Antebellum Athens and Clarke County, Georgia - by Ernest C Hynds (Paperback)

About the Book

Published in 1974, this richly detailed historical narrative recalls the growth of industry, government, and education within Clarke County and contains many anecdotes of the people who lived there. The index of public officials, professional men, planters, and businessmen found in the area is a valuable addition.

Book Synopsis

Published in 1974, Antebellum Athens and Clarke County, Georgia is a chronicle of sixty years of change in Clarke County and the city of Athens. In 1801, Clarke County, newly created from Jackson County, was virtually all Georgia farmland, and Athens was a portion of land set aside for the establishment of a state university. In those first years of the century, the university began with thirty or forty students. They received instruction from Josiah Meigs--president and faculty of the university--in a twenty-by-twenty-foot log cabin.

By 1846, the population of the county was over four thousand, and the area prospered. Cotton mills dotted the banks of the Oconee River, the Georgia Railroad connected Athens with Augusta, numerous schools and churches had been established, and newspapers, banks, and small businesses were all part of the Athens scene.

Antebellum Athens and Clarke County, Georgia is rich with detail. This historical narrative recalls not only the growth of industry, government, and education within Clarke County, but also contains many anecdotes of the early people who lived there. The chronology of dates and events and the comprehensive listing of public officials, professional men, planters, and businessmen found in the appendixes of Antebellum Athens and Clarke County, Georgia add to the value of this work of local history.

Review Quotes

Substantially researched and abundantly illustrated with historic photographs, prints, and drawings, this book is lively reading.

--Kenneth Severens "Journal of Southern History"

About the Author

ERNEST C. HYNDS is an emeritus professor of journalism and mass communication and former head of the Department of Journalism in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia. Dr. Hynds has been recognized both for his work as a scholar-educator at the university for more than forty years and as an editorial writer for the Athens Banner-Herald where he worked part-time for more than thirty-five years. The Athens Historical Society cited him in 1999 for his contributions to Athens history, which now include Antebellum Athens and Clarke County, Georgia; a history nearing completion of the First Baptist Church, Athens; and other works.