CARVED IN STONE (Civil War Georgia) [Hardcover]

David B. Freeman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Carved In Stone is the story of the development of Stone Mountain, Georgia, from a natural wonder, to an historic site, to a recreational park. Stone Mountain is the largest exposed mass of granite in the world. Sixteen miles east of Atlanta, the 825-food dome rises to 1,683 feet above sea level. The northern face of the mountain is a perpendicular cliff nearly fifty stories tall. The world's largest piece of sculpture (where ride gigantic carved figures of three Confederate heroes: Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Stonewall Jackson) is a part of Stone Mountain's majesty. In 1915 the United Daughters of the Confederacy leased the land and commissioned Gutzon Borglum (later the sculptor of Mount Rushmore) to carve the "Lost Cause" memorial on the mountain where the second Ku Klux Klan was resurrected by William J. Simmons. Proceeding intermittently over six decades, the project was given added impetus in the wake of the south's massive resistance to racial integration. Capitalizing on this impulse, the state of Georgia funded the completion of the project in 1958 for use as a tourist attraction. Opening as a theme park in 1970, Stone Mountain now draws some five million visitors a year. Carved In Stone is a fascinating history of the American psyche translated into a memorial monument. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Hardcover: 260 pages
• Publisher: Mercer University Press; First Edition edition (June 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865545472
• ISBN-13: 978-0865545472
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,497,114 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Part Of The South, December 23, 2001

By 

D.N. Dial (West Union, South Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: CARVED IN STONE (Civil War Georgia) (Hardcover)

Having lived in Atlanta until 1985, I played on and around the mountain most of my childhood, but knew little of it's history. Mr. Freeman's book is very informative and explains in an interesting way how the park came to be. If your interested in what some call the "8th Wonder of The World," I would suggest this read.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A story of the mountain and the dream, July 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: CARVED IN STONE (Civil War Georgia) (Hardcover)

I just recently got done reading this book that I picked up on a trip to the mountain. There is still so much left to see, and i have been down there five times already. The history is rich, and very informative. It is a shame that politics got involved and that the original dream was not able to be fullfilled, but alas we got something

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Giant Piece of American History (in the South), February 5, 2009

By 

Betty Burks "Betty Burks" (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: CARVED IN STONE (Civil War Georgia) (Hardcover)

Stone Mountain Georgia is located near the foot of the Appalachians, an ancient mountain chain, composed of granite. Granite is the universal stone which contains uranium, aluminum, iron, silica and rare minerals. At one time, the peaks rose higher than the Rockies and even taller than the Himalayas. Three hundred million years ago, the land in the area stood 10,000 feet higher than it does now. There was never an eruption like that in Alaska.

The exposed granite of Stone Mountain covers 25 million square feet, or 583 acres. It is 1,683 feet above sea level. When I visited there with a school group, it was just a huge rock. But not anymore. Now three famous Confederates astride their horses have made this monstrosity famous. The land had belonged to the Creek Indians, then the Venable family. In 1826, President John Quincy Adams purchased the land topped by a rock as big as a mountain.

Historians tried to find evidence that Hernando de Soto (searching for the garden of youth) visited Stone Mountain. Captain Juan Pardo, sent by Spain in 1567, called it Crystal Mountain. George Washington got involved in acquiring this large-scale replica of Gibraltar in 1790.

In 1909, the United Daughters of the Confederacy chose this as a site for a spectacular Confederate Memorial at the world's largest piece of sculpture cut into this enormous mass of granite. Fifty-five years elapsed before the statue was begun in 1964. At first, it was to depict a seventy foot (later expanded to 168 ft.) carving of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis, all astride their horses. (Lee's horse, Traveler, has his own notoriety, the best known in the Civil War (you can read about it in the World Book). In 1958, the Georgia legislature deeded it as a state park and actual work on this monument began in 1963.

A few revisions were made throughout the project by the chosen sculptor, Walker Kirkland Hancock of Gloucester, Mass. The carver, Roy Faulkner, spent six years drilling thousands of holes in the acre of granite, declared it a privilege to be associated with such a great man as Mr. Hancock. Together, they created a work of art the likes of Michelangalo: a giant, effective Confederate Memorial of the three top men.