GEORGIA 



2454 



GEORGIA 



better every year. In the larger cities and 

 towns there are graded and high schools for 

 both white and colored children, and the total 

 enrollment of colored pupils is about two-thirds 

 that of the white. 



The University of Georgia (which see), which 

 admits only men, is a part of the public school 

 system. Among other institutions of higher 

 learning are the South Georgia State Normal 

 College at Valdosta, the State Normal School 

 at Athens, the Georgia School of Technology at 

 Atlanta, Andrew Female College at Cuthbert, 

 and many other schools of academic or college 

 rank. 



Religion. Among religious sects, the Baptists 

 are by far the strongest, having more members 



I NORTH CAROLINA GEORGIA 



SCALE OF WILES 



GEORGIA 



The map shows boundaries, locates the highest 

 point of land in the state, names the principal 

 rivers and the leading cities, and shows the loca- 

 tions of mineral wealth. 



than all the other churches combined. Next in 

 order are the Methodists, of whose 300,006 

 members about one-third are colored. The 

 founder of Methodism, John Wesley, visited 

 the colony with his brother Charles in 1736, 

 and George Whitefield, one of the most power- 

 ful pteachers of that denomination, founded 

 an orphanage, near Savannah in 1738, but it 

 would be incorrect to trace the strength of 

 Methodism in the state to these early in- 

 fluences. 



Surface Features. The different topograph- 

 ical regions of Georgia are well marked, though 

 in general it may be said that there is a grad- 

 ual slope from the northern part toward the 

 coastal plain in the southeast. In the north 

 a triangular section with an area of about 

 6,000 square miles is crossed from northeast 

 to southwest by the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

 These are not towering peaks, the greatest 

 elevations not reaching 6,000 feet, but their 

 abrupt valleys, steep cliffs and domelike sum- 

 mits make up a scenic region of surpassing 

 beauty. In the extreme northwestern corner, 

 in that portion of the Cumberland Plateau 

 which projects into the state from Tennessee, 

 is located Chickamauga National Military 

 Park, a memorial of the great battle fought 

 on September 19 and 20, 1863. The area of 

 the park itself is fifteen square miles and the 

 roads for miles on each side of it have been 

 beautified and made a part of the park system. 

 Monuments and tablets at various points make 

 clear the maneuvers of the battle, and at places 

 the forest-growth which covers the park has 

 been cleared away, that the movements may 

 be traced. 



On the south the Blue Ridge district grad- 

 ually gives way to the Piedmont Region 

 (which see), a section of rolling country di- 

 versified with broad hills and narrow valleys. 

 The northern edge of this region is about 1,500 

 feet in altitude, but at the fall line, where the 

 land drops to the coastal plain, it is only about 

 300 feet. The direction of this fall line may 

 be interestingly traced on the map, for its 

 course across the state is marked by a line 

 joining the cities of Columbus, Macon, Mil- 

 ledgeville and Augusta. These cities do not 

 just happen to be at the fall line they were 

 located there that they might take advantage 

 of the excellent water power which the drop 

 in the rivers furnishes (see FALL LINE). 



Stretching away to the southeast is the 

 coastal plain, with an area more than half 

 that of the entire state. For the most part 

 this is low and level, but here and there occur 

 ridges and valleys which seem like miniature 

 mountain ranges. In the southeastern corner, 

 extending into Florida, is the Okefinokee 

 Swamp, one of the largest swamps in the 

 United States. Low marshy tracts, where 

 moccasin snakes and alligators abound, are 

 interspersed in this great swamp region with 

 islands overgrown with trees and dense under- 

 brush. It has never been fully explored, for 

 its dangers are as numerous as its beauties. 



