Georgia Backroads Magazine

  1. Georgia’s Lost Blue Ridge Parkway
  2. Mirages of Colonial Spain
  3. Kennesaw Mountain Almost Became a Cold War Bunker
  4. Vanished: Where are the Hotel Ansley Murals?
  5. Blood on the Tracks: Did the Central of Georgia Railroad Serve a Duel Purpose?

Georgia’s Lost Blue Ridge Parkway

Though little known today, once there were plans to extend the iconic Blue Ridge Parkway in North Georgia. My article about the story was in the Autumn 2023 edition: https://georgiabackroads.com/product/autumn-2023/

An earlier version of this story was used in the Friends of Kennesaw Mountain’s newsletter: https://ajbramlett.com/fkmnbp-articles/

Mirages of Colonial Spain

In the 1930s, ruins of several Spanish missions near Georgia’s coast became the centerpieces of new state parks. Then questions about their authenticity arose. This article was in the Summer 2024 issue: https://georgiabackroads.com/product/summer-2024/

Kennesaw Mountain Almost Became a Cold War Bunker

In the 1950s, the National Park Service battled the Air Force over plans to build a massive command bunker deep beneath Kennesaw Mountain. This article was in the Autumn 2024 edition of Georgia Backroads: https://georgiabackroads.com/product/autumn-2024/

Vanished: Where are the Hotel Ansley Murals?

Inside the lobby of Atlanta’s Hotel Ansley were three paintings of important moments in early Georgia history: Oglethorpe and Tomochichi, John Wesley, and the Yazoo Land Fraud. Widely commented on when the hotel opened in 1913, the paintings disappeared in the 1950s. What happened is a mystery waiting to be solved.

This article was in the Spring 2025 edition of Georgia Backroads: https://georgiabackroads.com/product/spring-2025/

Blood on the Tracks: Did the Central of Georgia Railroad Serve a Duel Purpose?

In 1856, English immigrant John Arrowsmith wrote a sensational letter to the London Times, describing a series of duels and murders that occurred on a train ride between Macon and Augusta. Arrowsmith’s account captured the attention of readers on both sides of the Atlantic, but was there any truth behind this gory tale?

The full article can be found in the Autumn 2025 edition of Georgia Backroads: https://georgiabackroads.com/product/autumn-2025/