POWERGRAMS

24 Southern College (BSC) was selected to co-manage the site with the FWLT. The preserve opened to the public in 2009 and "is the most popular Forever Wild site in the state," said Yeager. The preserve hosts about 130,000 visitors annually and provides on- and off-site educational opportunities and workshops for over 4,500 students each year. Originally a Native American site, first for the Woodland and later the Creek (Muskogee) Indians, the clean groundwater and fertile land surrounding Turkey Creek provided a bountiful home for thousands of years. "We believe the local Muskogee used Turkey Creek as a hunting preserve, where they would set up camps and hunt at certain times of the year," Yeager said. While there is abundant physical evidence, in pieces of ceramics and stone tools and projectiles, there is lile additional information from that time. In the early 19th century, as selers began moving into Alabama, John Hanby harnessed the flowing waters of Turkey Creek for industrial use. Born into the machinist trade in Virginia, Hanby relocated to Tennessee in the early 1800s, where he accepted a captain's commission in the 49th regiment of Lincoln County. It is believed Hanby traveled through Alabama as part of Gen. John Coffee's regiment during the War of 1812, where Hanby learned about the creek either by camping nearby or through prospectors. At the end of his military service in 1819, Hanby and his family seled at Turkey Creek, where they built a home, a wooden dam that was 6 feet high, a grist mill and forge. In addition, they excavated for niter, which was a key ingredient for making gunpowder and explosives. Hanby's son, David, inherited the operations and expanded their work into the mining and sale of coal. In 1865, during Union Gen. John Croxton's raid on Photo by Erin Harney Photo by Charles Yeager Crowds gather along the creek falls in the summer.

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