A
young man starting out in life on his majority, with health, talent,
and ability, under a favoring Providence, may be said to be the
architect of his own fortunes. His destinies are in his own hands. He
may make for himself a name, of honor or dishonor, according to his
own acts. If he plants himself upon truth, integrity, honor and
uprightness, with industry, patience and energy, he cannot fail of
success. So it is with us. We are a young republic, just entering
upon the arena of nations; we will be the architects of our own
fortunes.
Alexander
Hamilton Stephens
After
last weeks long drive to the mountains, we decided to keep it close
for this weeks adventure. This trip was a short 55 miles from our
home in Augusta and was an easy drive. We got on I-20 and headed
west towards Atlanta to explore yet another state park in Georgia,
one of 50 in the state. We had seen the signs to A. H Stephens
State Park for years off of I-20, sometimes known as “the Green
Tunnel” because of all the trees on either side of the highway, and
decided today would be a good day to check it out.
We
got off at the Crawfordville exit and traveled another couple miles
till we entered the town. The town was quaint but nothing was open
making it appear to be a ghost town. We were not sure if the town was
normally like that or just because of the shut down in Georgia due to
COVID 19. After we turned off the main street. we were facing a
beautiful southern estate with a well manicured green lawn with an
imposing statue of a man on a pedestal up in front. That was a
part of the state park and of course, the statue was of A. H.
Stephens himself. This park has 1,177 acres which includes many
historic sites and three pretty mill ponds. This park was placed on
the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
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Rental for events overlooking the lake. |
We
drove into the state park, paid our $5 admission fee, parked, and
looked for a picnic table to eat our lunch and let Teddy get out and
run around. We walked over to a small covered picnic table that
also had a grill undercover. This was a great place to sit and eat
our picnic lunch since it was overlooking the serene Lake Liberty.
It was a perfect day with clear skies, cool, and a slight breeze
coming from the lake. Teddy, waited patiently as we finished our
sandwiches. After our lunch, we took our little man, Teddy down to
the lake to get a drink and let him go for a nice swim. He loved
it. We stopped by the visitors center which was all closed up,
but were able to get a map of the state park. We walked around part
of the lake and then headed to our car to check out the rest of the
park.
We
loved how tranquil it was since there was hardly anyone there except
for the campers. It felt like we had the place to ourselves. First
we drove out to see the group camp, called Camp Stephens. This
place was amazing with many mini cottages to rent, a lake with a
beach, and many other unique buildings. There was a volleyball
court set up and ready to go, a good size dining hall, bath house,covered picnic area, and an amphitheater. It looked like a great venue for a scout camp
or any large groups. It was a very private area away from
everything else in the park and was very peaceful and serene. The
grounds were very well taken care of and looked gorgeous.
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Covered picnic pavilion |
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Stables |
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Equestrian Camping |
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Picnic Shelter |
The
two picnic shelters looked great, especially the one with picnic
tables and a fireplace on the back wall. It was located up against
the pine forest and the setting was lovely. It must be nice on a cool
day to have a fire and a group gathering there. From there, we
headed out to check out the stables and saw the brand new stalls they
built. They have 30 horse stables and this park boast of 21 miles of
horse trails. The equestrians even have their own campground.
What a great facility.
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Cabin by the lake |
Across
the lake from Camp Stephen are four lovely lakeside cottages that can
be rented overlooking Federal Lake. They are set back in the woods
and very secluded. They each have screened in porches facing the
lake and from all reviews are meticulously maintained.
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Lake Buncombe |
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Pedestrian nature trail |
We
drove down to see Lake Buncombe. The water was low so it just
wasn’t that pretty when we saw it. I’m sure it is gorgeous when
at full pool. The was a boat ramp there where you can put in your
own boat but no motors are allowed. It is a good place to go
fishing. There was a nature trail right off the parking lot that
looked nice. There are four miles of nature hiking trails to be
enjoyed.
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Rental bikes |
You
can rent bikes to ride here as well as Jon Boats, kayaks, canoes,
paddle boards, and Pedal Boats. What a great place to spend some
time and to explore.
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Campground |
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Observation Tower |
The
modern campground has twenty five tent, trailer, and RV campsites.
The campground was immaculate and the sites were well spread out.
There is a volleyball court, playground, and even a kid zip line for
the children to enjoy. The bath house was very clean and has nice
hot showers. There was also a dump station available as well as
laundry facilities. Each campsite has a table, fire ring, and a
grill. When you pull into the campground, the first thing you
notice is the old fire tower that was decommissioned and is now an
observation tower built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in
1935. In 2015, Stevens and Wilkinson came to the park to restore the
60 foot, three story high structure. They rebuilt the stairway,
renovated the ground floor, making it into an interpretive area,
fixed water damage, and added a new roof. It really adds to the
ambiance of the campground and is lit up at night.
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Visitors Center |
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Museum |
Both
the CCC and the WPA (Works Progress Administration) built some of the
building on the state park and planted the loblolly pine forest on
the property during the 1930’s. After we drove through the park,
we stopped to see A. H. Stephens home and the Confederate Museum.
Neither were open as of COVID 19 so we just walked the grounds. The
Confederate Museum is said to have one of the finest collections of
Civil War artifacts in Georgia with many uniforms on display as well
as documents.
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A. H. Stephens statue in front of the big house. |
Alexander
Hamilton Stephens was a small man weighing under a 100 pounds and
served as a congressman before the Civil War, then became the
Confederate Vice President under President Jefferson Davis, later an
elected senator, and then served as the 50th Governor of
Georgia in 1882. He didn’t agree with many of President Jefferson
Davis policies but served with him from 1861 to 1865. He had strong
feelings about the South and how the policies should be set there.
Some of his thoughts were misinformed, at best.
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A. H. Stephens residence - "The Big House." |
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I loved the huge oak trees that surrounded his home. |
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Others buildings on his residence. |
His
large two story home, known as Liberty Hall or Bachelor’s Hall, or
as he called it - “the big house” is a traditional 4x4 home with
four rooms on each level and was built in 1834. It is listed as a
National Historic Landmark. A. H. Stephens bought the property in
1845 and lived there until 1883. had 31 slaves. After the slaves
were freed, he kept some working whom he paid a salary. One couple,
that had been married and raised a family on the estate, stayed with
him till his death. He completely rebuilt the “big house” in
1875. He died on March 4, 1883 and left his estate to his surviving
relatives who used this home as a boarding house until 1932. At that
time, his family donated it to the State of Georgia. He is buried
underneath the statue on the grounds in front of his home. There were
many other buildings to the back of the home but it was closed up so
we will have to come back another time to see them and the inside of
the museum and “big house”.
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A beautiful church located next to this historic property. |
This
was a beautiful park to see for nature lovers and history buffs and
we plan on coming back when the buildings are opened again. If you
are coming from out of town, be advised to bring a picnic lunch as
there is not much at all in town and to fill up when you get off the
highway. Take care and until next time. Bye for now.
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