Friday, May 26, 2006

Georgia On My Mind

If the state of Georgia was to write and fill up its own slumbook, perhaps, this is what it would be writing down:

Nickname: Empire State of the South

Motto: Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation / Agriculture and Commerce (1776)

Song: ‘Georgia on My Mind’. Words by Stuart Gorrel. Music by Hoagy Carmichael.

Capital: Atlanta

Land Use: Crops – 19%; Pasture – 5%; Forest – 64%; Other – 12%

Flag: It had a vertical blue stripe on the left side and three horizontal stripes (one white and two red) on the right. The state coat of arms was added to the blue stripe in 1905, and in 1956 the horizontal stripes were replaced by the Confederate battle flag, a red field with crossed blue and white stripes bearing 13 white stars.

Seal: The seal of Georgia was adopted in 1798, and the only modification since has been to change the date from 1799 to 1776. one side shows an arch with three pillars and the words Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation. The arch is engraved with “Constitution”. The design symbolizes the state constitution supported by the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of the government. A soldier under the arch represents the readiness of Georgia’s militia to defend these principles. The other side of the seal has the motto “Agriculture and Commerce” and an illustrative scene.

Tree: Live Oak

Flower: Cherokee Rose

Bird: Brown Thrasher

Places of interest:
*Agrirama (historic rural village)
*Alexander H. Stephens State Park (antebellum home of vice president of the Confederacy)
*Amicalola Falls State Park (highest falls in the state)
*Augusta National Golf Club (site of annual international invitational Masters Golf Tournament
*Bethesda Orphans Home (oldest orphanage in the US)
*Black Rock Mountain State Park (mountain scenery)
*Brasstown Bald Mountain (highest piont in the state)
*Brunswick (fishing)
*Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park (American Civil War battlefields)
*Clark Hill Dam, Cloudland Canyon State Park (scenic views)
*Crawford W. Long Museum (honors Dr. Long who first used ether as anesthetic)
*Dahlonega (United States mint)
*Elijah Clark Memorial State Park (water sports)
*Fort Benning (infantry training school)
*Fort Frederica National Monument
*Fort Mountain State Park (ancient fort)
*Fort Pulaski National Monument (brick fort)
*George Washington Carver State Park (beach)
*Georgia Veterans’ Memorial State Park (WW1 and WW2 museum)
*Jefferson Davis Memorial Park (Confederate museum)
*Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park
*Kolomoki Mounds State Park (Indian mounds)
*Lookout Mountain Flight Park
*Marietta (National and Confederate cemeteries)
*Martin Luther King Jr. Center for NonViolent Social Change (gravesite)
*Midway Church
*New Echota Historic Site
*Ocmulgee National Monument
*Okefenokee Swamp (ecology and swamp life exhibits)
*Old Slave Market
*Old State Capitol
*Plains
*Providence Canyons (scenery)
*Raduim Springs
*St. Simons Island (beach)
*Savannah Beach (lighthouse)
*Seminole (fishing)
*Stephen C Foster State Park
*Tallulah Gorge (deep canyon)
*Tate (quarries of famous Georgia marble)
*Toccoa Falls (186-foot drop)
*Warm Springs (Little White House).

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