Stone Mountain Park

Besides the hike, Stone Mountain has many other things to see. There is an amusement park area. I’m not too sure what all they have but it includes things like riding a train or the ducks (a tour vehicle).  We skipped that.

There was a rock quarry area.  The mountain was extensively quarried from 1845 up until the 1970’s.  The exhibit explained all the different methods and technologies that were used to quarry and finish the rock over the years.  The granite is used all over the park for curbs, signs, and posts. 

 

They have a sign (in granite of course) of all the places the granite was used all over the world.  Besides being used at the Panama Canal, it was even used in the Post Office of Ada Ohio.  Can’t get more famous than that!  (I went to college in Ada.)

 

Stone Mountain is perhaps best known for the carving on one side. It’s a grouping of Confederate President Jefferson David, General Stonewall Jackson, and General Robert E. Lee.  The original sculptor was Gutzon Borglum.  After working for a year on the sculpture, major disagreements between him and the association funding the sculpture resulted in him being dismissed. He took all his sketches and models with him, at which point a warrant was issued for his arrest.  He fled Georgia and instead was asked to carve the more famous Mount Rushmore.  A second artist removed his work from the surface and later a third artist finished the work.  From the viewing area, the carving doesn’t look that big.  It’s actually larger than a football field.