Chapters in Athens Heritage

Chapters in Athens Heritage. Living by the River. Generation after generation of people worked, shopped, played, prayed, married, and were buried within this river-based community., Many former slaves settled into small houses on the floodplain of the North Oconee River in areas called Lickskillet and Over the River. Residents along the low-lying banks of the river were plagued by disease and flooding. The more prosperous mill workers lived on the drier surrounding hills. Each part of the community had its own music, gardens, sports teams, stores, schools, and churches. The people worked long hours, but also enjoyed playing and praying by the river. In the 1960s many river edge-homes were removed by the federal urban renewal program. When the textile mill closed in 1977 the mill village faded, and a diverse riverside neighborhood emerged., (sidebar) , Lickskillet Neighborhood , The Ware-Lynden House is the only structure still remaining on its original lot from the once fashionable 19th-century in-town neighborhood which contained many of Athens' finest Antebellum homes. At the neighborhood extended down the hill toward the river, the homes were smaller and less ornate. The "Lickskillet" Neighborhood Historical boundaries were Clayton, Jackson, and Hoyt Streets and the Oconee River. The neighborhood went into decline in the mid-20th century and the remaining homes were demolished by the federal urban renewal program of the 1960s., 1800's historical map of Downton Athens, (captions) , African-American bome in the Licksbillet area of Athens near the Oconee River., Church congregations gathered at the shoals by Trail Creek for baptism by immersion., Before window screening, smallpox and malaria were deadly problems in the lowest and wettest areas of riverside housing. Quinine was sold to combat malaria, a disease spread by mosquitoes.