Do you remember reading that book about the little monkeys jumping on the bed to your kids (or maybe, you remember it being read to you because you are the kid)? I have distanced myself from monkeys for as long as I could remember. This was in part to several things: growing up when glittery cartoon monkey tee shirts were popular, chimps kind of scare me, and Willie B was still the biggest, baddest gorilla that ever lived. Plus, the flying monkies in the Wizard of Oz were terrifying to a kid (and her mom), even though later I read Wicked and decided that maybe the flying monkeys were just misunderstood.
All of that said, why on Earth would I go visit some weird monkey shrine in the middle of a forest?
I ended up adding the monkeys to my list of places to visit while I was fiddling around on the internet like any good Millenial, and found that there was something weird in relative distance to my parent's abode in the Metro-Atlanta suburbs.
So I dragged my father out of his favorite leather chair, packed up my camera and we headed to the Autrey Mill Nature Preserve.
Roadside America has a nifty little tool to find weird stuff nearby and I was using that when I found the Monkey Shrine. Here's what another RA user had to say about it:
My boy and I saw an interesting memorial in our hometown of Johns Creek.
Out in the woods of Autrey Mill Nature Preserve there's an arrangement of about a half-dozen concrete monkey statues. About 80 years ago, a circus train wrecked in nearby Duluth and the moneys escaped and climbed up into the trees. Farmers in the area were startled, so they shot and killed every one of them.
An artist created the statues because he wanted to remind people that just because you don't know what something is, that's no reason to kill it!
Hmm, ok. The Autrey Mill Nature Preserve website seems to echo this legend.
The story goes ... About 80 years ago, or so, a circus train wrecked along the tracks in Duluth. All the animals got loose. The monkeys ran all the way to the area near the Summerour House on Old Alabama Road. There they got up in the trees. The farmers may never have seen monkeys before, so the farmers shot and killed every one of them.
Several years ago an artist brought the concrete monkeys that are on Autrey Mill's trail. He said he wanted people to wonder why they were there. They are there to remind people that just because you don't know what something is, that's no reason to destory it
We had some trouble finding the trails around the site, but realized it was down the Forest Trail near the old-fashioned outhouses. There's a large sign above the trail, but we apparently didn't think to look there. But we eventually found it, saw a really cool teepee that was on the way to the monkeys, and there they were, sitting in a little circle, smiling in the sunshine.
All of the photos I had seen of the little monkeys online showed them wearing kerchifs, and while these ones were not dressed in their Sunday best, some of them had rope bows around them. The statues are smaller than I expected, about the size of a lap dog, and they're not anchored to the ground, so you can move them all over the place. In fact, there were only about eight monkeys in the circle we stumbled upon, and Dad and I spent some time locating three rogue monkeys, sitting on tree branches, behind a bench and on a stump. We only found 11 total, but I am conviced there is a 12th one out there, somewhere.
The monkeys, as art, were interesting to look at. Each one was similar, but different, almost as if the anonymous artist had pushed clean, white cement together with his hands, and it kind of looked like a monkey, so he kept working with it, and it finally became this happy little monkey, so he made a few more the same way. I have not been able to find an artist's name anywhere online, and the monkeys flat bottoms were all without a signature.
As Dad and I were searching for the 12th monkey, a couple and their labrador passed us on the trail. We said hello, they commented about us looking for the monkeys, said they've used the Nature Preserve for 20 years and have never seen so much as a sign for the little guys, and that they were always moved around. We talked a little bit about the monkeys, I shared the story I had heard and we comisserated about how sad it was.
Legend or not, it is kind of sad. I can see how, on one hand, that as a farmer, you come outside one day and see a swarm of furry things, screaching, and swinging from your trees. If you've never seen a circus monkey before, I'm sure they would be startling at least. On the other hand, picking off monkeys with your shot gun is cruel, because not everything strange turns out to be an enemy.
If you're curious about some little stone monkeys in the woods, and are up for a nice walk, head south on I-985 (or take McEver to PIB) towards metro Atlanta, head to Johns Creek and find Old Alabama Road. Follow it until you see the sign for Autrey Mill. Here, I already Googled that for you.
Our world is full of unusal things. Read about my next adventure - in a boat! With a goat? Surely I will float, as I'm heading out to a summer time favorite, Lake Lanier. Do you remember a time before Lake Lanier? I'd like to talk to you - send me an email to [email protected] before 4 p.m., Friday, July 17.
Until then, stay curious.
