Autrey Mill Nature Preserve: You'll forget modern Atlanta is nearby
Published: Apr 1, 2009
Out in the Johns Creek woods is a place set back in time and so remote you'll forget the hustle and bustle of downtown isn't very far away. A short drive down to the Autrey Mill Nature Preserve is all it takes to see what used to be — a place where new life is breathed into 400 years of local history.
The Autrey Mill Nature Preserve began as a grassroots endeavor during the 1980s by what is now known as the Autrey Mill Nature Preserve Association. The goal was to preserve 46-acres of wooded lands, rich with local history, as a place where preservationists, environmentalists and those who enjoy history could come together.
The city of Atlanta and Fulton County perked up to the request of its constituents and took control of the property's deed, which was transferred to the new city of Johns Creek (about 45 minutes from downtown Atlanta) in 2007.
The preserve contains more than two miles of nature trails for walking, native animal exhibits, a Native American hunting lodge and tepee, as well as the Heritage Village, which has become the new home for hundreds of historic artifacts and restored buildings from throughout the local area.
Visitors can come for the day to tour historic homes, explore the walking trails or attend a class such as the Nighttime Owl Prowl or Messy Science (where children create concoctions and conduct science experiments). See their program calendar for details.
In the visitor's center, guests can see a diorama of native animals, as well as a small pond with two ducks and an aquatic turtle exhibit.
The epicenter of the activities at the preserve is Heritage Village, made up of historic buildings and furnishings donated to the preserve by area residents in order to retain the history of local lands and fend off development.
The Village buildings include: the program barn built in 1942; the visitor's center, built for farm tenants in the 1860s; the Summerour House, built as a Victorian farmhouse in the 1880s; the Old Warsaw Church, built in 1822 and used during the Civil War to prepare soldiers; the Green Country Store, built in the 1920s; the deBray Chapel, built in the 1970s by the property's last residents; the farm museum also built by the deBrays in the 1970s; the tenant farmhouse, built in the 1800s; and, finally, a pole barn, recently built as an event facility.
But, this area wasn't always farmland. Before the woods were cleared by government tenants, it belonged to the Cherokee Indians. When the U.S. government marched the Indians to Oklahoma on the "Trail of Tears," farmers were sold the land on the condition they could make it "profitable."
Several farmhouses and barns (now moved into the Heritage Village) were erected, as well as the preserve's namesake mill. Currently, organizers at the preserve are working to establish an American Indian Village onsite where people can be educated about the land and its first people. Since farming on the property ceased, it has reverted back to woodlands and all but the mill's foundation is gone.
The preserve's buildings, including the chapel and farmhouses, can be rented for a fee to host meetings, lectures and weddings.
Currently a lawsuit between the Association and the city of Johns Creek rages over which body ultimately has authority over the land and the invaluable artifacts which were donated to the Association under the former lease with Fulton County. However, visitors most likely won't feel the effects of the litigation unless Johns Creek wins and decides to make changes.
- by Christine Foster, Atlanta Reporter for HelloMetro
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