This is a question for AT historians. Why is the Georgia terminus Springer Mountain? I know Springer was not the original point (Can’t remember the name of the original or when it was changed) but why did the AT powers at that time choose Springer and what other (if any) locations were considered.
Thanks!
Eric G.
Hi Eric–
To the best of my knowledge, Benton Mackaye’s original vision for the Appalachain Trail was that the northern terminus was to be Mt. Washington, New Hampshire. The southern terminus would be Mt. Mitchell, North Carolina.
The original southern terminus was actually designated as Mount Oglethorpe, Georgia. Due to vandalism and other reasons, it was re-located to Springer. Springer was thought to be a remote location, less accessible to those who might cause destruction.
If you have not read “Walking with Spring” by Earl Shaffer, I recommend it. It is the first solo thru-hike, back in 1948. It has a tremendous amount of history about the early trail.
Hope this helps…
fraser fir
The original plan was to have the trail connect a series of mountain top nature communities all along the east coast, sorry that doesn’t really have anything to do w/ your question, but interesting nonetheless
clong
It was moved to Springer, not because of vandalism, but because of encroaching development (roads, noxious chicken farms, etc).
Kineo Kid
After a quick google search, i found this fascinating article:
http://www.planetanimals.com/logue/Springer.html
freebird