Where Georgia keeps its history right where it happened.
The Story
Sweetwater Creek State Park spans about 2,549 acres in Douglas County, and its centerpiece is the five-story brick ruins of the New Manchester Manufacturing Company, a water-powered textile mill built in 1849 and renamed in 1858 that produced cotton yarn and cloth for the Confederacy. In July 1864 Union troops seized the mill during the Atlanta Campaign and, on Sherman's orders, burned it, arresting its largely women-and-children workforce and deporting them north as refugees. Georgia opened the park in 1972 to protect the ruins and surrounding gorge, and the walls were stabilized in a 2016-2017 preservation project.
About this site
Sweetwater Creek State Park is a state historic site in Douglas County, Georgia. It is one of 22 historic sites cataloged in Douglas County on Georgia Roam.
The site sits at 33.7520, -84.6330. The nearest cataloged historic site is New Manchester Manufacturing Company (historical marker), about 0.6 miles away. Others within a short drive include Mozley Memorial Gardens Cemetery, Beulah Grove Lodge No. 372, Free and Accepted York Masons--Pleasant Grove School, and Pleasant Grove Cemetery.
This record is drawn from the Georgia DNR Historic Preservation Division. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
Sweetwater Creek State Park spans about 2,549 acres in Douglas County, and its centerpiece is the five-story brick ruins of the New Manchester Manufacturing Company, a water-powered textile mill built in 1849 and renamed in 1858 that produced cotton yarn and cloth for the Confederacy. In July 1864 Union troops seized the mill during the Atlanta Campaign and, on Sherman's orders, burned it, arresting its largely women-and-children workforce and deporting them north as refugees. Georgia opened the park in 1972 to protect the ruins and surrounding gorge, and the walls were stabilized in a 2016-2017 preservation project.
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