Black Rock Mountain & Foxfire Museum
Hiawassee Park Outing
Couples Club
Tuesday, June 17, 2014 – Hiawassee Park provided a van for a retirees day trip to Black Rock Mountain State Park and the Foxfire Museum near Clayton, Georgia. We bought lunches at the Chic-Filet in Clayton for a picnic lunch at a reserved shelter at the top of the mountain. The weather was nice and the view was outstanding.
After lunch we drove down a short way to the Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center. Some 20+ structures have been built, reconstructed, or moved in to represent pioneer life in these mountains as it existed in the early 1800s. The project, including purchase of the land, was funded by the royalties earned by publication of the eleven editions of The Foxfire Book.
After paying the $4 entrance fee that included a self-guided tour map, we set off on the nature trail that led to each of the structures. There were seven houses or cabins, a woodworking shop, blacksmith shop, mule barn, hog scalder, chapel, gristmill, root cellar, smokehouse, and wagon shed. All contained assortments of early furniture and farm implements. One of the cabins was used as a weavers shop where an active demonstration of weaving was going on. Another housed a broom making exhibition.
These were all primitive log structures. The ones that were moved in had signs describing where they had originally been built and a short history of the family that owned them.
The tour was interesting and made us appreciative of the modern facilities we enjoy.
