LATE 1800’S AND EARLY 1900’S
Fireworks were a great sport in Powder Springs on holidays in those days for many years. Sparklers for the little ones, Roman candles and fire crackers of all sizes for the older ones.
One never to be forgotten scene was the community Christmas Tree at the Church. It was always a big tree with a present for every child. Santa Clause was always there.
Young and old enjoyed tennis, horse shoes and baseball. These games were popular as home and at the spring down town at the park area where around the Pavilion.
Mr. Charlie Scott’s was a great gathering place not only for ball games, but for syrup candy pulling, singings, and social activities of all kinds.
There were big parties in the homes. There were dances or balls called play parties. Dances were held in the hotel and in the pavilion at the spring. Miss Roberta Murray had kept her mother’s invitation to a ball and a supper to be given at the hotel Tuesday night, February 13, 1883.
Gentlemen paid one dollar each and ladies were admitted free. One Baptist preacher threatened to withdraw church fellowship to the young dancers but it didn’t materialize when the Sunday School Superintendent, Mr. J. B. Oglesby, admitted that he too enjoyed the dances.
Target practice was popular with young men. Hunting, in season, was a great sport and many of the men and boys kept fine dogs for this sport.
Fathers made play equipment for the children. Yard swings were made with a board seat suspended from a tree limb on chains or heavy ropes. Later, some were automobile tires suspended in the same way. Seesaws and flying jennies were made. Little railroads with cars running down an inclined track was also made.
Nearly every home with children had a sand pile where the little ones played for hours with small buckets and spades, or built frog houses and castles in the sand.
There was always entertainment for summer visitors. Many people who had moved away from Powder Springs would return in the summer. On special days there were races, relays, horseshoe pitching contest, catching a greased pig, etc. at the spring along with tubs of lemonade and baskets of fried chicken.
The Tri County Singing (Cobb, Paulding and Douglas Counties) with dinner on the ground was always held at the First Baptist Church the third Saturday in July. This event was enjoyed form 1919 until July 23, 1939. At this time one of the song leaders, Young Ragsdale, entered the church with a drawn knife and making threats. A case was made against Mr. Torrance for fighting with Young Ragsdale in the Baptist Church. Ragsdale was fined fifteen dollars for raising a disturbance, by the City Council. The singing was moved to the school building where it soon went dead. A Sacred Harp sing was held the third Saturday in August at the Primitive Baptist Church.
The Southern Railroad agent, S. E. Smith, had the first radio in town about 1918 or 1920. It was a large cabinet model. The only stations he could get were WSB in Atlanta and one from Havanna, Cuba. An out wire like a clothes line served as an antenna. There was also a ground wire. Dry cell telephone batteries were used. Two sets of ear phones could be used. Dr. J.D. Middlebrooks had an early set. Most radio sets at that time were crystal sets which were built from materials bought at F. W. Woolworth’s in Atlanta. Only one set of earphones could be used with a crystal set.
FUN AT THE SPRINGS
The springs was always a center of social activity. The popularity of
outings to and entertainment at the springs changed over time but never
completely died out.
The 1850’s began the era of being a health resort because of the springs.
From 1880 to the early 1900’s the springs became a popular destination
again. There were many people who came from Atlanta and from all the
surrounding areas.
Through the years the springs and pavilion have continued to be used
for ball games, political rallies, holiday celebrations, the first real
swimming pool, various other family activities, reunions and celebrations.
The original location of the Seven Springs Historical Society and the Seven
Springs Museum (1984-2015) was in the park near the springs.
Powder Springs Enterprise, 1983 Sesquicentennial Edition
– Sara Frances Miller
After World War I, the springs were again a center of social activities
for many people in the Atlanta area (and not just for the people of Powder Springs). A large swimming pool and dance hall drew many visitors
who traveled to Powder Springs via a daily train called, appropriately,
“The Accomodation.” As Jewel Hendricks remembers it, Saturday
afternoon would mean a trip to the swimming pool and perhaps, if
Daddy didn’t forbid it, and sometimes even when he did, a lively dance
at the pavilion. There was always a baseball game with spirited competition between the Powder Springs team and surrounding teams.
Picnic’s were spread on the grass near the pavilion and everyone
enjoyed the springs and their environment.
The Springs have been an integral part of the life of the individuals who
have made Powder Springs a living community, from the days when the
town was a resort and health retreat to the later prosperity and loss
of King Cotton.
An early ad for a train excursion to Powder Springs:
The Georgia Pacific R. R. Co.
And
Cincinnati & Georgia R. R. Co.
FIRST EXCURSION
Thursday, June 1st, 1882
ATLANTA TO
POWDER SPRINGS
AND RETURN