Kettle Creek, the Old Governor’s Mansion, and Brasstown Bald
Plus, the Wagon Train Trail and patriotic pottery
As summer breezes roll across the Southeast, we’re celebrating the extraordinary journey that has shaped our nation. All season long, we’ll honor America’s 250th birthday—starting this week in Georgia with a Revolutionary War battlefield in Elbert County, the old governor’s mansion in Milledgeville, the view from Brasstown Bald in Hiawassee, and a piece of patriotic pottery made in Canton.
Print subscribers: Your copy of our Summer 2026 issue will be mailed to you by the end of this week. Keep an eye out for an email containing tracking information.
Three Battles and a Massacre
Victory, Stinging Defeat, a Draw, and Bloody Bill
By Tom Poland
Old battlefields seem more like parks. They’re quiet. Trying to imagine black powder, cannon, and cries of the wounded? Difficult, but not always. Farmers’ plows unearthed so many Minié balls at Shiloh, the soil turned white. Shiloh was of the Civil War. I’m writing of Revolutionary War sites: Kettle Creek, Camden, Eutaw Springs, and Clouds Creek.
This week, we’ll start a four-part series on Southeastern battlefields that played a prominent role in the Revolutionary War. Part One focuses on the Battle of Kettle Creek. We’ve removed the paywall for the first installment so everyone has full access.
Free subscribers can preview Parts Two, Three, and Four. Upgrade for full access.
Georgia’s Old Governor’s Mansion
120 S. Clarke Street
Milledgeville, Georgia
Georgia’s Old Governor’s Mansion is a National Historic Landmark and one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture in the United States. Completed in 1839, it served as the official residence for Georgia’s governors during the state’s capital years in Milledgeville. The mansion witnessed major events spanning the antebellum era, the Civil War, and Reconstruction, including the occupation by Union General William T. Sherman. Today, carefully restored to its 1850s appearance, the mansion operates as a historic house museum, interpreting the lives of governors, their families, and the enslaved people who lived and worked there.
Brasstown Bald
Hiawassee, Georgia
2941 Highway Spur 180
Coordinates: 34.8747° N, -83.8107° W
Rising above the Blue Ridge Mountains of northern Georgia, Brasstown Bald is the highest point in the state and offers sweeping views that stretch across four states on clear days. A paved pathway leads from the visitor area to the summit observation deck, where expansive mountain vistas unfold in every direction. Throughout the seasons, changing foliage, blooming wildflowers, and drifting mountain mist transform the landscape and showcase the Southern Appalachian Mountains’ grandeur and enduring beauty.
