Sweetwater Creek State Park
During the American Civil War the textile mill and general store were burned down by the Union Army and the women and children taken away and eventually sent to Louisville, Kentucky and Indiana as refugees.
The Visitor Center displays artifacts that belong to Native Americans, remnants from the Civil War era, and mounted animals and birds.
[3] In Georgia's Gold Lottery of 1832, Philip J. Crask won 40-acre (160,000 m2) Lot 929 in District 18 of the Second Section and paid $18 grant fee.
[3] McDonald and Rogers incorporated their business as Sweetwater Manufacturing Company, which made cotton, yarn and fabric.
[3] By 1860, the factory produced 700 pounds (320 kg) of cotton per day, which was transformed into 120 bunches of yarn and 500 yards (460 m) of osnaburg.
[4] On July 9, 1864, following orders from William Tecumseh Sherman, Major Thompkins burned the New Manchester mill[4] and general store.
During the week while the women were held in Marietta, several Union soldiers allegedly committed acts of assault against their captives.
The historical geology of the Sweetwater Creek State Park is divided into three periods such as deposition of sediments, metamorphism and folding, and uplift and erosion.
[7] Recrystallization and foliation changed the shales, sandstones, greywackes and basalts into mica schists, quartzites, metagraywackes and amphibolites.
[7] The mission of the Sweetwater Creek State Park is to sustain, enhance, protect and conserve Georgia’s natural, historic and cultural resources for present and future generations.
As trees and green cover help to reduce urban heat island effect, the protection of parks is important.
Due to urban growth, the demand to the park has increased, creating problems with trail compaction and erosion, and unmanageable litter.
[8] The Visitor Center has received the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, which is the highest level attainable.
[8] The sun-controlling feature of the building allows the sun to warm the interior in winter and reduces solar energy in summer.
[8] Approximately 20% of the building electricity is produced by 10.5 kW photovoltaic arrays consisting of new and recycled solar panels.
[8] The building’s long side faces south allowing the solar panels to receive maximum sunlight.
[8] The park has bioretention ponds to prevent downstream flooding and to filter storm water runoff with aquatic vegetation.
[8] In order to save fuel by avoiding transportation of goods from farther away, the park used masonry stucco, fly-ash concrete and other local materials.
