GC56KBW AMNHA: What Does the Rock Say? (PMP) (Traditional Cache) in Georgia, United States created by Arabia Alliance

GC56KBW ▼

A cache by Arabia Alliance Message this owner

Hidden : 6/8/2014

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

This cache is placed with permission. Please follow all park rules, noting that the park is open Dawn to Dusk (no night caching, please). Since you will be searching near our office, we might step outside to say hello.

Cell service will be limited in various areas on the AMNHA Geo-Path. Please plan accordingly.

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Remember to bring a pen, items to trade, and follow recommended Geocaching Etiquette .

CONGRATULATIONS TO HARTHUNTER FOR BEING THE FTF!

Rock marking the Alexander Estate near Alexander Lake

AMNHA Geo-Path Series

AMNHA: What Does the Rock Say?

Passport: Geo-Path
Series: Panola Mountain Pathways
Password: Located in the logbook
Hours: Sunrise to Sunset
Parking Options: See waypoints (paid or free)

This adventure brings you close to a rock marking the Alexander Estate in Panola Mountain State Park. The cache is hidden just off the Arabia Mountain PATH trail. If you time your visit right, you may catch a beautiful view of Alexander Lake.

This can be a high-muggle area at times, so stealth is required.

Alexander Estate marker stone

The Alexander Estate, located around Alexander Lake within Panola Mountain State Park, is a peaceful area offering fishing, boating, hiking, and archery. Visitors may be drawn to the lake itself, the nearby Parker House, or simply the quiet, rural atmosphere preserved through Ed Alexander’s dedication.

Before being transferred to Panola Mountain in 2002, the land surrounding Alexander Lake had been owned by the Parker family since the 1800s. The Parker House, built around 1822, still stands near the lake’s entrance and once sat at the center of a plantation where enslaved people labored.

In the 1950s, Freeman and Marion Alexander purchased the 350-acre property for recreational use. Freeman even built Alexander Lake himself before constructing their home. For a time, fishing access cost just one dollar.

Edward “Ed” Toner Alexander earned a landscape architecture degree from the University of Georgia and partnered with Edward Durell Stone Jr., son of the architect behind the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Ed designed the Children’s Garden at the White House and developed a lifelong friendship with First Lady Lady Bird Johnson.

His work included the Timex headquarters in Taiwan, the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico, Busch Stadium in St. Louis, and the master plan for the Big Canoe community in North Georgia.

Ed also served as chairman of the Metro Association of Conservation Districts for Atlanta and the Rockdale Soil and Water Conservation District.

Edward Toner Alexander

Family stories describe Ed as a risk-taker who survived both a plane crash and a serious saw accident while building the Alexander Barn. Despite these close calls, his adventurous spirit never faded.

As development pressures increased in the late 1990s, Ed worked with Arabia Alliance and neighboring landowners to preserve this landscape. He sold his family’s land to The Conservation Fund at a reduced rate, ensuring it would become part of Panola Mountain State Park.

Thanks to these efforts, Alexander Lake and the surrounding lands remain protected today. Ed Alexander passed away in 2001 at the age of 65 and is buried near Alexander Lake.

Read more about how Ed Alexander saved Alexander Lake and view his memorial .

Alexander Lake and surrounding landscape