“Back on Common Ground”
The Story of George Washington Carver Park and Pine Acres Retreat
In 1950 a Civil Rights victory was achieved when George Washington Carver Park was established and John Loyd Atkinson became the first black man to be hired as superintendent of a Georgia State Park. A WWII Tuskegee Airman, Atkinson returned to Georgia in 1943 after his Army discharge, determined to establish a resort for blacks, similar to America Beach in Jacksonville, Florida.
It was an arduous task with many obstacles during the era of segregation.
Finally, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had completed Allatoona Dam, Georgia State Parks leased 1,457 acres that became Red Top Mountain State Park, plus an additional 345 acres to create George Washington Carver State Park.
As Atkinson predicted, families from Atlanta, Birmingham and Charlotte flocked to “The Beach” for church picnics, family reunions and to see the famed St. John’s Ski Bees each Summer. Ray Charles and Little Richard performed there, and the families of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Andrew Young and many other notables were regulars. Atkinson nurtured the park until 1958. Cartersville resident Clarence Benham became the new superintendent and operated the park alongside his family. His son Robert Benham, who would later become Georgia’s first black Supreme Court Chief Justice, “had the pleasure of growing up at the park.” Justice Benham shares that “most people saw the park as a refuge” from day to day life, and “looked forward to the weekend when they could come to The Beach.”
Atkinson’s leadership also led to the establishment in 1956 of Camp Pine Acres, a partnership with the Atlanta Girl Scout Council to provide a place for young black girls to camp, learn to swim and enjoy the outdoors. Over 50 years, expansions and improvements were added. In 2017 the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta found it could no longer economically sustain the 210-acre property.
The camp is now Pine Acres Retreat, Bartow County’s newest facility available for weekend group getaways, family reunions and church or corporate retreats. Renovated event venues, overnight lodging with cottages, camping pods and bathhouses, a pool, picnic shelters, an archery range, pebble beach and other outdoor recreation are available to guests. The secluded, waterfront setting on Lake Allatoona and its Mid-Century Modern lodges and meeting halls are so scenic that producers of a Netflix series and the new Fox TV dating reality show “Love Story” have filmed scenes there.
In 1970, George Washington Carver Park’s lease was transferred from Georgia’s park system to Bartow County. Recently renovated under new management of the Cartersville-Bartow County Convention & Visitors Bureau, the park now features interpretive signage as well as picnic areas, shelter and event hall rentals and scenic views from what many say is the prettiest beach on Allatoona Lake. Learn more about the park’s history at http://visitcartersvillega.org/gwcp/. To view the facilities at these or other locations, visit https://visitcartersvillega.org/connections/cat/meeting-event-venues/reunions-picnics-retreats/ For reservations, call the Cartersville-Bartow County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Finally, for the first time since 1950, the 600 acres of Lake Allatoona shoreline once set aside for African Americans is renovated and once again on common ground.
Plan your visit online at VisitCartersvilleGA.org or call a Visitor Information Specialist at 800-733-2280 or 770-387-1357 for suggestions on lodging, shopping, dining and more things to see and do.