1880,
Harris county has a population of 15,-
780. By districts the population is
as follows:
No. 672, Hamilton 1,703
“ 679, Whitaker's.... 2,204
“ 695, Ellerslie 1,352
u 696, Cataula 948
“ 703, Goodman’s.... 734
707, Lower 19th... 1,209
« 717, Blue Spring... 1,624
“ 781, Davidson’s... .1,004
u ^82, Milner 8 ...... 772
u 920 > ’ Whites^n©* 8 * *^769
« 934 VTaverly Hall 1,038
“ 1186, Upper 19 th.. . 887
“ 1247, Smith’s......1,200
manufactures.
According to the census of 1880,
there were in the county 29 manufac
taring establishments, with $152,210
of capital, employing 66 males, above
16 years, 25 females above 15 years,
and 25 children and youths. The
wages paid during the year amounted
to $20,625, the raw material rsed to
$139,613, and the products to $193,-
480. But thirty-six counties in the
ONE DOLLAR A YEAR,
STRICTLY IN ADVANCE.
state have a greater annual product
of manufactured goods and only 23
have more capital invested.
PRODUCTS OF THK COUNTY*
By the census of 1880, we find the
annual products to be: Barley, 1,551
bushels; corn, 238,452 bushels; oats,
48,220 bushels; rye, 230 bushels, wheat,
32,563 bushels; value of orchard pro¬
ducts $6,926; molasses, 10,998 gallons;
rice, 1,505 pounds; cotton, 12,677
bales; Irish potatoes, 1,617 bushels;
sweet potatoes, 51,603 bushels; tobac¬
co, 1,108 pounds.
There are but ten counties in Geor¬
gia credited with producing more cot¬
ton annually than Harris.
COMPARATIVE STATEMENT.
The below shows the comparative
product of a group of five neighbor¬
ing counties:
Corn
ill? nr*" *38.4^
Talbot *34.545
Marion I *4*.*45 16/800 * 3 ,« 3 * 6,169
Chattahoochee Muscogee . £9,059 75.441 VV 22,649 *5.019 2,485 4,460 3,*68
*,577
EDUCATION.
0
Never before in the history of the
county has the interest in education
been manifested that is now. There
has been a public school in every
neighborhood during the past sum¬
mer, and these have been unusually
well taught and well attended. In
several districts the public school
fund has been supplemented by pri¬
vate subscriptions to secure better
teachers and to secure a longer term
than three months—the public schocl
term. In some districts schooht are
maintained for ten months in the
year. Principal among these is
THE WEST GEORGIA A. & M. COLLEGE.
This institution is located in Hamii
ton ’ It was established as a branch
college of the State University by an
Act of the General Assembly approved
Sept. 28th, 1881, and at the Oct A *1 if! r
term of Harris Superior courdK
incorporate!^* ^
same year it was ith
all the rights, privileges and imraum
ties known to a college of this charac
ter, and a local board of trustees or
ganized, who manage and eontroPthe
same, subject to the approval of the
trustees of the University of Georgia,
At the July session of the trustees of
the University in 1882, the college
was duly tendered ami accepted by
NO. 45.