“A generation which ignores history has no past and no future.”

Robert Heinlein 1907-1988 (American science-fiction writer)

 

SUPPORT THE HISTORIC BRICK WALK

 

          by Martha Clayton Clement

       

            Do you or your family have ancestral ties to Union County?  Do you need an idea for a way to honor or memorialize someone? Maybe you would like to become a part of a preservation effort designed to perpetuate the story of the humble beginnings of our ancestors. Why not think about becoming a participant in an extraordinary endeavor by the Union County Historical Society and purchase a personalized brick in the Historic Brick Walk. Leading from the east entry of the Old Courthouse to the front of the structure housing the restored clock and bell exhibit, the walkway will become a wonderful way to make sure your generation has acknowledged your personal ancestral history. 

               

                “Brick sales will also help to fund the Union County Heritage Center.  This cultural-historical center is designed to preserve and interpret the way people lived over a century ago in the north Georgia mountains.”

          “The Heritage Center will be developed on our 2 acre site in downtown Blairsville, ideally located just a block south of the Old Courthouse.  Currently the site contains a house built in 1906, to be restored and considered for the National Register, as well as a log cabin built in 1861, relocated from elsewhere in the county.”

          “The center will gather threatened structures that are important to the history of the county – structures such as a smokehouse, a blacksmith shop, a church, a schoolhouse, and a barn. These structures will be preserved and used as the setting for hands-on exhibits, living history demonstrations, heritage craft workshops, native and historic plantings, and a working garden.”

          “Together with the local history museum at the Old Courthouse, the Heritage Center will provide educational outreach to the schools and community and will serve as a regional heritage attraction.”

 

          (Copied with permission from the Historical Society’s brochure promoting the Brick Walk Project.)

      

          Like the quotation at the beginning of this article, our generation and our children’s generation should acknowledge the sacrifices and hardships our ancestors endured. What better way to remember them than that of placing your own commemorative brick alongside those other Union County families that once shared the same hopes and dreams?