Yesterday we had to take Mac's car to have its oil changed so we went for a walk in the J.F. Gregory Park in town. The park was part of the land bought and developed by Henry Ford in the 1920's and 30's. He had come to coastal Georgia and fell in love with it and decided to make his winter home there so he bought the site of the old Clay plantation and built his home, Richmond Hill, there, he also bought 85,000 acres of land on both sides of the Ogeechee River and working with Thomas Edison and others he grew crops that he thought might be useful in the automobile industry. He basically took a wide place in the road, Way Station, and turned it into a town that became known as Richmond Hill, he built many buildings giving jobs to the impoverished locals, community centers, medical facilities and schools for blacks and whites. Ways Station changed its name to Richmond Hill in 1941 to honor him.
The park itself is the site of old rice fields and is named for Ford's land manager.
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| Observation Tower |
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| Sign on Observation Tower |
It looks really nice here and is a much more wintry scene than I expected for Georgia which I always think of as warm and green even in the winter months. I confess that a notice saying 'Beware snakes and alligators' would make me think twice about walking there though:)
ReplyDeleteThat looks an amazing countryside. Did you spot any snakes and alligators?!
ReplyDeleteThe nature scenes did not seem all that "foreign" to me until I came to that sign warning for snakes and alligators... No alligators in Sweden ;)
ReplyDeleteSome years we don't have much of a winter, but the last couple have been cold, we're expecting snow/sleet tomorrow. The snakes and alligators hide out in the mud this time of year, but the houses that border the park all have fences and in the summer you'll often see alligators laying up against them sunning themselves.
ReplyDeleteThis was so lovely to see - your part of Georgia and also to learn some American 'local history', thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your very kind words too.