About 100 people turned out at the front entrance to the historic William Daniell House off Daniells Bridge Road on Saturday morning to help Oconee County celebrate its 150th Birthday.
Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chair John Daniell, a descendant of William Daniell, described as an American Revolutionary Patriot, was present to read a proclamation of the Board of Commissioners wishing “our community the very best and happiest birthday.”
The mayors of three of the county’s four incorporated cities and a representative of the fourth joined in the celebration of the county’s founding by the Georgia General Assembly on Feb. 25, 1875.
The General Assembly was making up for its decision three years earlier to move the county seat for what was then Clarke County from one of those cities--Watkinsville--to Athens.
The General Assembly split what is Oconee County today from Clarke, giving the new county the native name for the river that divides parts of the two counties.
Cohosts and sponsors for the birthday party were the William Daniell Society of the Children of the American Revolution, Reverend John Andrew Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, and Visit Oconee of the Oconee County Tourism Department.
Laurie Trail, regent for the Reverend John Andrew Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, served as program moderator.
Comments of Mayors
Christine Tucker, a member of the Watkinsville Council, spoke in place of Mayor Brian Brodrick, who was unable to attend.
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“We are the county seat and the oldest town,” she noted. “But I want to focus a little bit on what Watkinsville is doing today.”
She mentioned Thomas Farm Preserve, recently opened on Simonton Bridge Road, and the city’s partnership with OCAF (the Oconee Culturay Arts Foundation) and ESP (Extra Special People).
Mayor Drew Kurtz of Bishop said “although Bishop is modest in size, and is home to fewer than 400 people, it does have a heritage stretching back well over a century.”
The town began as Greenwood Crossing in the 1870s and early 1880s, he said, which was named after a crossroads where several plantations met, and during that period “and many of its residents were formerly enslaved individuals,” Kurtz said.
“They laid the groundwork for a close nit neighborhood that was rooted in resilience and hope,” he continued.
Mayor Janet Jones of Bogart said she was “proud to speak about our city and what we’ve done over the last several years. We’ve made significant progress in updating out community spaces.”
Jones cited the renovation of what was the old Bogart High School and the revitalization of Main Street.
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Jones said the city also has purchased property for a city park and a train depot platform.
Mayor Stephen Goad of North High Shoal said the “shoals of High Shoals has been a strategic defense position along the western edge of young America’s territory.”
A cotton mill, first built in 1846, employed approximately 250 people at its peak, Goad said, before it was destroyed by fire in 1928.
“High Shoals has never lost its sense of community, responsibility, fortitude, grit and determination to protect its spaces and collective values,” Goad said.
Video
The short video below is of the formal presentation at the celebration, which began at 10:30 a.m.
The event officially began at 10 a.m. and ran until 4 p.m.
The video includes a few small clips at the end of other activities that followed the formal presentation.
1 comment:
Thanks for filming, Mr. Becker! Since I was out of town, your film helped me get a sense of the birthday ceremony. And it's great to see so many younger folks helping celebrate this county's 150 years!
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