|
Peterson Family Garage.
We invite you to tour the Chatt Hills Barn Quilt Trail and learn more about the rich rural heritage of beautiful Chattahoochee Hills. Visitors are welcome to take photos from the public road, and are invited to shop in the local businesses.
|
|
|
Peterson Family Garage (#32)
5495 Pace Rd 
|
Vintage home and family treasures
Lynne and Jimmy Peterson are an antique-loving couple with a keen respect for the past. When they decided to move to Chattahoochee Hills in 1991, they found the perfect home -- a vintage cottage that had been relocated from the airport area to Chatt Hills. The home was in complete disarray, but the couple recognized its charm beneath its layers of patina. They purchased the home, renovated it with an eye to the past, and filled it with their many treasures.
When selecting a pattern for their barn quilt, they were drawn to a star-within-a-star design similar to a heritage quilt they own. They named their barn quilt, "Heritage Star" in honor of their family, home, and many treasures. |
Careful caretakers of the past
|
The couple displays a few of their favorite things.
|
|
Lynne was a country girl who grew near Cedar Grove Rd and attended Cedar Grove Elementary School in what is now Chattahoochee Hills. A member of the Brock family -- one of the early heritage families that have lived in the area for generations -- Lynne was raised with a respect for the past and a love for the many antiques that filled her childhood home.
Jimmy was a city boy who grew up in East Point, a larger city near metro Atlanta that still had touches of country back then. He enjoyed nature and gardening, which eventually led him to open a landscape and gardening business.
The couple met through Jimmy's brother and married in 1988, then moved to nearby Fairburn, Georgia before finding their current home in Chattahoochee Hills. Once the home was theirs, the couple ripped down 1960s-era wallpaper, patched crumbling plaster, updated the aging kitchen, and added landscaping and a screened porch before filing it with his-and-her treasures. Today, their home is picture perfect. In fact, it is such a model of country living, it was featured in the popular Country Sampler magazine's 2019 Tour of Homes.
When Lynne and Jimmy heard about the Chatt Hills Barn Quilt Trail, they thought hosting a barn quilt would be a wonderful addition to their heritage collection. Placed on their garage, their Heritage Star barn quilt is a lovely backdrop for the many antique treasures displayed in their yard.
Jimmy was a city boy who grew up in East Point, a larger city near metro Atlanta that still had touches of country back then. He enjoyed nature and gardening, which eventually led him to open a landscape and gardening business.
The couple met through Jimmy's brother and married in 1988, then moved to nearby Fairburn, Georgia before finding their current home in Chattahoochee Hills. Once the home was theirs, the couple ripped down 1960s-era wallpaper, patched crumbling plaster, updated the aging kitchen, and added landscaping and a screened porch before filing it with his-and-her treasures. Today, their home is picture perfect. In fact, it is such a model of country living, it was featured in the popular Country Sampler magazine's 2019 Tour of Homes.
When Lynne and Jimmy heard about the Chatt Hills Barn Quilt Trail, they thought hosting a barn quilt would be a wonderful addition to their heritage collection. Placed on their garage, their Heritage Star barn quilt is a lovely backdrop for the many antique treasures displayed in their yard.
Heritage story . . . Brock Family Ferrymen
Joe Brock (1872-1930)
Pumpkintown Ferry operator
|
Henry Brock (1898-1981) Campbellton Ferry operator
|
The Campbellton Ferry "back in the day"
|
Lynne's parents both have deep roots in this area that was once a part of Campbell County, GA. The Ray family, on her mother's side, dates back to the 1900s. The Brock family, on her father's side, dates back to the 1850s.
Two of the descendants, Joe Brock and his son Henry Brock, operated ferries that crossed the Chattahoochee River at the towns of Campbellton and Pumpkintown (historic crossroads of Chattahoochee Hills).
Joe Brock was known as "the one-armed ferryman." The family story passed down through the ages says Joe came home from the Civil War uninjured, but then got his arm caught in a cotton gin, and it had to be amputated. The procedure took place on the front porch, with whiskey being the only “anesthetic” available. The arm was removed with a handsaw, and his younger brother who was watching promptly fainted. It is family legend that his brother’s fainting caused Joe to laugh, even though his arm was being sawed off.
In 1950, the Atlanta Journal Magazine included a feature story on the two Brock ferrymen. Henry Brock said,
“We charged 35 cents for a wagon or buggy or car, with nothing extra for the passengers. The State Highway department took over in 1935, quit charging a toll, and hired me as ferryman on a salary. We had to quit hauling heavy trucks, after one of them strained a gunnel. Traffic runs nearly altogether on gasoline now. I’ve taken only one team and wagon across in 14 years. The highwaymen thought they would put me out of business when they paved the road from Fairburn to Douglasville, and built a new bridge a few miles up the river. But that doubled my work. On pretty Sundays I take 100 or more cars across, mostly Atlanta people who come by here just for the boat ride. I’ve had a lot of old folks, who never saw a ferry in their lives, drive down here to ride this one.”
For more photos and the complete feature story see: Interview with Henry Brock on the Chatt Hills History site.
Two of the descendants, Joe Brock and his son Henry Brock, operated ferries that crossed the Chattahoochee River at the towns of Campbellton and Pumpkintown (historic crossroads of Chattahoochee Hills).
Joe Brock was known as "the one-armed ferryman." The family story passed down through the ages says Joe came home from the Civil War uninjured, but then got his arm caught in a cotton gin, and it had to be amputated. The procedure took place on the front porch, with whiskey being the only “anesthetic” available. The arm was removed with a handsaw, and his younger brother who was watching promptly fainted. It is family legend that his brother’s fainting caused Joe to laugh, even though his arm was being sawed off.
In 1950, the Atlanta Journal Magazine included a feature story on the two Brock ferrymen. Henry Brock said,
“We charged 35 cents for a wagon or buggy or car, with nothing extra for the passengers. The State Highway department took over in 1935, quit charging a toll, and hired me as ferryman on a salary. We had to quit hauling heavy trucks, after one of them strained a gunnel. Traffic runs nearly altogether on gasoline now. I’ve taken only one team and wagon across in 14 years. The highwaymen thought they would put me out of business when they paved the road from Fairburn to Douglasville, and built a new bridge a few miles up the river. But that doubled my work. On pretty Sundays I take 100 or more cars across, mostly Atlanta people who come by here just for the boat ride. I’ve had a lot of old folks, who never saw a ferry in their lives, drive down here to ride this one.”
For more photos and the complete feature story see: Interview with Henry Brock on the Chatt Hills History site.