My new daily commute takes me northeast, into Alpharetta, and each day, each way, coming and going, I pass an unassuming log cabin at the corner of Milton Avenue and School Drive.
Like everyone else, the morning traffic takes whatever extra time I may allow for my travels and necessary errands afterward force my hasty retreat at day’s end. And so, this modest cabin on the corner was to remain a relative mystery until time and opportunity allowed otherwise.
When that opportunity materialized, I investigated. The historic marker told me the basics: the cabin was built in 1935 by about 100 Milton High School students as part of a Future Farmers of America project. Trees for the logs were taken from a nearby farm, local merchants and farmers contributed supplies. It was used then as a meeting place, and later, as a teaching museum for the Alpharetta Historical Society.
Closer inspection revealed padlocked chains on the doors and windows, keeping safe the charms of the cabin, making it appear an empty, lonely little landmark.
The cabin, a well, an outhouse and a small collection of vintage farm equipment occupy the edge of the former Milton High School campus, and apparently now host only ghosts of visitors past.
But such a fanciful past, according to accounts by Connie Mashburn, a historian with the Alpharetta and Old Milton County Historical Society. A life-long resident, his family dates back to 1830s Georgia.
Mashburn shared the story of the year the Milton High School Prom was held in the FFA log cabin:
In 1946, World War II was over, and there was not a lot of money, so the prom was held there. The poultry industry was plentiful and feed companies would deliver big sacks of feed to accommodate the chickens. The sacks, when empty, with the paper tag removed, were often used to make dresses, shirts and sheets. With money tight, the girls decided to make their prom dresses from the pretty patterned and floral feed sacks.
During the 1950s, the community rented the cabin on the weekends for square dancing, music club, Community Chest and Junior Red Cross meetings.
For the past fifteen years, the Alpharetta Historical Society leased this sweet resource, offering tours to groups of all ages and hosting programs for career days. Norman Broadwell, a 39-year educator with the former Milton High School, along with his wife Martine, looked after the cabin, conducted the tours and led the demonstrations. But there have been no tours or demonstrations since, and the fate of the cabin is unknown.
What is known is that a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics school is planned for the property.
“We have not made any decisions, or have any current recommendations, for the cabin. It remains on our property until a future decision is made,” Susan Hale, of Fulton County Schools, told me.
This concerns those who want to preserve our local history and who’ve held fundraisers to try and generate the estimated $200,000 it would take to move the cabin, should that become necessary, to save it.
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