It’s a simple statue, and of course, comes with a story. Try your hand at identifying this Mystery Photo. Send in your thoughts to elliott@gwinnettforum.com and be sure to include your hometown.
First, an apology. We failed to highlight that Dee Cameiro of Lilburn sent in the previous mystery photo of Daughters of the American Revolution ceiling at their Washington, D.C. headquarters.
The previous Mystery Photo found several people who easily identified it. As Neal Davies of Decatur said in the first entry: “Those smokestacks are of the Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham, Ala,” which is a National Historic Landmark. The Furnaces were founded in 1881, and produced iron for 90 years. The photograph was sent in by Sandy and Rick Krauss of Lilburn.
Others identifying the photo included Bob Foreman of Grayson; Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill and George Graf of Palmyra, Va., who added: “Though James Withers Sloss had little formal education, he bought a store in Athens, Ala. By successfully handling his store and his plantation, he quickly became one of the richest men in the state. After serving as a Colonel in the Civil War, he became president of the railroad line between Nashville, Tenn. and Decatur, Ala. He became a leading figure in encouraging Alabama’s industrial development after the Civil War, and in 1871 he persuaded the Louisville and Nashville (L&N) Railroad to finish a line of railroad track between Birmingham and Decatur. The arrival of L&N transport and investment capital helped create Birmingham as a great industrial city and the South’s first postwar urban success story.”
LAGNIAPPEPeach State Credit Union hosts visitors from Alabama, Florida
Peach State FCU welcomed 12 visitors from Alabama and Florida credit unions for the “Learning Journey,” an educational tour of Georgia credit unions for the purpose of identifying best practices and resources for a variety of topics. The Learning Journey was spearheaded by Army Aviation Center FCU President/CEO, Bobby Michael. Visitors learned about Peach State’s “Loans By Phone” center, student internship program and plans for the Central Gwinnett High School branch, Leadership Academy, Fresh Start loan program, commercial and business lending, and NOW account from members of Peach State’s Senior Management Team. Peach State President/CEO, Marshall Boutwell says: “We’re honored to be a stop on the Learning Journey and we are happy to have the opportunity to share some of our most successful programs with other credit unions.”
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