Driving down Highway 78 most may not even notice that they are diving through the old community of White City. Modern-day street maps, like the Chamber of Commerce’s street map and general maps of Georgia, exclude White City. However the old town still exists on digital maps provided by Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, and Ask.com Maps.

Local history books scarcely reflect on White City – it can be expected that the community did not have a post office, judicial courthouse or school. Even the origin of the name is unknown. Recent history does reveal that the center of town was at Highway 78 and South Baggett Road at a gas station.

Described as Douglas County Historic Resource DO-105, the White City gas station is of English Vernacular Revival design built sometime during the 1940s with at least one gas pump. This spot on Highway 78 would have been a popular gas-and-go location prior to the days of the today’s bustling Interstate 20.

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The recently released Google Earth tour for Cemeteries of Douglas County, Georgia by Losing Georgia has been recognized by the Google Earth Team as part of the best content created within the Google Earth community. Considering all the material that is submitted daily, it is truly an honor to receive this recognition from Google for the second time in less than a year.

To access the Best of Google Earth Community feature, simply access the sidebar in Google Earth and look for Geographic Web. Golden “i” icons will appear on the screen and these placemarks are wrapped in a special Google Earth Community template. Back in December the Interactive Tour 2.0 was recognized as part of the initial debut of the Best of Google Earth Community.

As for the critics out there who think Losing Georgia is strictly negative, this goes to show that voluntary work does pay off and that the content provided is resourceful and being recognized on a more national level. The Losing Georgia Project will be celebrating its 2 year anniversary in June.

Its spring time and that means its time to clean house – get back to the basics. The Losing Georgia Project primarily began by using Google Earth as a tool to document the locations of new developments throughout Douglas County after it was apparent that no such resource ever existed to monitor growth, or development for that matter.

On January 26, 2006 the work of the Losing Georgia Project went public for the first time with the release of the Interactive Tour. Viewing the change of the local community could be finally seen on a much large scale with data points relaying information about the development. Later came image overlays for site plans and official government maps, locations of public services and historical places.

Today the Losing Georgia Project is currently working on a set of new tours for users of Google Earth in an effort to share history openly, rather than keeping it locked away in dusty books and unfamiliar reports. Douglas County has a rich history that should be absorb, heard and understood – for new residents it’s a time to learn about the community you live in – but some history has already been lost and more will disappear.

To that effect let us discover our past to understand the present and the time that is beyond. Below is a list of historical projects that Losing Georgia will attempt to provide this year using Google Earth.

Historical Places of Douglas County, Georgia – A beta version has been available in the Interactive Tour for awhile, however it has been incomplete. The newest version will include a complete list of historical places with a detailed list for Douglasville, historic districts in Douglasville, locations of all entries on the National Register of Historic Places and hopefully more historic maps.

The History of Sweetwater – A comprehensive look at the most famous waterway in Douglas County – Sweetwater Creek – that highlights the days of Chief Ama-Kanasta to the destruction of New Manchester Mill and the displacement of its people. Discover the beauty and history that lies within Sweetwater Creek State Park with hiking guides, panoramas and pictures.

Community Post Offices – Many original communities in Douglas County were usually defined by a church, school, and post office. Most historic post offices no longer exist, however their purpose and impact help define communities like Bill Arp and Winston.

The Mighty Waterwheel – The search to rediscover the location of old grist mills that used to operate in Douglas County and their impact in today’s community.

Last night the City of Douglasville held a public town hall meeting at the First Baptist Church of Douglasville adjacent to West Central Technical College . Upon arrival handwritten signs could found at the road entrances to the church. Once inside the sanctuary there were over fifty residents in attendance with more than half of the residents being elderly.

Promptly at 7:30 p.m. Mayor Mickey Thompson addressed the residents by introducing City Council members and local law enforcement. The Mayor also mentioned that the town hall meeting was being recorded for the City’s new cable channel that will premiere in the summer – channel 25.

After the introduction the meeting began with an overview of various public works projects, the prospect of a 2007 SPLOST, impact fees, a residential Q&A and finally a presentation by the Douglasville Police Department about gang activity.

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The City of Douglasville is holding a public town hall meeting this evening from 7:90 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Douglasville First Baptist Church . The meeting is called “Just So You Will Know Community Forum” and will discuss points ranging from recent gang activity to public goods and services. No information about the meeting has appeared on the City’s website.

Below is an excerpt from the Douglas County Sentinel about highlights on the meeting.

• a report on transportation projects at Hospital Drive, Chapel Hill Road, Prestley Mill Road, Timber Ridge Drive, Georgia Highway 92, the Bright Star Road Connector and Georgia Highway 5
• a report on the city’s parks, including Hunter Park, a proposed new park south of Interstate 20, West Pines Golf Course and a proposed new YMCA facility in Hunter Park
• a report on the September 2007 SPLOST (special purpose local option sales tax), including the Douglas County jail site away from downtown Douglasville and possible new projects for the city
• a report on the possible implementation of impact fees
• a report on gang activity and the city’s response, including key points from the Douglasville Police Department and the new Arbor Place mall policy
• planned facilities for the Douglasville Police Department.

- Douglas County Sentinel, April 11, 2007

In June it will be the two year anniversary since the inception of the Losing Georgia Project back in 2005. Although this post may seem preemptive, I have been holding off on it for awhile. Over those past two years I have come to understand that Douglas County is in a precarious situation on some issues like overcrowded schools and over development, while other issues are finally coming to light like the need to refurbish the Veterans Memorial at Hunter Memorial Park and making efforts to communicate better with local residents.

My adventure into citizen journalism effectively happened in June of 2006 when I covered the City of Douglasville’s Anneewakee Creek Greenway Project public meeting. Since that time I have gradually increased the amount of news posts into a daily effort, which was an enlightening experience on my part as well as that it offered residents to comment on issues in a public way unlike never before based on traditional media practices.

This year has not been the “sophomore slump” I had expected, rather it was grueling to the point that I put the burden upon myself to write articles daily to become an alternative news source for Douglas County. This pressure has finally manifested to where I have a choice to make: continue Losing Georgia at a slower pace or stop the project entirely.

I still have the motivation to continue Losing Georgia, but the driven mentality that I once possessed is exhausted and the financial stress has been anything but pleasing. Going two years straight is a long time for one person and I think its time to take a long-waited vacation from the project.

I would like to thank all the readers, those who made comments, visitors to the website and the many e-mails that have hit my inbox. I plan to return to the basics when the time is right, but for now its “five o’clock somewhere”.

With the return of the Cemetery Preservation Committee comes an interactive resource that plots almost every cemetery known in Douglas County using Google Earth via Losing Georgia. For over a month I have extracted data from multiple sources – Douglas County Online Cemetery Database, the original cemetery map, land parcels and the Douglas County Cemetery Master List – and compiled the information for easy accessibility.

A total of 111 of a possible 116 cemeteries are available for viewing and are listed in alphabetical order in the sidebar. Information provided includes cemetery name, parcel #, land lot, district, section, and number of graves. The best feature tour is that every cemetery, with the exception of a few, has been located by the Cemetery Preservation Committee using GPS and plotted in Google Earth.

Other special features include a picture of the cemetery, link to the cemetery database entry, and more photos for viewing in Losing Georgia’s Flickr photo collection of Douglas County cemeteries. Google Earth will also create driving directions to a particular cemetery. All that has to be done is click on the Directions tab under Search, fill in the “from” text box, click on a cemetery to display its contents and click the “to here” link in the bottom left corner.

Another feature from Google Earth is when a placemark or folder is printed out, a screenshot of the aerial photo and the contents within each placemark are included. This then allows an easy way to have a paper copy of each cemetery on file for quick reference (preferably in the field) without the hassle of recreating the work in a word processor.

The Douglas County GIS Department is currently developing and will release a public map with every cemetery located by GPS. Thereafter cemetery information can be compared to any data in the county’s GIS database, something that has not been available. The Cemetery Preservation Commission plans to have all cemeteries documented with GPS by this summer.

This latest Google Earth tour from Losing Georgia will be added to the Interactive Tour so that data can be compared to documented new developments and historical resources. Other cemetery commissions that are interested in my Google Earth work can contact me via e-mail.

Download

• Cemeteries of Douglas County, Georgia - KMZ

On Tuesday evening the Douglas County Cemetery Preservation Commission came together in a public meeting for the first time after more than ten years. The path for return came last year on June 20^th when the Board of Commissioners accepted a new ordinance to recreate the Cemetery Preservation Commission after a public need was becoming more apparent from a large increase of population growth and continuous development.

In February of this year the Board of Commissioners appointed members to the commission, many of which served originally before the commission was abolished in the mid-1990s. Since then members have been scouring the landscape with GPS handheld receivers in search of cemeteries to create a better historical record. Unfortunately the commission has been forced to start from scratch considering that most of the previous research material has seemingly disappeared.

Unbeknownst to most was that I too was independently researching and documenting cemeteries on my free time in late February, not realizing that the Cemetery Preservation Commission was doing the very such thing. Eventually our paths would cross in such a way that would be beneficial, one of which would shed a little light on a lost treasure.

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Almost two months ago the City of Douglasville held their first of two mandatory public hearings on the possible implementation of impact fees. Many local residents and small business owners were in attendance at the time listening intently to what the future may bring. Those interested as to what happened at the public hearing can read about it in a previous article.

During that hearing it was stated by City Manager Bill Osborne that a question-and-answer feature would be added to the City’s website to clear the confusion on impact fees. During the hearing it could be assumed that the feature would be added before the second mandatory public hearing.

However the Q&A feature has not appeared since the first hearing. Losing Georgia has sent multiple e-mails, beginning on March 2^nd, to the City regarding as to when the feature would be available online. Throughout March other e-mails were sent and no response was made regarding if and when the Q&A feature would be made available online. The progress was documented on the Losing Georgia Town Hall Forum and to this day no response has been received.

Another question coming to mind is when will be the next public hearing on impact fees and its possible implementation. According to a document [downloadable PDF] made available at the first hearing, the following is stated:

“1. The required second public hearing on the possible implementation of impact fees is to be held approximately one month after the City receives written notice from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) of approval of the City’s draft Capital Improvements Element (CIE).

2. The ordinance to enact impact fees by the City of Douglasville is to be voted on within one month after the second public hearing is held; and should the ordinance be adopted by the City Council, the effective date for implementation would be upon approval of the motion to enact impact fees.”

- First Public Hearing on Possible Implementation of Impact Fees – Monday, February 12, 2007

In the latest Chapel Hill News & Views it states that the “City government (will) have a special public hearing and then there will be a hearing before the City Council” and that a proposed impact fee schedule would be available online. Presumably it may seem that the second public hearing may be next month or maybe into the early months of summer.

Back in December of 2006 the public hearings were delayed by the Department of Community of Affairs because of requesting additional information on impact fees. Hopefully a Q&A on impact fees will be displayed on the City’s website soon. As a resident, how do you feel about impact fees? Should more information be made available?

To read an in-depth view about impact fees and the implantation upon the City of Douglasville, download a PDF version of the Impact Fee Coalition’s presentation from February’s public hearing.

Last Thursday the Douglas County Sentinel reported that the Douglasville City Council will vote Monday night on a capital fund budget amendment of $50,000 to refurbish the Veterans Memorial at Hunter Memorial Park. The articles goes on to say that the funds will “include painting of the aircraft, work on the wrought iron fencing and railing surrounding the plane and extensive work on the actual base of the aircraft” and that this all may be happening in the “coming weeks.”

Briefly talking with Parks and Recreation Director Tracie Ivey last week about an update on the possible refurbishment project, there is no deadline as to when the project would be completed, would not be completed by Memorial Day and would likely not start in the next few weeks since contractors had not yet been selected. After the release of the Sentinel article, Ivey said that she had received some phone calls and e-mails regarding the Veterans Memorial.

What many not know is that early this year the first bid for refurbishing just the aircraft was over $60,000 by a professional military aviation restoration firm – meaning $10,000 more than the City is considering and excludes the rest of the memorial. Even Director Ivey suggested that $50,000 was not enough and more funds would be needed during the refurbishment process.

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