Here’s a handsome photo of a classical design. Many of our readers may have seen it. Can you figure out what it is, and where it is located? Send your answers to elliott@brack.net and be sure to tell us the hometown where you live.
From the last edition and its mystery, Cathy Loew, Peachtree Corners, wrote: “Another deja vu moment! I’ve attended a wedding there too!” She identified the chapel at Simpsonwood Park in Peachtree Corners. The photo was made by George Graf of Palmyra, Va.
Allan Peel, San Antonio, Tex. wrote: “Today’s mystery photo is the Chapel at Simpsonwood Park, more formerly called the Elizabeth Jane Sanders Simpson Chapel.
“Simpsonwood Park is named after its donor, Anna Louise ‘Ludie’ Simpson (1887-1975), who bequeathed the 227-acres of pristine land with 2,040 foot frontage on the Chattahoochee River to the Methodist church in 1973 with the understanding that it would not be subdivided or developed. Once it was taken over by UMC, it was converted into a conference center and called the ‘North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church.’ The Methodists kept to their word and maintained the property intact with minimal development. Furthermore, based on an agreement made to Simpson prior to her death, the UMC built the 100-seat chapel in 1985, and named it after, and in honor of, Ludie Simpson’s mother, Elizabeth Jane Sanders Simpson (1851 — 1931).
Sadly, the UMC were unable to maintain the property, and was purchased by Gwinnett County with help from the City of Peachtree Corners in 2016 so that the wishes of Ludie Simpson could be continued to be honored. The county’s goal for the park is to maintain it as a nature preserve with minimal improvements. The conference lodge has since been demolished and only the small chapel remains and operates as a popular wedding venue.”
Others recognizing the photo include Christina Howell-Scott, Peachtree Corners; Jay Altman, Columbia, S.C.; Stew Ogilvie, Lawrenceville; and Lou Camerio, Lilburn.
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