Callaway Gardens Azaleas are nearing full bloom!

Azaleas in bloom at Callaway Gardens

I just received notice this morning from the staff at Callaway Gardens that the azaleas and other spring flowers are nearing full bloom and that NOW is the time to go see them!
The Gardens team reports that the azaleas will be in full bloom from now over the next two weeks. The Overlook Azalea Garden and Callaway Brothers Azalea Bowl both look incredible and spring has definitely arrived at Pine Mountain!

The Callaway Brothers Azalea Bowl covers 40 acres and features more than 3,400 hybrid azaleas along with 2,000 other blooming plants and shrubs. The setting is stunning, with a pavilion, gazebo, flowing stream, walking paths and arched bridge. The garden was gunded by Ely Callaway, Jr., who funded it with a donation of $3 million and named it in honor of his ancestors, Ely Reeves Callaway and Fuller Earle Callaway.

Woods in bloom at Callaway Gardens

The Overlook Azalea Garden, meanwhile, features 700 varieties of cultivated azaleas and has been called "one of the most beautiful places on Earth."

The blooms only last about two weeks so from now through the end of March is the time to go.

In addition to the azaleas, the staff reports that dogwoods, native azaleas, silverbells, sweetshrub, red buckeye and early spring wildflowers are in bloom throughout the gardens.

Callaway Gardens are located in Pine Mountain, Georgia, not far from Warm Springs and President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Little White House. The gardens are open daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Special event admission from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. is $25 per adult; $12.50 per child age 6 to 12; children 5 and younger are admitted for free. Callaway Gardens Annual Passholders are admitted for free. Military (active and retired with valid ID) are admitted for half-price during Celebrate Spring! From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the facilities will close but the Gardens will remain accessible for half-price admission.

You can learn more at www.callawaygardens.com and see additional photos from a couple of years ago at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/callawaygardens1.html.

Here are some other great points of interest in area:

• Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park
• Dowdell's Knob on Pine Mountain
• Warm Springs, Georgia
• FDR's Little White House

Red Oak Creek Covered Bridge - Woodbury, Georgia

About 12 miles north of historic Warm Springs, the oldest covered bridge in Georgia still carries traffic over Red Oak Creek.

The Red Oak Creek Covered Bridge was built in the 1840s by famed bridge builder Horace King. Born a slave of African American and Catawba Indian descent, King was either freed or purchased his freedom from John Godwin. A contractor who had relocated to Girard, Alabama, (today's Phenix City) across the river from Columbus, Georgia, Godwin recognized King's abilities as an engineer early in his life and mentored him in the development of his remarkable skills. After King secured his freedom, the Alabama State Legislature passed a special act guaranteeing him of full rights so that he could travel freely, own property and otherwise pursue his career as an engineer and bridge builder.

Including its planked approaches, the Red Oak Creek Covered Bridge is the longest wooden bridge in Georgia. Built in the Town Lattice Truce style, its main span is also the longest unsupported span in the state.

A beautiful survivor of the antebellum past when such bridges were common in the South, the Red Oak Creek bridge is in remarkably good condition despite its exposure to 170 years of weather, floods and aging.

To learn more about this beautiful old covered bridge, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/redoak.

Summer Escapes #3 - FDR State Park, Georgia

From the time my parents carried me there when I was around four years old, Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park at Pine Mountain, Georgia, has been one of my favorite summer destinations.

From its beautiful views, waterfalls, rock formations, Liberty Bell shaped swimming pool, cabins, campground, picnic areas and hiking trails to its proximity to such other destinations as Callaway Gardens, Warm Springs and FDR's Little White House, the park is a magnificent place to escape for an afternoon, a few days or even a week during the summer.

FDR State Park is steeped in America's Presidential history. Future President Franklin D. Roosevelt fell in love with the sweeping vistas and natural beauty of Pine Mountain when he first arrived in nearby Warm Springs in 1924 to try the pools of natural warm water as a possible treatment for his disabling polio. Over the years that followed, he purchased a farm at the mountain and his Little White House became the only home he ever owned.

Roosevelt often drove the then rocky and rough roads atop the mountain in his famous hand-controlled car, stopping to talk to neighbors and viewing the scenery. Dowdell's Knob, within today's state park, was the President's favorite picnic area during the difficult days of the Great Depression and World War II. A statue of Roosevelt can be seen there today and visitors can still picnic near the President's stone barbeque grill.

Today's state park was a favorite Depression era works project of the President. He told sometimes skeptical neighbors that he could envision a day when Pine Mountain would become a great destination for residents of the coastal plains. His prediction was prophetic. More than 750,000 people visit the mountain and other area attractions each year.

To learn more about Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park and other points of interest in the area, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fdrstatepark.

Warm Springs, Georgia

In the last post I mentioned the Little White House and President Franklin Roosevelt's association with the historic city of Warm Springs, Georgia.

Warm Springs is a charming little community nestled in the hill country of western Georgia about 45 minutes north of Columbus and perhaps an hour south of Atlanta. It is known today as a popular resort area and is rich in historic sites and natural landmarks.

According to legend, warriors of the Creek and other Indian nations came to Warm Springs for centuries before the first white settlers arrived. They believed the natural warm water flowing from springs near Pine Mountain held medicinal properties that would help them recover from war wounds and other injuries. During the 19th century, however, it became a popular resort for residents of Georgia and other southern states who came either for their health or just for a break away from their daily lives.

The city's real claim to fame, of course, was its association with Franklin D. Roosevelt. He first came to Warm Springs in 1924 in hopes that the warm water might help him recover from his polio-related paralysis. While Roosevelt never regained the use of his legs, the swims at Warm Springs and exercise in the clean mountain air did him worlds of good. He fell in love with the area and built his Little White House there in 1932. It was the only home he ever owned and where he died in 1945.

Warm Springs today is the centerpiece of a popular area for vacations and outdoor recreation. Visitors can explore the charming downtown area, visit the restored pools where Roosevelt once swam, see the Little White House and explore both the Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park and nearby Callaway Gardens.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/warmsprings.

Anniversary of the Passing of President Franklin D. Roosevelt

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died at the Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia, on this date, April 12th, in 1945. Sixty-four years have now passed since FDR went to his final rest.

The longest serving President in American history, Roosevelt was also a fixture in the Deep South. He came to Warm Springs, Georgia, in 1924, in hopes that the natural warm water flowing from springs near Pine Mountain might cure him of the paralysis he suffered following a battle with polio. The water did not cure Roosevelt, but the aquatherapy and exercise did improve both his strength and outlook. In 1927, with help from a philanthropist, he purchased the springs and a surrounding farm. It was the beginning of the organization we know today as the March of Dimes.

The Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute was the only such facility available for those recovering from polio in his day. The disease terrified many Americans and the people it affected were often ostracized from their family and friends. The work at Warm Springs, however, gradually changed such perceptions.

Although he came in search of a medical cure, Roosevelt soon fell in love with the beautiful scenery of Warm Springs and Pine Mountain. In 1932, while serving as Governor of New York, he built the Little White House at Warm Springs. It was the only home he would ever own. Later that same year Roosevelt was elected President of the United States.

The story of his association with Pine Mountain and Warm Springs is one of the most remarkable in American political history. The Little White House became a refuge for the President as he struggled to guide the nation first through the dark years of the Great Depression and then through the difficult times of World War II.

On April 12, 1945, as World War II entered its final months, President Roosevelt was sitting for a portrait in the Little White House in Warm Springs when he suddenly collapsed. Carried to his nearby bedroom, he died later that day.

It is difficult today to understand the impact that the death of President Roosevelt had on the people of the United States. He had been the determined figure that led the nation through some of its most difficult times. He had told Americans that they had "nothing to fear, but fear itself." And as a man with severe disabilities, he guided the nation through World War II with a will of iron. The outpouring of grief experienced across the country was perhaps the greatest explosion of emotion in American history. People from all walks of life and from all races mourned the passing of the man who introduced himself to his rural Georgia neighbors as simply a farmer from Warm Springs.

To learn more about the Little White House and other sites associated with President Roosevelt in and around Warm Springs, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/littlewhitehouse.