Where to next?

Dave had a big interest in the Civil War.  We walked every inch of Gettysburg and Harpers Ferry and Antietam.    We built campfires and slept where soldiers once camped.  We toured museums.  Dave would even map out where obscure skirmishes once took place and off we would go - flashlights and compass and cameras in hand.  We have been through tunnels, in caves, up mountains and over bridges.  So it seems sort of natural that my next big trip is going to be to

STONE MOUNTAIN, GEORGIA

In 1822 the area that now makes up the city of Stone Mountain was made a part of the newly formed DeKalb County. A post office was created in 1834 on the old Augusta Road, and Andrew Johnson built a hotel along the road in 1836. At around the same time, Aaron Cloud built an observation tower at the summit of the mountain. Visitors to the mountain would travel to the area by rail and road, and then walk up the 1.1-mile (1.8 km) mountaintop trail to the top, where Cloud also had a restaurant and club.

By 1839, a general store was added, and a village was established under the name New Gibraltar. The name was officially changed to Stone Mountain by the Georgia legislature in 1847. During the Civil War, Stone Mountain village was destroyed by men under the command of General James B. McPherson on July 19, 1864.

 Post-Civil War history

The Ku Klux Klan was revived in Stone Mountain in 1915, and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s
 I Have a Dream speech consequently includes the line "let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia."

The 1996 Summer Olympic Games tennis, archery and track cycling tournaments were held in Stone Mountain Park.

Famous people from Stone Mountain include Donald Glover, Noureen DeWulf and Josh Wolff. The fictional character Kenneth Parcell (in the television series 30 Rock) also hails from Stone Mountain and frequently refers to it. Pro wrestler Jake "The Snake" Roberts was billed "From Stone Mountain Georgia".