In this week’s Douglas Neighbor newspaper, under the City Beat section, it was reported that the Douglasville City Council “unanimously voted to remove the historic designation of the 7 acre property at 6398 U.S. Highway 78, known as the Georgia Western Cotton Mill.” Losing Georgia had already begun collecting some information on the historic mill when the Wednesday paper was released.

Intrigued by the loss of the mill’s historic recognition, Losing Georgia went looking for the answers, while still in search of the mill’s forgotten historic value. The discover of formerly published articles and the 2001 City of Douglasville Livable Center Initiative Study gave more clues of not only the mill’s historic past, but of a much vibrant future.

However the harsh reality is that such an historic place has been neglected and eventually will be forgotten about. Even the Georgia DOT overlooked the mill when it was conducting a study of the area some years ago. Unlike the situation with the 1^st Lt. Robert G. Hunter Memorial, this very unique mill of the late 1800’s may be demolished due to its deterioration.

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Earlier this week three new developments were added to the database, resulting in 163 documented during the Project’s life. There are some other developments that are pending due to a lack of information. Recently new development signs around include a Primrose School at Brookmont and a retail center at Fairburn Road and Lee Road by Inland Retail Group. Below is a brief description of the newly added developments.

Douglas County Bank – Douglas County Bank has broke ground for a new location at the corner of Douglas Boulevard and Stewart Parkway, behind the Splash and Go Auto Spa. This would be the third location of a Douglas County Bank in the county. The new location may result in moving the bank at 7421 Douglas Boulevard, next to I-Hop, to Stewart Parkway.

Paces Estates – A 63 acre plat located at formerly 3224 Highway 78, across the street from the Highway 78 Body Shop. Very little information is known about the subdivision; the developer is Lithia Development, LLC., who received the development permit on December 5, 2005.

Thornton Ridge Estates – This is a private subdivision by the W.T. Thornton Family located on South River Road.

Recently the historic Chapel Hill Courthouse received a minor repair to a shattered window on the left side of the structure. A piece of plywood has been screwed into the frame surrounding the window to avoid anyone from being injured or entering the courthouse. Below the window sill on the ground was a piece of the window frame and shattered glass.

Closer inspection of the repair showed that the damaged window was not removed, merely covered up. Early this year Losing Georgia highlighted on the Chapel Hill Courthouse, including the discovery of the shattered window back in July. The condition of the historic courthouse is diminishing, with signs of wood siding beginning to rot and the stairs adjacent to the street are beyond repairable.

Both the Development and Community Live View with Google Maps features have been updated to provide current information from the latest build of the Interactive Tour. Recent developments and restructuring has been added to better control the flow of data. The school system section now has images of each school for better recognition to help residents find a school in their community. Also newly added are both the present and past communities of Douglas County, based on maps dating back as far as the 1800s.

Those who do not have Google Earth can view parts of the Interactive Tour online through Google Maps. There are limitations on the amount of data that can be viewed in Google Maps, please consider the Live View feature as a preview for the Interactive Tour.

The Losing Georgia: Interactive Tour has been updated with 3 new developments and 13 new overlays for transportation projects. Over the holiday weekend more demographics for the Highway 92 Expansion Project, I-20 HOV Project, and the 2004 Chapel Hill Road Corridor Study were overlayed in the tour. Users of the Interactive Tour need to refresh the Network Link file and new users can download the KMZ file or head over to the overview page if unfamiliar with the Interactive Tour.

Below is a list of additions and updates to the tour.

Developments

• Douglas County Bank
• Paces Estates
• Thornton Ridge Estates

Overlays

• Chapel Hill Road and Stewart Mill Road Corridor Study 2004 (10 images)
• Highway 92 Expansion - Douglas & Paulding Counties
• I-20 HOV Project - Concept 2 (2 images)

The Losing Georgia Project will be on Christmas break starting today. News stories will return sometime next week, however any new data pertaining to developments may be entered over the weekend. I wish everyone a safe Christmas and a happy New Year.

Today the Douglas Neighbor Newspaper published a story on the front page about my work on the Losing Georgia Project. For those viewers who are visiting the website for the first time, I welcome you to explore the vast information that is available. Feel free to comment on any news posts that peak your interest.

Residents who read the newspaper article and are concerned about the F-105D at Hunter Park, may I suggest reading the five part series, Hunter’s Forgotten Memorial (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), that includes the day 1^st Lt. Robert G. Hunter was shot down in Laos to the current condition of the memorial.

Users interested in the Losing Georgia: Interactive Tour can learn more at the tour’s overview page. The latest version of Google Earth must be installed to properly experience the tour and all of its functions. New residents are encouraged to download the tour to better familiarize themselves with Douglas County.

This would be the third time in 2006 that Losing Georgia has been printed in the public media. The Losing Georgia Project is not funded by any organization or business, nor supported by the local governments. All funding to operate the website and the documentation process have been provided by myself, donations are welcome.

Five new developments were added over the weekend, bringing the total to 160 since June 2005. With the current trend, it is possible to see 200+ developments by June 2007. Although not every single development has been recorded, keeping track of growth has been a daunting task set by the Project. Below is a brief outlook of each new development inputted into the database recently.

Interstate 20 West Trade Center – Warehouse: On Highway 78 in Villa Rica, a new warehouse is being built for the Interstate 20 West Trade Center, in front of the Panattoni Industrial Park where Southwire’s new Master Service Center is located. Both developments are by Panattoni Development Company, with the warehouse to be completed in 2007 and the industrial park by 2008.

The Boulevard at Arbor Place, Unit 2: Unit 1 was completed a few years ago with business Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar and Brides Atlanta. The Unit 2 lot has been vacant since the opening of the small shopping center. The developer is Benchmark United, LLC., who’s president is Larry Boggs. Mr. Boggs also has ties to the Chapel Hill Village shopping center and Arbor Place Mall. CBL & Associates purchased 93 acres from Benchmark United for $8.25 in 1998 for the mall (Atlanta Business Journal).

Riverwalk, Units 3-7: The Riverwalk subdivision is located on Highway 5, half a mile south of Dog River, and was originally developed over eight years ago with the completion of units 1 & 2. The development remained dormant until this year where five more units will be added on 81.54 acres, making available 113 lots.

Polk Place: This development is located on Highway 78, just east of Winston Elementary. Originally the subdivision was to be on an adjacent lot of 145 acres, creating 245 single-family houses. The Planning and Zoning Commission and Board of Commissioners denied the rezoning application by P&R Developers, LLC on May 3, 2005. Currently the subdivision will be much smaller, located on 72.28 acres.

Physicians’ Immediate Med: Physicians’ Immediate Med is based out of Alpharetta and has six locations in the Metro Atlanta Area. The facility will provide family healthcare without appointments (first-come, first-serve service) and will be located next to Logan’s Roadhouse at The Landing at Arbor Place. This would be the sixth medical facility Losing Georgia has counted within the vicinity of Wellstar Hospital. An explanation for the increase in medical facilities is the destruction of Parkway Medical Center on Thornton Road (currently Home Depot of Lithia Springs), which has put stress on the medical system in Douglas County since that time.

As mentioned earlier, a section of aerial imagery for Douglas County was updated in Google Earth. The update covers as far west as Post Road and far east as Yeager Road. Unfortunately the new imagery is riddled with cloud cover, limiting areas for viewing. From the vegetation and photographs taken by Losing Georgia, it looks like the imagery was from early summer by Digital Globe.

From the detail available, many new subdivisions that are having erosion problems can be seen; dirt strewn across streets in areas where Losing Georgia has documented in the past. Dog River can be clearly viewed etching the landscape south to the Chattahoochee River. Lastly the amount of greenspace that is being depleted is more obvious.

To view the new imagery, users must install the latest version of Google Earth.

The Losing Georgia: Interactive Tour has been updated with 5 new developments and 14 more photos for the school system. Due to the updated imagery in Google Earth, many placemarks in District 4 have been relocated. Also some new developments were discovered which are included in this update, as well in the next update. Users of the Interactive Tour need to refresh the Network Link file and new users can download the KMZ file or head over to the overview page if unfamiliar with the Interactive Tour.

Below is a list of additions and updates to the tour.

Developments

• Interstate 20 West Trade Center - Warehouse
• Physicians Immediate Med
• Polk Place
• Riverwalk, Units 3-7
• The Boulevard at Arbor Place, Unit 2

Photos

• Arbor Station Elementary
• Bright Star Elementary
• Burnett Elementary
• Eastside Elementary
• Mirror Lake Elementary
• North Douglas Elementary
• South Douglas Elementary
• Winston Elementary
• Factory Shoals Middle
• Fairplay Middle
• Stewart Middle
• Yeager Middle
• Alexander High
• Performance Learning Center