Rain Appropriate for ECD Dedication

There’s a new marker on the edge of the next to West Lawrenceville Street that local officials hope will become a tourist attraction. The slender obelisk is nine feet tall, just the right height for up to 6-foot-tall individuals to stand in front of it so that the words “Eastern Continental Divide, Duluth, Georgia” appear above their heads. When residents and visitors pose for pictures, they will be straddling the divide.

State Rep. Brooks Coleman (R-Duluth), Duluth Mayor Nancy Harris and other city officials, Duluth Downtown Development Authority members, Duluth Fall Festival Chairman Wayne Herman and Co-Chairman Kathryn Willis, and Connie Weathers, founder of Sustainable Norcross, joined in unveiling and dedicating the marker Thursday (Sept. 22). It is the first permanent Eastern Continental Divide Marker in the metro Atlanta area and indicates where the ECD crosses downtown Duluth. The marker was paid for by the Duluth Fall Festival Committee.

The ECD runs through Atlanta, downtown Duluth, Norcross, and other cities on its way from Pennsylvania to Florida. It demarcates the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico watersheds. If water falls on the east side of the divide it eventually runs into the Atlantic Ocean, whereas water falling on the west side flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

The base of Duluth’s marker shows which sides the water will flow toward. If rain falls to the left of the marker as it faces West Lawrenceville Street, the water will eventually flow into the Atlantic Ocean. The rainwater that lands on the right of the marker will drain into the Gulf of Mexico.

Coleman hurried the dedication along pointing overhead to big, black clouds moving into the city. “We’d better get this marker dedicated before the Eastern Continental Divide floods,” he said. It started to rain during the dedication, but no so hard that the ceremony had to be postponed.

Coleman talked about history and significance of the ECD, which the railroads used to determine the best routes. Railroads followed the divide because streams do not cross it. This eliminated the need for the railroada to build expensive bridges and culverts. The railroad through Duluth follows the ECD.

In a dramatic gesture, Coleman poured water from a jug onto the ECD. This was the way that he and Louise Burton, fifth grade teachers in the 1960s at Duluth Elementary School, now the Monarch School, used to teach students about the divide, Coleman said. After Mrs. Burton poured water out, she explained to students where it would end up, he said.

Weathers was the keynote speaker. A friend of ECD enthusiast Elliott Brack, Weathers said there are plans to erect a marker where the ECD crosses Norcross. Brack, the founder of the Eastern Continental Divide Association, was unable to attend the ceremony. The association is spearheading efforts to erect a marker in Norcross.

“You have achieved a first among ECD communities in Georgia and beyond,” said Weathers. “You have created a point of interest that few can claim, and you should be proud. I am happy for you and appreciate you leading by example.”

Besides tapping into the geo-tourism market, Weathers said, Duluth is protecting two major watersheds. “With droughts, water wars and various other threats to our water-dependent futures, it is especially important to educate, promote, revere, and protect our water supplies,” she said.

Duluth Economic Development Manager Chris McGahee explained how the project developed and the role of the Duluth Downtown Development Authority. The marker was designed by DDA Vice Chairman Rob Ponder with input from his wife Carmen, who suggested the obelisk form after the Duluth City Council expressed concern that Ponder’s original monolith design might block the view of Duluth City Hall. An architect, Ponder designed the marker, ordered it, and arranged installation at no cost to the city.

Willis, a member of the DDA, broached the idea to the Duluth Fall Festival Committee. The committee enthusiastically approved paying the estimated $9,700 cost so Duluth would be the first to erect a permanent marker, she said. The granite for the marker was quarried in Elberton, GA. It weighs about 3,600 pounds.

Willis presented a plaque to Ponder. Speaking briefly under an umbrella, Ponder said he hoped there eventually would be a trail of markers along the length of the Eastern Continental Divide. DDA members then removed the cover and unveiled the marker.

The rear of the marker features a map showing the location of the Eastern Continental Divide and major rivers in Georgia and the wording: "Donated by Duluth Fall Festival."