Kinderlou Tower stands at the end of a half-mile boardwalk at the Grand Bay Wetland Education Center near Valdosta. Originally a fire tower, the structure now allows visitors a view of the wetland's diverse plant and animal communities. Photograph by Julius F. Ariail Jr. The New Georgia Encyclopedia does not hold the copyright for this media resource and can neither grant nor deny permission to republish or reproduce the image online or in print.

Leroy Johnson, a prominent attorney, was an advisor to Atlanta’s civil rights movement in the 1960s. In 1962 he won a state senate seat, becoming the first African American to be elected to the Georgia General Assembly since the end of the Reconstruction era. Early Life Leroy Reginald Johnson was born on July 28, 1928, in Atlanta to Elizabeth Heard and Leroy Johnson. He graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 1945 and earned a bachelor’s degree from Morehouse College in 1949 and a master’s degree from Atlanta University (later Clark Atlanta University) in 1951.

Located in metropolitan Atlanta just north of the Chattahoochee River, the city of Marietta has a population of about 60,972, according to the 2020 census. The seat of government for suburban Cobb County, Marietta possesses a historic business area centered on a downtown square and five National Register districts, spreading in all directions from the middle of town. Kennesaw Mountain, the site of a major Civil War (1861-65) battle, is just north of town.

A military policeman is pictured circa 1943 at the entrance to Marietta Army Air Field, which later became Dobbins Air Reserve Base. Courtesy of Georgia National Guard The New Georgia Encyclopedia does not hold the copyright for this media resource and can neither grant nor deny permission to republish or reproduce the image online or in print. All requests for permission to publish or reproduce the resource must be submitted to the rights holder.

In 1922 John Wesley Langdale, founder of the Langdale Forest Products Company, purchased timber leases around Mayday, an unchartered community in Echols County. Today the company, founded in 1894 and based in Valdosta, owns a significant portion of the county's land. From Remembered Places and Leftover Pieces The New Georgia Encyclopedia does not hold the copyright for this media resource and can neither grant nor deny permission to republish or reproduce the image online or in print.