As I’ve stated here before we drive by places everyday in Douglas County never realizing the significance the place holds in our historical record. The place I have in mind to examine this week was once the hub of a thriving plantation containing 5,500 acres.
I can’t even imagine what 5,500 acres looks like. Can you? Perhaps we need to put the number in terms we can understand.
640 acres of land is equal to 1 square mile. So 5,500 acres figures out to be an area encompassing approximately 8.5 miles.
Picture yourself at the intersection of Thornton Road and Bankhead Highway in Lithia Springs. Now think about heading off from that spot in any direction for 8.5 miles. From the intersection south towards I-20 you travel a distance of 2.5 miles. If you turn around and re-trace your route passing over Bankhead Highway and continue on C.H. James Parkway towards Hiram you would end up past Brownsville Road to travel, a full 8.5 miles. If you travel up Bankhead from the interesection past the center of Lithia Springs towards Douglasville you would need to go through the middle of the commercial district to the western edge of town to travel 8.5 miles.
Are you getting the picture? 5,500 acres would have been a huge plantation.
Now think about the land in terms of horse and buggy days and that area of land seems even larger, doesn’t it?
5,500 acres of land in the vicinity of Thornton Road and Bankhead Highway and one man owned it all.
You can read the rest of this column over at Douglasville Patch.
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