A Slice of Life
Bill Lites
Day 17 (6/1/2022)
This morning after breakfast I headed southeast 40 miles on US-431 to try and find the Slosheye Trail Historical Marker, said to be, located in Hawkinsville, GA. Greta (My Garmin) found the marker in front of the Pulaski County Courthouse (you can barely make out the marker in the photo below). The marker informed me that the Slosheye Trail once extended from Hawkinsville, on the Ocmulgee River southwest some 65 miles to Drayton, on the Flint River and was used by Indians and early fur traders as early as 1750. It continued to be a major travel artery in the Georgia frontier area for many years.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
Now I headed south 45 miles on US-129 to visit the Blue & Gray Museum located in the Fitzgerald Depot in Fitzgerald, GA. The Blue & Gray Museum displays 1200+ Civil War artifacts, photographs, and memorabilia dating from the early 1800s. The Blue & Gray Museum shares space in the 1900s Fitzgerald Depot with the AB&A Railroad Exhibit, which includes antique railroad artifacts and memorabilia related to the growth of Fitzgerald and the surrounding Ben Hill County area dating from the 1800s.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
I continued south about 10 miles on US-129 to visit the Confederate Monument located on the lawn of the Irwin County Courthouse in Ocilla, GA. This monument was erected in 1911 and is dedicated to all the Georgia soldiers who fought and died in the Civil War. This massive Irwin County Courthouse was built in 1910 to replace the first county courthouse which was built in 1883, and has served the Irwin County residents until the present day.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
It was another 30 miles south on US-129 to where I was looking for the Old Coffee Road historical marker in Nashville, GA to see what that was all about. It turns out The Old Coffee Road was established in 1823 and built by General John Coffee. It was the first road to link the Ocmulgee River, near Fitzgerald, to Thomasville for the transport of goods back and forth to this area.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
Before leaving Nashville, I drove over and stopped to check out the CarterParrett Railnet (CPR). This turned out not to be a museum, but a rail-yard for another small private railway (80 miles of track) that only services the southern part of central George. I took a quick photo and continued on my way to find the next museum.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
I headed south another 60 miles on US-129, across the border, to visit the Old Hamilton County Jail located in Jasper, FL. This museum is situated in the old restored 1893 two-story brick Hamilton County jail, which was the only county jail in Hamilton County until 1984, when a new county jail was built, there in Jasper, to replaced it. This museum displays antique artifacts, photos, and memorabilia tracing the history of the Florida jail system in the 1800s.
Photo Credit: www,Bing images/old hamilton county jail jasper florida
—–To Be Continued—–
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.
One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is: John 10:10
Old Things R New 
