Autrey Mill Nature Preserve & Heritage Center Facts for Kids

Autrey Mill Nature Preserve & Heritage Center
Autrey Mill Nature Preserve & Heritage Center Location in Georgia (U.S. state)
Location	Johns Creek, Georgia, United States
Area	46 acres (19 ha)
Established	1989
Governing body	Autrey Mill Nature Preserve Association

The Autrey Mill Nature Preserve & Heritage Center is a wonderful place in Johns Creek, Georgia, United States. It's a quiet spot where you can learn about the past and enjoy nature. This preserve helps protect its history and natural beauty. It also teaches the community about its important mission. You can even take guided tours using your cell phone to explore the natural areas and historical buildings.

A Look Back in Time
Exploring the Property
Nature's Wonders
Heritage Village Buildings
Historical Collections
Native American History
Animal Friends
Gallery

A Look Back in Time

The city of Johns Creek, Georgia, owns the park and its land. The Autrey Mill Nature Preserve Association manages everything that happens there. This group was started in 1987 by Margaret Krueger and Judy Webb. They wanted to save a part of 240 acres from being developed. This area included an old grist mill and its dam. John Ripley Forbes, who helped start other nature preserves, also supported this project.

Exploring the Property

The Preserve and Center sit on 46 acres of land. This land has over 400 years of history! The preserve also has a 2-mile (3.2 km) walking trail, a creek, gardens, and many animals. In 2006, experts found some amazing things here. They discovered an old gold mine shaft, parts of the mill's foundation, and the mill dam site. They also found pieces of the miller's house.

This land was once home to the Cherokee Indians around 1755. They were later moved from the land in 1830. They eventually settled in Oklahoma, traveling on the Trail of Tears. The land was then given to new settlers in 1832. It changed hands many times before Ransom Autrey bought it. He owned the grist mill, which worked until the 1900s. The last private owners, the Debray family, added many buildings in the 1970s.

Nature's Wonders

The area around Autrey Mill is full of life! You can find 28 types of native trees here. There are also 58 kinds of native plants, including the beautiful Pink Lady's Slipper orchid. About 110 different native wildlife species live here too. Most of the Nature Preserve is covered by a forest. It also has wetlands and a small river called "Sal's Creek."

Heritage Village Buildings

The Heritage Village has several historic buildings. Some were already on the site, and others were moved here.

The Visitor Center
The Farm Museum
The Summerour House
The Green General Store
The Delco Remy Building
The Warsaw Church

The Visitor Center

The Visitor Center is an original building from the site. It was built around 1860 as a tenant farm house. The Debray family added more rooms to it. Today, it holds staff offices and displays live animal exhibits.

The Farm Museum

The Debrays also added a carriage house, which is now the Farm Museum. They fixed up a barn from the 1940s. This barn is now the center's teaching area.

Other Historic Buildings

Several local buildings were moved to Autrey Mill to save them from being torn down. The Summerour House was one of the first. It was built in the 1880s. It's a Victorian-style farmhouse with five rooms. The Summerour family, who were big landowners, built it. They were known for a popular type of cotton. The house was moved to Autrey Mill in 1992. A small two-room tenant house also came with it.

The Old Warsaw Church began as a campground in 1822. A church was built there in the 1860s. In 2004, it was moved to Autrey Mill and fixed up in 2008. The Green General Store was built in the 1920s and closed in the 1940s. It was moved in 2004, along with its small Delco Remy generator building. This generator supplied power to the store.

Historical Collections

Autrey Mill has many historical collections inside its buildings.

Summerour House and Tenant Farm House

These houses have furniture, kitchen items, and textiles from the early 1900s. You can see butter churns, chamber pots, laundry washboards, and a cast iron stove.

The Farm Museum

The Farm Museum shows tools used by early farmers. You can find a doctor's buggy, a pea sheller, scythes, ploughs, and items for horses.

The Green Store

The Green Store has the largest collection. It includes items sold in the store and personal belongings. There are 1920s quilt tops, old clothes, glass soda bottles, and store ledgers. You can also see war mementos and old signs.

The Warsaw Church

The Warsaw Church collection includes its original sign. Plaques on the pews remember families who belonged to the church.

The Visitor Center

The Visitor Center has live animals. It also has natural history exhibits, including the Forsten Native American Exhibit.

Native American History

Near the Forest trail entrance, you can see models of Native American structures. There's a 17th-century hunting lodge and a wooden tipi. These were built by Tom Blue Wolf. In September 2008, a replica Indian village opened at the park. The Visitor Center also has a small exhibit of the Forsten collection. This collection was given in 2011. It has almost 300 pieces of Southeastern American Indian artifacts. These include projectile points and other tools.

Animal Friends

The Center has models of animals native to Georgia. It also has many live exhibits of insects, reptiles, and amphibians. Outside the Visitor Center, you can see rabbits, chickens, and ducks in two enclosed pond areas.