The Fayette County Historical Society cordially invites you to participate in history this Sunday, September 28 at 3 p.m.

President Alice Reeves has arranged to have famed Starr's Mill open and the meeting will take place inside the mill building.

Bring a chair and head to Starr's Mill in the Glen Grove community of Fayette County. Not familiar with that area – it sits on Georgia Highway 85 South at the corner of Georgia Highway 74 South.

Native Fayette Countian Bobby Kerlin, who was born and reared there, will give the history of the area gleaned from the generations of Kerlins, Jones and Baileys, who have lived there through the decades.

It is believed that the mill site goes back to the1700s when the area was still inhabited by the Creek Indians, who built a rock wall in the creek to catch fish.

When the county was formed in 1821, one Hananiah Gillcoat built the first mill building sometime between 1822 and his death in 1825.

The current building is the third one on this site and you will learn about the subsequent owners of the land and the mill buildings at Sunday’s meeting.

Kerlin will tell you how the current name of Starr's Mill was acquired and interesting information about the various owners and mill managers through time.

Unfortunately, the mill was the site of a murder as well as the site of a movie, and all will be revealed Sunday. Additionally a Baptist church was built here in the late 1880s and you will learn how it got its name and what it is called now.

Bobby Kerlin's parents were married in Nyson, and you will learn where that is.

There's an interesting story about the man who pulled off the road one evening quite tired, and went to sleep in his car. When he woke up the next morning, he found himself next to a beautiful mill, and bought the property. More on that on Sunday afternoon.

The Fayette County Historical Society was formed as an after-growth of those who put together the Fayette County Sesquicentennial in the summer of 1971.

This committee realized they were all interested in the history of their county, and started the historical society that fall. Those actually co-founding the society were Bobby Kerlin and Carolyn Cary. Bobby served as its first president. The charter members that first year numbered 50 and there are currently over 200 members.

The society met in homes and a bank meeting room for 16 years. In fact, the officers like to ask prospective members if they had a basement, because it was beginning to need storage space.

In 1986 the Margaret Mitchell Library moved to new quarters, and left the 1948 building empty. With persuasion, the county commissioners allowed the society to move in. The officers held an "olly-in-free" week and was amazed at the shelving space taken up when everyone emptied their basements.

The society now celebrates its 20th year here and has had to add additional shelving.

It moved in with 300 family files and now has several thousand family files. It has a number of books written by families, the listing of the 1821 land lottery drawers, the census records from 1830, the tax digest for most of the 19th century, and marriage records for that same period of time.

You are encouraged to submit your own family genealogy even if you have only lived here a few years. Eighty years from now one of your descendants in California may visit looking for information on your family.

Questions you might want to ask Bobby: What and where are the communities of Dublin and Rest located, who was Starr, what is the name of the creek the mill is located on, where does it start and where does it end, who is Drewry May and where is he buried, and about the Gaulding Masonic Lodge.

“You do not have to be a society member to be on hand,” Reeves added. “Just bring a chair and join us in this historic occasion. We will have light refreshments after the meeting and if you're interested in the historic county you live in, come join us.”

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