So I've been in Georgia a while now. There's a lot of history here, and I love learning about it. I also think the state has some beautiful landscapes. Pair that with my nerdy love of maps and here we are. I just finished up a series of three pieces that are a bit of a departure from my past works. They were made by attaching old maps of Georgia to heavy duty art paper, upon which the image was painted/ drawn using acrylic, oil pastels, and colored pencil. The art was then glued...and nailed... onto a backing of salvaged wood.

Each map of Georgia I used is different. They're original maps, but not all that old- I think one is about 30 years old maybe? I used the maps to help me decide on the titles, but also thought about how the images felt. So, here's a bit of backstory on each title:

 "Homestead on Ceded Land"

 by Charles Shipp, 2018 

This cabin seemed welcoming and inviting, and it made me think of someone coming home from a long day's work. The map in this one seems to highlight the natural elements - forests, lakes, rivers, etc. So I was thinking about the land and settling on it, and how we use it. 

The "ceded" part refers to the state's early history. Most of north Georgia was quickly "acquired" by the United States from the Cherokee and other native nations once gold was discovered in the area. One could write a book (and I'm sure they have) about all the shady deals and underhanded agreements that ultimately led to the trail of tears, which began close to where i'm currently living in Cherokee County. Before all that new land was divided up, named, and settled by the newcomers, the area was simply referred to as "ceded lands". 

"The Hope of M.F. Stephenson"
by Charles Shipp, 2018 

The Georgia gold rush (1828-1840's) brought a lot of settlers to north Georgia. Many fortunes were mode during those years. Whole towns sprang up overnight, and thrived for a number of years.

The Georgia Gold Rush ultimately began to decline when gold became more difficult to extract, and was properly squelched when gold was discovered in California. Miners left the state by the hundreds to go west in search of riches. M. F. Stephenson was the assayer at the Dahlonega Mint and a self-made mineralogy and geology expert.  Supposedly, he made a desperate plea during those times in hopes to keep the miners here- "Why go to California? In that ridge lies more gold than man ever dreamt of. There’s millions in it.” That plea, which has gone down in history (see also: "There’s gold in them thar hills"), ultimately failed to keep the gold economy moving. Some managed to continue to remove gold from them hills, but most never struck it rich. Whole towns were abandoned, but you can still visit a few remnants of America's first gold rush if you know where to look. (I actually found the remains of a cluster of mines in some woods near Lake Allatoona- took a lot of research and about 6 hours of hiking back and forth through the woods, but it was really cool once i figured out that i was in the right spot.)

 

This house felt kind of lonely once i finished it. Almost abandoned. These days, fortunes are made other ways in this region, as evidenced by the sprawling, yet unfinished, interstate system on the map. But as before, not all share in that success. But I suppose there's always hope.

"Divisions on the Land: One Day By Horse"

by Charles Shipp, 2018 

As Georgia grew and developed as a state, one interesting thing that has developed is the county system. The state has more counties (159) than any state except Texas (254). Interesting side note- the state of Delaware has the fewest counties (3), and counties in Rhode Island have no actual government function. 

 

Georgia has lots of counties. You can see them pretty well on this map, and you can see that they're all fairly similar in size, or at least they were at one point. This is due to a number of reasons, but some sources note that the original intent was for all residents to be within a day's ride on horseback (round trip) of their county courthouse. I've also heard that the circuit court system, which required judges to travel from county to county (on horseback), influenced the map as well. There are lots of other factors as well, but I just like the idea of a map being dictated by the length of a horse ride. I found myself thinking about a settler, or a miner, or a sharecropper, walking out of a house not too different from the one I drew in the image above, climbing up on their horse, and riding all morning to get to the courthouse. 

 

Regardless of the reasons, Georgia now has an absolutely amazing collection of counties, which hold some beautiful old courthouses. And if you look around, you can find a few small cabins left over from the days when there weren't as many divisions, and this land was a very different place.