Do you enjoy history, old ruins, discovering secrets of the past? That's what Backyard Historian is all about. Although you can find that sort of thing traveling all over the world, you can also find it in your own backyard.
When I moved here to Woodstock, Georgia, I was surprised at how much history is right here in this town, even in my own neighborhood...even in my own backyard! That's pretty much the way it is everywhere. Wherever you live, things have been happening there for a long time. And maybe you find an interest in reading about it, or exploring what's left of it.
In my own backyard I have a creek. I live in the foothills of the Appalachians. I bought my house as it was being built in a new subdivision, cut out of the virgin wilderness. I used to sit on my deck and imagine I was the first person to hang out there.
But Native Americans - Cherokees - used to live in this very spot. In fact, the beginning of the Trail of Tears is only a few miles from here. People that once lived in my own backyard were part of that.
And then the gold miners came. Remnants of their work remains today in the woods around here, if you know where to look. I discovered that in my very own creek, gold panners a hundred and fifty years ago squatted with their pans, looking for gold.
For years after that, my backyard was used by local hunters, campers and hikers. I've met several people who say that before my subdivision was built, they used to come out here all the time.
This website is dedicated to finding out about the past, in an amateur sort of way, whether it's in your own backyard or halfway across the world (in someone else's backyard). We may explore old ruins, or perhaps old legends. Occasionally we find ourselves looking for the odd, the creepy, or even the ghostly! But we keep it all both fun and informative.
