Sweetwater Creek State Park

Sweetwater CreekMonday was an overcast day but warmed up a quite a bit so Trey and I took a ride up towards Atlanta. Sweetwater Creek is a park just west of the city on I-20. Its main attractions are the ruins of a Civil War-era textile mill and a visitor center which is Georgia’s most “green” building.

We hiked along the creek to the ruins and were a bit disappointed that we couldn’t go into the old mill. It is fenced off and you look at it from platforms up on the hill. The mill was destroyed by General Sherman’s forces on their Atlanta campaign in 1865. It was a target since it had been producing the material for Confederate soldiers’ uniforms.

click to launch panorama
click to launch panorama

The visitor center/museum is one of only 21 buildings in the country that are certified LEED-NC PLATINUM by the US Green Building Council. It was designed and built to have a minimal impact on the surrounding environment. The building itself looks pretty dull from outside as it is just cement with no paint. Inside it is very comfortable with its high ceilings, open spaces, and natural lighting. Trey particularly enjoyed their large collection of stuffed animals (the taxidermy kind).

One thought on “Sweetwater Creek State Park

  1. Amanda

    I confess, I started laughing when you highlighted the LEED Platinum. I work for the company that is the competitor to to the USGBC and has the alternate rating system. The new Rubbermaid headquarters in Atlanta used Green Globes (the system I work with!) GA is a hot spot for growing “green” building interest.

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