Published by the Fort Attaway Preservation Society

Published by the Fort Attaway Preservation Society, Inc., (F.A.P.S.) a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of Rome, Georgia’s Fort Attaway. Please bear with us as we try to establish a standard format for our Battle Report!

In the proposed project to widen Highway 27, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is planning an unnecessary move of 2,000 feet of railroad track 30 feet south. With this move, the railroad tracks that were built onto the bottom terrace of Fort Attaway in 1890 will be moved further up onto the military face destroying some very significant fortification features, not to mention further digging into Desoto Hill, one of the Seven Hills of Rome.

Ever since its formation in early 2002, the Fort Attaway Preservation Society has gathered a mass of information and proof that makes a case against moving the 2, 000 feet of rail line 30 feet up the military face of the fort. In fact, for 50% of the cost, five years ago, Norfolk Southern offered to rebuild the rail line and bridge in place, instead of moving it further onto the fort, and the Georgia DOT declined. Today, the Georgia DOT has not given sufficient reasons to why they can’t build the rail line in place like Norfolk Southern would have done five years ago.

Well, y’all missed a good one. September 15, 2003 the Fort Attaway Preservation Society was finally given a chance to present their information to the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA). Representatives from the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) as well as the Georgia Department of Natural Resources-Historic Preservation Division (GDNR-HPD) were also at the meeting. You should have seen the government employees’ faces as we set up our camcorder to record the meeting. We have had to start recording our conversations with these people to one: keep them honest, and two: record the lacks-a-daisy approach to the preservation of Georgia’s history.

David Fowler, Jr. was in great form as he presented document after document that prove the environmental review on Fort Attaway was inadequate. The majority of the documents that Mr. Fowler used came from the offices of the GDOT, the GDNR-HPD, and FHWA after F.A.P.S. enforced the Georgia Public Information Act on the three government agencies. One such document presented was some field notes from the GDNR-HPD office that noted, “Was archeo. adequate? Should they have done: more sensitive metal detecting? Closer interval shovel testing? Expertise in Civil War archaeology?” The Historic Preservation Division has doubts that the GDOT conducted enough field research to base their conclusions on the adverse effects the project will have on the fort however the Department of Transportation still tries to push the project through.

Included in the poor environmental review was a bogus history written by GDOT Historian, Mark Grindstaff. He claimed that no action was seen at the sight of Fort Attaway as he could not find descriptions in any Civil War resources. We read out loud to Mark and the group the article, “Cannons on the Hills of Rome” from the North Georgia Journal. This article was written by the GDOT’s very own lawyer, Dan Roper. This article’s information came from the War of the Rebellion: Official Record of The Union and Confederate Armies. This was only one resource that states there was action at Fort Attaway.

Federal Highways listened to our evidence however it remains to be seen whether the Federal Highways Administration will follow through with the promises that they made to look into adjusting the GDOT Project and reducing the amount of required right-of-way to be taken.

Despite the Federal Highways Administration’s promises at the September 15^th meeting, Pam Digsby, from the GDOT Right-of-way office, was allowed to come to Fowler Hill September 16th, 2003 and conduct a ROW meeting to negotiate a price.

Ms. Digsby told the Rickman’s and Fowler’s that she had called Norfolk Southern and she reported they SAID there was a 100 ft. of right-of-way, but she did not have the documentation to prove it. The Rickman’s and Fowler’s have had $400 worth of title research conducted from the Rome Courthouse by Walter Jenkins, and the result of the research has shown there is only 50 ft. of ROW for the rail line that lies between U.S. 27 and North 2^nd Avenue.

Right-of-way negotiations at the September 16^th meeting were not conducted because Pam Digsby and the GDOT failed to prove the 100 ft. and could not give the landowners the exact amount of land required by the GDOT.

Pam Digsby left the meeting promising that she would get the documentation that proves the 100 ft. of ROW, and would get back to the Rickman’s and Fowler’s about further negotiation.

Produced by:
Fort Attaway Preservation Society, Inc.
1202 Desoto Avenue, Rome, GA 30165 (706) 234-0537
f_marlin@bellsouth.net[


Fort Attaway		Battle Report
October 2003		3^rdEdition