Entry No. 8 — the Atlanta file — filed under: mill ruins

New Manchester Mill Ruins, Sweetwater Creek State Park

The roofless brick shell of an 1849 five-story cotton mill that spun yarn and osnaburg cloth used by the Confederacy. Union troops burned it in July 1864 and arrested roughly 600 women and child mill workers from the company town around it, marching them to Marietta and shipping most by train to Louisville, Kentucky and Indiana — few ever returned to Georgia.

The move: Hike the trail along the creek to the ruins at dusk and stand inside the four-story brick walls where a whole company town's worth of women lived and worked until the war erased it overnight.

• 📍 Lithia Springs
• 💸 $$
• ⚡ Up for anything
• 🌗 Indoors

Where: 1750 Mount Vernon Rd, Lithia Springs, GA 30122

Hours: Added 2026-07-19 — confirm current hours before you go.

⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Further reading: georgiatrust.org · gadnr.org · Atlas Obscura

last checked: 2026-07-19