Rachel McDaniel

Pike County Rachel McDaniel

Nestled between the Pine Mountains and plentiful Flint River, Pike County and its county seat were named after army general and adventurer Zebulon Pike. Early settlers, as adventurous and independent as the county's famed namesake explorer, built homes and raised families extending for generations in the gently rolling acres of central Georgia. Many residents became well known across the state. Austin Dabney, freed slave and Revolutionary War hero, supported the white family who nursed him to health after a crippling battle wound. Journalist Jacques "Jackie" Futrelle became a famous novelist and playwright before losing his life on the Titanic. After training World War I pilots, early aviator Doug Davis returned home to build the first hangar at Atlanta's airport, to make countless barnstorming trips, and to win early racing and aerobatic competitions. Generations of men and women raised families and worked in the fields, orchards, turkey farms, country groceries, and busy canneries, cotton gins, and packing plants. Some served in the military or carried on family traditions like the Jugtown potters. From Indian trails, stagecoach stops, and train depots to paved highways and Zebulon's Crazy Eight Track, Pike County's history is quite a journey.