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PAGE 2A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 18. 2021
Fred Anderson talks Smoky Hollow, football,
and growing up Black in Pickens County
Anderson, who served in the Army, proudly displays mil
itary flags in front of his Nelson home.
Tell me about Smoky Hol
low, where you grew up.
Mr. Sam Tate, who owned
Georgia Marble Company, he
had all those houses down
there built. The contract was,
he built the houses and all the
Black families would stay
there. As long as they worked
for the Georgia Marble Com
pany they could stay in the
house for no charge. They
had to pay taxes and light
bills, but nothing for the
house. That’s what all the
Black men did, work for the
Georgia Marble. There were
some White fellas down in
the Holler, too, who were
with Georgia Marble. There
were five White families up
there near the old church
[Miracle Fellowship Baptist
Church]. We called that area
Mudhead.
How many families lived in
Smoky Hollow when you
were growing up? There is
only one house down there
now. All the others have ei
ther been torn down or
burned. The area is com
pletely overgrown.
I came up with about 52 -
55 houses. Near where Head
start school is now, which
was Tri-City School, there
were some Black families
that lived there and down in
that gully, too. Most Black
men here worked at Georgia
Marble. Most of them were
from around here, bom and
raised here, but there were
some that moved in. Most of
the people there were kin to
each other.
What did your parents do for
work?
My dad worked at the
Georgia Marble Company.
My mother worked at the old
chicken plant in Canton, then
her health got bad and she
started housesitting for Mrs.
Mary Jane Griffith until
momma passed away.
What were working condi
tions like at Georgia Mar
ble?
That was some hard work.
They didn’t get paid that
much, but they had free
houses. Sam Tate had a place
where Black families could
go get groceries from, and
clothing. He had a couple
stores. Up at the big pink
house, that’s where he lived
at and a couple stores.
I’ve heard stories about
“The Shack, ” which has
gone down in local history
as a popular party house in
Smoky Hollow. What was
the environment like in the
Hollow during the heyday?
[Laughing] I owned The
Shack. But my uncle had the
very first Shack. Some of the
old houses in Tate, they tore
them down and used material
to build his. Then my dad
owned the second Shack. It
was an old house somebody
moved out of and they con
verted it. Then dad’s Shack
burned down. The first one
burned down too. And mine
burned too. [Laughing]
But, people from Atlanta,
Canton, North Carolina, from
all around would come to
The Shack. The people from
Atlanta would come and be
amazed at the atmosphere.
There wouldn’t be that Black
and White fussing. We’d
have a live band Saturday
nights. Live DJs. It was
amazing. It was a party
house, every weekend. We’d
have 50 people on a good
night. Women would cook in
the house, you could go
down and get a chicken sand
wich or chicken plate, and go
back and keep partying. And
of course they were selling
beer and liquor.
Yes, I’ve heard about boot
legging there.
I was a bootlegger. My
dad was a bootlegger. After
he passed away I took over.
You couldn’t buy beer and
liquor so we had to sneak
around, get moonshine. I did
n’t make it I bought it. We’d
have to go to Marietta and
Roswell and buy beer and
liquor and we’d sell it.
Did you ever get in trouble?
Nope. Matter of fact, my
dad and this other lady, there
were two other bootleggers
in the Holler, the police
wouldn’t mess with them.
You know why? Because
they were paying the police
men not to mess with any
body. I’d get about $12 a six
There isn’t much left where the Smoky Hollow commu
nity once thrived on Smokey Hollow Road. Anderson’s
mailbox post is one of the last things standing, other than
a home and mobile home that can be seen in the back
ground, as well as a dilapidated church. [Note: While the
road is Spelled “Smokey Hollow Road” with an “e, ” the
community is spelled “Smoky” with no “e. ”. Residents said
the area got that name because smoke from wood and coal
fires in the homes would settle in the hollow.]
pack. [Laughing] You had to
make your money.
When did your uncle open
the first Shack?
Sometime in the 60s, be
cause I was going to Tri-City
School at the time.
Tri-City was all grades
right?
First through the 12th.
Where it used to be, where
Headstart is now, that’s not
the original school. The orig
inal school was made of
wood. It was up the road in
the same area.
So you experienced integra
tion. Can you talk about
that?
Yes. I went to Tate Ele
mentary School when they
closed Tri-City down. I was
in 6th grade. I went to 6th
and 7th at Tate, and 8th grade
at the high school. But we
didn’t really have problems
with Black and White folks.
Every now and again there’d
be a scuffle, somebody call
you a ni**er or you’d call
them a cracker. But all that
burning things down and
fighting? We didn’t really go
through that. We never had
the big incidents.
What was that like going to
school with White people for
the first time?
It was scary. The Mud-
head White families, we
grew up together. We played
together. But when we first
went to Jasper it was kinda
scary. People would want to
look at you, call you nappy
headed or whatever. I guess
everyone got over it cause we
stayed. But a lot of Blacks
just quit going to school and
started working somewhere.
As a football player, your
team would travel to other
counties for games. I’ve
heard Pickens was unusual
because you had several
Black people on the team
where other counties had
none, and you’d be ha
rassed.
We had more Blacks than
any other team we played.
We’d go to Ellijay, they’d be
nasty. We’d go to Forsyth,
they’d be nasty calling you
all kinds of stuff on the field.
I mean, here is wasn’t hunky
dory every day, but it didn’t
lead up to any real violence.
Your coach was Don Enis.
I’ve heard he didn’t tolerate
racism.
Yeah he didn’t play that.
He was a good guy. If it was
n’t for Don Enis, I don’t think
too many Blacks would have
played football. Don Enis
gave everybody a chance,
Black or White, but he kept
everybody in line. If it wasn’t
for him no Blacks would
have played who were com
ing up with me because we
thought it was a joke. At Tri-
City we didn’t have any kind
of sports. Not even a football
to throw around. Nothing.
They had maybe a little girls’
basketball team but nowhere
to practice. It didn’t amount
to anything. Me and the
Black guys would joke, “We
ain’t gonna play football or
basketball.” We just did it for
the hell of it to have fun. But
I guess talent just came natu
ral to some people and they
ended up playing.
You apparently had that nat
ural talent. I’ve heard you
were the best running back
in the north Georgia area.
I played on varsity from
8th grade to 12 grade. I was
that good. I don’t have a big
head or anything, but I really
was. I ran track. I played
baseball. I didn’t like basket
ball. Football was my fa
vorite.
What are some of your
biggest football accomplish
ments.
Most yards scored in a
single season. Most touch
downs in a single season and
single game. Most yardage
for a career. I can’t remember
all of them.
You got a full scholarship to
college. Were you the first in
I R» !> ANDF.RSON
PI»W of lhr Work
Fred Anderson has again
been chosen by ihc Pickens
High Dragons as the Player of
the Week for the Katun Co.
game. Fred also received the
highest award a player can
receive in Georgia by being
named "Back of the Week’’
in Georgia for all classificat
ions.
l.aot Friday Fred rusheit for
i37 yards and scored 6 touch
downs and made 3 tackles on
defense. The rushing and scor-
.ng totals were both records
for Pickens High Soiao^Frod
how haj &m-rdWtSw at std&J"
rushing; 0.330 yards total of
fense. and has scored 283 po
ints.
Fred is the son of Mr. and
Mrs. Fred Anderson of Tate.
A clipping from this pub
lication in 1972 when An
derson was player of the
week, which happened nu
merous times during his
football career.
your family to go to college?
Yes, I was. My parents
were proud. The whole
neighborhood in Smoky Hol
low congratulated me. Every
body.
What was college like, mov
ing away from home?
[Laughing] Oh, it was fun.
I used to say to myself,
[Laughing] “That old country
boy going to college, now
you steppin’ high cotton, aint
ya?” I was going to be an ath
letic administrator. I got my
degree it, but during my sen
ior year in college I went and
taught at a high school for
teacher training at a junior
The remains of Miracle Fellowship Holiness Church in
Smoky Hollow. This is one of the only structures left stand
ing in the secluded valley in Tate.
high school in Mississippi,
and you talk about some
rough ass kids. They were
mean as hell. [Laughing]
That’s why I didn’t become a
teacher.
Then you joined the Army?
Why did you want to enlist?
I came home a while and
did some odd jobs and got
tired of it. Here I was, four
year-degree still running
around Smoky Hollow not
doing anything with my life.
Just partying all the time. I
was just wasting time. So I
joined. I was field artillery,
but was also a drill sergeant
at Fort Jackson. I loved being
drill sergeant [Laughing]. I
did two tours in Germany. I
went to Desert Storm. I was
a section chief over a gun
called a Howitzer with 11
privates under me.
How did things change so
much over time at Smoky
Hollow?
Everybody died, all the
older generation. Then a lot
of guys my age they’d get
married and left too - they’d
go to Marietta, Mableton,
Smyrna. Everybody moved
away but me. I’m the only
one that came back. The
houses were tom down, or
fell and rotted. And you
couldn’t build anything down
there. [Georgia Marble]
wouldn’t let you. That’s why
nobody’s there today. The
houses weren’t fit to live in
anymore. When I got back
from the Army a lot of the
houses were gone. Someone
built some housing projects
by Mt. Calvary [church] and
that’s where all the Blacks
that remained in the Hollow
moved. I was the last of the
bunch there.
Looking back at your life,
growing up black in a pre
dominately White county,
how do you feel about Pick
ens County?
I wouldn’t want to live
anywhere else. No way. I’m
just old country. I stayed
away a while, but I came
back home.
Now that you’re retired,
what will you do?
Fish. I love it. I could fish
everyday.
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