A Visit to Mountain Park, GA

Ever since I learned Pine Lake had a more-or-less sister city in North Fulton County, I've been wanting to visit Mountain Park.

A month or so ago I sent out a query on the Pine Lake announcement mail list and got a reply from Elisabeth Shields; she was curious too and wanted to go.

Since Elisabeth's husband George punked out at the last minute, and since Janet Hill decided shopping at Macy's was the higher imperative (You Go, Girl!) and there would be just the two of us, I picked Elisabeth up in my Miata with the top down. Although it was chilly, she was kind enough not to allow me to leave it down. We roared away to begin our adventure.

Elisabeth. That's Lake Chereful behind her.

Like Pine Lake, Mountain Park was created in the late 1930s around a man-made lake. Like Pine Lake, it was a resort for Atlantans who wanted to escape the city. Like Pine Lake, it grew into a community of small homes like these:

Like Pine Lake, Mountain Park was eventually surrounded by suburban Atlanta. Like Pine Lake, the city's lake eventually grew shallow from siltation.

This aerial view of Mountain Park shows how much of  Lake Garrett has been lost to siltation.
The remaining water-covered area will soon go, as it's shallow and choked with algae.
Lake Chereful, which was added later, is still healthy.

Unlike Pine Lake, which obtained federal and state grants for dredging its lake, Mountain Park sued developers-- successfully-- but after spending nearly $1.5 million the city received an award of only $50,000. This left Mountain Park in deep debt, with a lake that is still dying, and predictably this has left the city in crisis. You can read about it here.

What is left of Lake Garrett looks peaceful...

... but there's trouble just below the surface:

What remains of Lake Garrett is larger than Pine Lake. Lake Cheful (which got its name because it lies half in Fulton County, half in Cherokee) is also larger:

Next: Our Impressions