Camak House: LANDMARK IN GEORGIA RAILROADING. On March 10, 1834, a group of Athens men met in this house, then the home of Mr. James Camak, to accept the charter of the Georgia Railroad Company and to organize the corporation. At this meeting Mr. Camak was elected its president, and he soon began a tour of the State building up interest in the railroad and explaining its purpose. Camak served as president for two years and played an important part in blazing the way for the future success of the company. The Georgia Railroad Company was incorporated by an act of the legislature in 1833 and empowered "to construct a Rail or Turnpike Road" from Augusta to Eatonton, Madison, and Athens. It was during Camak's administration, in 1835, that the charter was amended to change the name to Georgia Railroad and Banking Company and to authorize the company to conduct a banking business. The Georgia [Railroad] is the oldest railroad in the State operating under its original charter. By 1847 the main line from Augusta to Atlanta, as well as a branchline to Athens, had been completed. The company continued its banking activities until 1892, at which time a subsidiary, Georgia Railroad Bank, now Georgia Railroad Bank & Trust Company, was formed to conduct the banking business. 029-10 GEORGIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION 1963

corner of Meigs and Findley streets, Athens, GA, United States

GEORGIA'S PIONEER AVIATOR BEN T. EPPS 1888 - 1937. Ben T. Epps - Georgia's First in Flight - designed, built and in 1907 flew the first airplane in the State of Georgia. He was born in Oconee County, educated in Clarke County, and attended Georgia Tech. A self-taught aviator, aircraft designer, and builder, Epps built the 1907 Monoplane in his shop on Washington Street in Athens and designed and flew new airplanes in 1909, 1911, 1916, 1924, and 1930. The 1924 Epps Monoplane weighed only 350 pounds, had a wingspan of 25 feet, and was powered by a two-cylinder motorcycle engine. Designed for the average man, easy to fly, and inexpensive to operate, it would get 25 miles per gallon at 60 miles per hour. Epps began operation of an airport at this location in 1917, and operated a flying service for the next 20 years. In 1937, he died of injuries here after engine failure and the crash of his light biplane on take-off. 029-16 GEORGIA HISTORIC MARKER 1987

front of the Athens Airport terminal, Athens, GA, United States

Athens High and Industrial Schooll. Established in 1916-1917 and accredited in 1922, Athens High and Industrial School (AHIS) was Georgia's first four-year public high school for African-American students. Originally known as Reese Street School, founded in 1914, AHIS offered a full curriculum of classes including Latin, Greek, literature, history, chemistry, and physics. Industrial classes were offered in the evenings for adults. Leading black educator Samuel F. Harris served as principal of AHIS until his death in 1935. In 1933, AHIS moved to this location, previously the site of the Knox Institute which was founded by the Freedmen's Bureau in 1868. 2010.7 Erected by the Georgia Historical Society, the AHIS/BHHS Alumni Association, Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation and the Athens Historical Society, Inc. 29-06

Reese St. at N. Pope St., Athens, GA, United States

The Athens Double-Barrelled Cannon. This cannon, the only known one of its kind, was designed by Mr. John Gilleland, a private in the "Mitchell Thunderbolts," an elite "home guard" unit of business and professional men ineligible because of age or disability for service in the Confederate army. Cast in the Athens foundry, it was intended to fire simultaneously two balls connected by a chain which would "mow down the enemy somewhat as a scythe cuts wheat." It failed for lack of a means of firing both barrels at the exact instant. It was tested in a field on the Newton's Bridge road against a target of upright poles. With both balls rammed home and the chain dangling from the twin muzzles, the piece was fired; but the lack of precise simultaneity caused uneven explosion of the propelling charges, which snapped the chain and gave each ball an erratic and unpredictable trajectory. Lacking a workable firing device, the gun was a failure. It was presented to the City of Athens where, for almost a century, it has been preserved as an object of curiosity, and where it performed sturdy service for many years in celebrating political victories. 029-5 GEORGIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION 1957

Athens City Hall Square, Corner of College and Hancock Avenues, Athens, GA, United States

America's First Garden Club. In 1891 at this site, the Ladies Garden Club was founded by twelve Athens ladies in the home of Mrs. E.K. Lumpkin. Mrs. Lamar Cobb was the first president. Beginning as a small neighborhood group, the club extended membership to all Athens ladies interested in gardening in 1892. In the spring of 1892 the group presented its first flower and vegetable exhibition. By 1894 a set of standards, similar to those of today, had been drawn up to make the shows as professional as possible. In 1936 the National Council of State Garden Clubs recognized the Ladies Garden Club as America's first garden club. 029-9 GEORGIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION 1968

Front Lawn of Young Harris Methodist Church, 973 Prince Ave., Athens, GA, United States