Volume 17, no. 3 • October 1999

HERB BRIDGES AND GONE WITH THE WIND

Mr. Bridges has long been a friend of the Troup County Historical Society and Archives. He spoke to our group in the mid-1980s and last year presented an evening class on GWTW at LaGrange College. He is an active supporter and leader in the Newnan-Coweta Historical Society. Items from his collection were featured in an exhibit in Newnan during the 1996 Summer Olympics.

The Brunch will be at Highland Country Club beginning at 11:30 a.m. Tickets are $15. each. Please make your reservations early!

DOWNTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT

Following a public hearing conducted by Ken Thomas and Gretchen Kinard of the Georgia Office of Historic Preservation, several structures were added to the district, including: the old Bus Station (Gay & Joseph's office) on the northern end of the district; the Callaway Foundation office, Southern Bell building, and Hammett building on the western side; Linch's Appliance and Westbrook Tire on the southern edge; and WLAG and the old Double Cola building on the eastern sides. Several of these structures date from the late 1940s or early 1950s and are just turning fifty years old. The state representatives particularly liked WLAG's building because it is one of the few historic structures originally built for a radio station which is still being used as a radio station. WLAG was constructed in 1957. At that time, WLAG and WTRP were the only radio stations in LaGrange.

In related news, the City of LaGrange approved the local historic district and passed a historic preservation ordinance earlier this year. City Council is appointing a committee composed of people interested in historic preservation, knowledgeable about architecture or construction, and with an interest in the historic areas of LaGrange to serve on the historic preservation committee. Following

The old Greyhound Bus Station located at the intersection of Church and Haralson Streets is part of the proposed new National Register District downtown. This postcard was made in 1952 when the building was new.

training, some of the committee's initial activities will include getting a detailed survey of historic structures in downtown prepared and developing guidelines outlining acceptable changes and new construction in historic areas.

1999 marks a watershed year in the preservation of historic structures in LaGrange. Numerous economic development studies done in recent years indicate that National Register districts, together with a local historic preservation ordinance, contribute significantly to economic gain and development. We expect that the district and preservation ordinance, together with the monies the City of LaGrange and Downtown Development Authority have spent improving the streets, sidewalks and gas, water, and sewer lines in downtown, will do much to ensure the future livelihood of downtown as it enters its third century.

RECENT ACCESSIONS AT THE TROUP COUNTY ARCHIVES

CELEBRATE 2000 ACTIVITIES

1) A time capsule will be prepared and placed in downtown to be opened December 31, 2049 or January 1, 2050. Students who are part of the Celebrate 2000 Youth Committee will help decide what goes into the time capsule, with support from the Heritage Subcommittee of the Celebrate 2000 Committee. The time capsule is being donated by Durand-Wayland. A label will proudly proclaim that the capsule was made in LaGrange, Georgia, USA when opened.

Deciding what should go into the time capsule is actually a very tough job. What items best represent the people of Troup County in 1999? We firmly believe that the Troup County Archives will be here in fifty years so the time capsule does not need to be a repository for all of the history of the city and county, though we will put copies of our Treasures of Troup County: A Pictorial History and Travels Through Troup County: An Architectural Guide in the time capsule just to be on the safe side. What else reflects life and the people of the county? The students are bringing four items reflecting their school to their next meeting on November 18th. We can't wait to see what they decide to include.

Other items we know we want to include are photographs or plans of new structures. Photographs of the new softball complex on Ragland Street, the Philip Cleaveland Baseball Stadium at LaGrange College, Callaway Conference Center at West Georgia Tech, Callaway High and Middle School, Long Cane Middle School, and the new Wal-Mart Distribution plant will be included since these are some of our newest structures. In 2050, these will be fifty years old -- and possibly labeled historic! How will the structures have changed? Will they all still exist? Only time will tell.

Technology also presents a problem. Do we include CDs, CD-Roms, video tapes, or computer disks. Manufacturers of some of these claim they will survive for 10, 50, 100 or 500 years but will the technology of the future be able to play the items? Does anyone have a computer disk from twenty years ago? Very few computers have slots for 5 ¼" disks and even fewer computers can read the old Word Star files or other early programs. An alternative will be to include the equipment in the time capsule. Maybe we will include a CD player or a laptop computer.

Other things which will be included in the time capsule include several of the new Georgia quarters, copies of the LaGrange Daily News from December 31, 1999, and January 1, 2000, Celebrate 2000 t-shirts and posters, and scenes from the New Year's Eve party. We will also have copies of the winning essay contests and copies of the winning entries in the photo contest.

We will include programs and photographs from the tree planting ceremonies at the schools. Kay Durand is heading a subcommittee of Celebrate 2000 which is making sure that a tree is planted at each of our schools. Student committees will be working with her and the Tree Committee of the City of LaGrange to organize ceremonies at each school to properly observe these plantings. Again, it will be interesting to see if the trees survive the next fifty years -- and how tall the trees will be.

If you have thoughts about other items that will properly reflect life in Troup County in 1999, contact Kaye Minchew at the Troup County Archives.

2) Another way we will reflect on our heritage at the Downtown Countdown will be to look at images of ourselves through the years. A huge video screen will be on LaFayette Square on New Year's Eve. The film crew headed by Doug Roberts will be showing live scenes from downtown plus we hope to have connections with our Sister Cities. Every few minutes, they will insert old film clips from LaGrange and Troup County. Many of these have never been seen by the general public and should provide a fascinating glimpse of how we use to look.

Clips already in hand include scenes from a LaGrange College homecoming parade in 1964 or 1965. Mary Lou Vaughan graciously allowed us to copy her footage. She was not marching in the parade -- but her brother's new white convertible was prominently featured.

Gilbert Holliday has shared footage from the 1936 Courthouse fire and scenes from the LaGrange High class of 1934 standing in front of their school which burned in 1944. He also got a snow scene from the 1930s and was in an airplane flying over town! Mr. Holliday reports that he made these films before he married and had a family. He made $6 a week working for Callaway Mills while having a reel of film developed cost $4! We are certainly happy that he was having fun depicting his friends and family!

Gwen Redwine brought in a Super-8 film which is a birthday party from 1976. The cameraman shot scenes as he traveled to the party -- so we have the old wooden sign at Troup Tech and much more. Others who have helped supply film and video footage include the Chamber of Commerce, Charles Hudson, LaGrange Ballet, and LaGrange College. We have videos of the Olympic activities here in LaGrange. TV 33 and Peter Mallory promise to be of great assistance as well. Another unexpected find was getting film of the LaGrange Hill 1955 State Championship game. Dusty Mills had a copy he was happy to share it. We will get copies of these films for the Troup County Archives collections -- in case anyone wants to watch the entire game!

We need your help with these videos and films! If you have old 8 millimeter, Super-8 films, or videos which feature recognizable places, people, or events, please let us borrow your film for two to three weeks to copy! Please don't assume we will already have a copy of your footage! Call Kaye Minchew at 884-1828 and ask!

We have asked many, many people if they have film of the Square before LaFayette. The Square use to have colored lights which created a dancing lights effect. Some Christmases, a tree stood over the Fountain. We have photographs but film footage would be even better.

3) A photo contest will be held documenting life of Troup County in 1999. The two categories will be individual photograph and photo albums. Albums can be used to show a variety of topics or to depict the life of a family, class, sports team, or other group over the year. Prizes will be given for best individual photos and best albums. Copies of the winning entries will be placed in the time capsule. Other entries may become part of the collections of the Troup County Archives. Entries must be postmarked by December 6, 1999.

4) An Essay Contest will be held to predict what Troup County and the world will be like in the year 2050. Essays should consist of 100 words or less and there will be two categories: essays and poems (which can include songs) with winners from the elementary, middle, high school, college, and general public levels. Entries should be postmarked by December 6, 1999.

4) The subcommittee is also encouraging community residents to do Oral History Interviews with older citizens about changes witnessed during the twentieth century. We would love to have copies of either video tapes or audio tapes to add to the Troup County Archives collections. Perhaps you have a grandparent or other relative, neighbor, or a member of your church to interview!

5) The Troup County Archives will host a special exhibit from the National Building Museum on Kress Stores and department stores in general. This exhibit will be at the Archives in December and January, 1999. The National Building Museum, together with the Smithsonian, prepared the Barn Again exhibit which was on display at the Archives in Summer 1998.

Finally, we expect the heritage activities associated with Celebrate 2000 to continue into the Year 2000.

The time capsule will be dedicated in 2000 so that materials from the New Year's Eve party can be included. We may sell souvenir videos featuring both historic clips and actual footage from the celebration. A final project we would like to have widespread participation in is a "write-in" in 2000 describing what your typical day is like. We will add copies of these essays to the Troup County Archives collections and they will be available for research in coming years. The great value of having those essays will not be evident next year but in twenty or fifty years when we compare our days then to the "past'. We would certainly love to be able to compare our daily schedules with schedules from 1950 or 1900. Many things would have changed, though many things would be similar!

All in all, the coming of 2000 will give us many reasons to reflect on the past and contemplate the future! We hope you will join the heritage subcommittee of Glenda Major, Peter Lukken, Ethyl Ault, Laura Lewis, and Kaye Minchew in these activities.

NEW HOMEPAGE FOR TROUP COUNTY ARCHIVES

The new homepage combines the best features of our old page with even more resources. Some things you can find: Databases for cemetery records, naturalizations, and soldiers from Troup County killed in service; photographs; descriptions of collections in the Troup County Archives; articles on the history of Troup County; forms for obtaining research assistance; information about ordering books; and forms to become a member of the Historical Society. Check out our page on your computer or come by the Archives and we will be glad to show you.

NEW STAFF AT THE ARCHIVES

At the Troup County Archives, Peter will oversee processing of manuscripts collections and accessioning of new materials. He will also assist with reference. Peter is married and has two children.

A second new staff member is Mick Buck who works afternoons as a reference assistance. Mick has been assisting with indexing our postcard collection and processing a large photograph collection. Mick plans to enroll in West Georgia University's Public History Masters Program next year. Mick and his wife have a young child.

We also have a new volunteer, Jay Funk. Ms. Funk is a retired court reporter and has been working hard to transcribe our oral history interviews. Transcribing requires careful work and great concentration but makes oral history interviews much easier for researchers to to use. We greatly appreciate her efforts.

We also seek new volunteers. Volunteers are currently needed to transcribe deed records and index original court records from the 1850s and 1860s. Volunteers who are good typists are needed to enter deed information into a computer database. If you are interested, please call us at 884-1828.

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