When the bustle of a city slows, towns dissolve into abandoned buildings or return to woods and crumble into the North Georgia clay. In 1832, Auraria was one of the sites of the original American gold rush. The remains of numerous towns dot the landscape - pockets of life that were lost to fire or drowned by the water of civic works projects. Cassville was a booming educational and cultural epicenter until 1864. Allatoona found its identity as a railroad town. Author and professor Lisa M. Russell unearths the forgotten towns of North Georgia.

The textile era was born of a perfect storm. When North Georgia's red clay failed farmers and prices fell during Reconstruction, opportunities arose. Beginning in the 1880s, textile industries moved south. Mill owners enticed an entire workforce to leave their farms and move their families into modern mill villages, encased communities with stores, theaters, baseball teams, bands and schools. To some workers, mill village life was idyllic. They had work, recreation, education, shopping and a home with the modern conveniences of running water and electricity. Most importantly, they got a paycheck. But after the New Deal, workers started to see the raw deal they were getting from mill owners and rebelled. Strikes and economic changes began to erode the era of mill villages, and by the 1960s, mill village life was all but gone. Author Lisa Russell brings these once-vibrant communities back to life.

An archeologist reveals the mysterious world that disappeared under North Georgia’s man-made lakes in this fascinating history. North Georgia has more than forty lakes, and not one is natural. The state’s controversial decision to dam the region’s rivers for power and water supply changed the landscape forever. Lost communities, forgotten crossroads, dissolving racetracks and even entire towns disappeared, with remnants occasionally peeking up from the depths during times of extreme drought. The creation of Lake Lanier displaced more than seven hundred families. During the construction of Lake Chatuge, busloads of schoolboys were brought in to help disinter graves for the community’s cemetery relocation. Contractors clearing land for the development of Lake Hartwell met with seventy-eight-year-old Eliza Brock wielding a shotgun and warning the men off her property. Georgia historian and archeologist Lisa Russell dives into the history hidden beneath North Georgia’s lakes.

Labor conflicts, arrests, espionage--it was all there at the once ubiquitous mills of Fulton County. Employee records and snatches of paper prove workers spied on each other. Company owners were paranoid about labor unions taking over. Copious documentation, unearthed here by author Lisa M. Russell, brings the workaday drama back to life. These mills sustained families, but exploitation was far from uncommon. When mill workers finally went on strike, there was hell to pay. The company bosses yanked strikers from their shacks. With the help of Governor Talmadge, the National Guard arrested working women with their children. They marched these "criminals" to a former WWI prisoner of war camp that once held enemy German soldiers. Hard to believe this was happening in and around Atlanta in the early 1900s.

North Georgia has been found to contain some of the most advanced indigenous cultures north of Mexico. Very little of what one reads about its Native American history, whether on historic markers or tourist brochures, is accurate.

More than eighty historic buildings and roadside landmarks across Georgia have found sanctuary in this stark but powerful collection of sketch work. From obscure treasures like a Cobb County covered bridge to the instantly recognizable Forsyth Park in Savannah, landscape architect Ronald Huffman puts pencil to pad to safeguard moments of state history. Each piece is accompanied by anecdotes and related backstories that preserve the context of these icons before progress irrevocably alters the landscape. Explore the back roads of Georgia with a guide attuned to the unexpected splendors that mark the way.

The author of Haunted North Georgia stalks the Civil War ghosts that populate the top of the Peach State. Though Georgia was spared the hard hand of war for two years, combat arrived with a vengeance in September 1863 with the Battle of Chickamauga in north Georgia. It was the second largest battle of the Civil War and has become one of America’s most haunted battlefields, producing a long history of bizarre paranormal events that continue today. From Sherman’s notorious march to Confederate general James Longstreet’s continued inhabitance of his postwar home, Georgia is haunted by many of those who fought in America’s deadliest war. Join author Jim Miles as he details the ghosts that still roam Georgia’s Civil War battlefields, hospitals, and antebellum homes. Includes photos! “He’s a connoisseur of Georgia’s paranormal related activity, having both visited nearly every site discussed in his series of Civil War Ghost titles . . . Miles has covered a lot of ground so far from the bustling cities to the small towns seemingly in the middle of nowhere. This daunting task takes an inside look to the culture and stories that those born in Georgia grow up hearing about and connect with.” —The Red & Black

Chilling tales from north Georgia, where even the outhouses are haunted! North Georgia is home to more than its fair share of ghosts, from scenic antebellum mansions to restaurants, mills and even an outhouse. Reverend Robert William Bigham of Coweta County received a supernatural visit from his wife after her untimely death. The night watchman at an Elberton cotton mill became acquainted with three haunting visitors in his four decades at the mill. Hikers on Lookout Mountain were surprised to discover a mysterious house eerily decorated with magical symbols and bones. Author Jim Miles reveals the most terrifying ghost stories from each county in the region.

In 'Music as Social Life', Thomas Turino explores why it is that music and dance are so often at the centre of our most profound personal and social experiences.