Skip to main content

Lavonia, Georgia Walkabout

Image
By

The Northeast Georgia City of Lavonia sits only a few miles from Lake Hartwell and the Savannah River.  In 1878, as the railroads continued to expand into the region, the Elberton Air Line Railroad had desired to build a new station near what was known as Aquilla.


A town was laid out; and in 1880, the town of Lavonia was incorporated.  The town is named after Lavnoia Jones, the wife of J.H. Jones who was the president of the Elberton Air Line.  The Elberton Air Line was absorbed into the Southern Railway System in 1908.


The former railroad depot serves as the town's welcome center.  The depot opened in 1912 after the local women's group successfully petitioned the town to rebuild the existing depot at a new location.


Downtown Lavonia's layout is dominated by the railroad.  The railroad runs through the center of the downtown splitting Main Street between Thomas and Burton Streets.  In the center of town, storefronts line both sides of the railroad.

Lavonia is also home to an original Carnegie Free Library.  The Women's Club asked Andrew Carnegie to help assist them in building a town library.  Carnegie donated $5,000 towards construction and in 1911 the library opened.  The library is now part of the Athens Regional Library System.

Lavonia is the birthplace of former Georgia Governor Ernest Vandiver.  Vandiver was a former mayor of the town and served as Governor of Georgia from 1959 to 1963.  Vandiver was instrumental in changing the routing of Interstate 85.  During the Interstate's planning stages - I-85 was to run further north.  The original plans for the highway would have 85 roughly parallel US 23 and 123 closer to Gainesville and Toccoa and into South Carolina.  Through political maneuvering, Vandiver changed the routing of I-85 further to the south and paralleling Georgia 59 running just north of Commerce and Lavonia.


Today, Lavonia is a small town of just over 2,100 residents. Lavonia's Chamber of Commerce hosts an annual spring and fall festival in town. In 2019, they held their first Boat Expo along Main Street.
  
All photos taken by post author - March 19, 2019

 Further Reading:
  • Lavonia ---Vanishing North Georgia

How To Get There:
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rep. Sue Myrick's letter to Gov. Easley and Sect. Tippett published in Charlotte Observer

By
US. Representative Sue Myrick's (R-Charlotte) letter to North Carolina's Governor Mike Easley and NC Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett was published in the Friday, November 30th edition of the Charlotte Observer . Why are we delaying the completion of 1-485 in Charlotte again? I read in The Charlotte Observer how rising prices of materials are leading to the delay. Why didn't these same rising costs delay the loops in Fayetteville and Wilmington? Why are we building loops in Fayetteville and Wilmington before we complete the one in Charlotte? We were working on the one in Charlotte back when I was mayor. That was 20 years ago! ... Last I looked Charlotte was the largest city in the state. There seems to be no recognition of that fact in Raleigh. No recognition that we are at a standstill with traffic. No recognition that we have a traffic problem. Nor is there any recognition of the fact that the state DOT utterly botched up the southern leg of our yet to be completed ...
Post a Comment
Read more

New River Gorge National Park & Preserve - Sandstone Falls

By
The New River, which runs through New River Gorge National Park & Preserve, is best known for its dramatic rapids and whitewater adventures.  Those features begin at one of the river's widest points: Sandstone Falls. From the Sandstone Falls Boardwalk a look at just a small part of the falls. Though the vertical drop of roughly 20 feet is less than many other well-known waterfalls in the state, the falls' expanse, where the river approaches 1500 feet wide, makes Sandstone Falls impressive.   The Boardwalk Trail leads to a better vantage point of the overall falls. It is a great spot for photography, fishing, or laying out in the sun. Access to the falls is relatively easy: from Hinton, cross the New River on Highway 20, then turn right onto CR 26 and follow New River Road to the Sandstone Falls Parking Area. The Island Loop Trail is a short detour off the Boardwalk Trail and shows a quieter side of the area. At Sandstone Falls, you will find a variety of activities fr...
Post a Comment
Read more

I-90 in Albany, New York and the Berkshire Spur

By
Today's Albany Times Union has a segment in their weekly Getting There? column that explains some of the history behind how I-90 is designated in the Albany, NY area as well as the Berkshire Spur. The long and short of the article was that I-90 was originally designated on the unsigned portion of the Berkshire Spur, but as free I-90 was built, the designation was moved onto the free portion of road. Additionally, there were talks in 1999 between state and federal officials about the possibility of moving I-90 back onto the unsigned portion of the Berkshire Spur, while extending I-88 onto what we know as free I-90. There would have also had been an I-88/I-90 multiplex between Rotterdam and Albany as a result. http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=916307
Post a Comment
Read more