The second half of the Feb. 11 Allenhurst City Council meeting turned into a crash course in city history when the public was reminded of the town's upcoming 100th anniversary.
The city will hit the century mark in 2010 and council member Amanda Cox wanted to get a jump-start on celebration planning.
"I'd like to see this town recognized," Cox said. "It's important that we preserve our history. And I'd be happy to head this up."
She put out the idea of possibly having a parade.
"I'm not saying spend a lot of money, but I think if we could put something together...that might be kind of exciting for us," she said.
Cox reported some of the homes of the 1900s are still standing and may be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. She said a spot on the register would qualify the municipality for various funding.
The reminder in city history also sparked a suggestion from council member Douglas Burges, to boost Allenhurst pride by designing a city seal.
He explained he was interested in establishing identification for the town after attending a Georgia Municipal Assocation meeting and seeing "a lot of municipalities that had that (seals)."
Cox agreed and said she would like to see a seal be "based somehow on the sawmill...because that's what we were."
Liberty County Historic Preservation Society vice-president Margie Love described how commerce at the Dunlevie Lumber Co. sawmill drew scores of people from other parts of the county.
"The sawmill was very important...they had their own little town out there and everything," she said.
The "little town" hosted the country's second largest sawmill at the time and was once the leading business in Liberty County.
Love said Allenhurst also erected the county's first streetlight, another big attraction.
The city will hit the century mark in 2010 and council member Amanda Cox wanted to get a jump-start on celebration planning.
"I'd like to see this town recognized," Cox said. "It's important that we preserve our history. And I'd be happy to head this up."
She put out the idea of possibly having a parade.
"I'm not saying spend a lot of money, but I think if we could put something together...that might be kind of exciting for us," she said.
Cox reported some of the homes of the 1900s are still standing and may be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. She said a spot on the register would qualify the municipality for various funding.
The reminder in city history also sparked a suggestion from council member Douglas Burges, to boost Allenhurst pride by designing a city seal.
He explained he was interested in establishing identification for the town after attending a Georgia Municipal Assocation meeting and seeing "a lot of municipalities that had that (seals)."
Cox agreed and said she would like to see a seal be "based somehow on the sawmill...because that's what we were."
Liberty County Historic Preservation Society vice-president Margie Love described how commerce at the Dunlevie Lumber Co. sawmill drew scores of people from other parts of the county.
"The sawmill was very important...they had their own little town out there and everything," she said.
The "little town" hosted the country's second largest sawmill at the time and was once the leading business in Liberty County.
Love said Allenhurst also erected the county's first streetlight, another big attraction.