What started out as a small study group to learn more and preserve the memory of one of Gainesville s leading 19th century citizens, Gen.James Longstreet, rapidly turned into an international organization. That s according to Longstreet Society President Richard Pilcher, who credited a motion picture for that quick expansion during the mid-1990s.
The idea originated with two Gainesville men nearly 20 years ago.
"In 1994, Bimbo Brewer made the comment to Garland Reynolds that 'we should have a Longstreet Society in Gainesville'," Pilcher recalled. "Garland agreed and he called several people, asked if they would be interested, and we all were. We had an organizational meeting, established the dues, and we thought we had ourselves a little local study club.
Shortly after the group was organized, it picked up publicity from a national historical magazine in an article that included its address and annual dues.
"The money started coming in slowly, and then Ted Turner's "Gettysburg" hit the theaters and the first thing we knew we had 500 members, " Pilcher said. "We were not prepared for that and we struggled for a while, but it s settled out at about 300 members and those folks are scattered all over the world."
The motion picture, a screen adaptation of Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize winning novel "The Killer Angels," features Longstreet's role in the biggest battle of the Civil War, often called the "High Tide of the Confederacy."
Pilcher said it is the post-war Longstreet who lived in Gainesville that holds the Society's interest, as much as Longstreet the warrior, whom General Robert E. Lee called his "Old War Horse."
"This was his home from about 1873 until the year he died in 1904," Pilcher said. "In 1874 he got involved with the Piedmont Hotel with Alvis Smith. Smith had financial problems and he had to get out of the project and Longstreet bought the remaining interest in the hotel. He completed it and open the hotel and one of his sons managed it. "
The General stayed involved in the hotel until his death. Today only a small section of the hotel remains in south Gainesville, but it has been restored and is the Longstreet Society' s pride and joy.
"We had an important partner in this with the Gainesville Trust for Historic Preservation and Judge W.L. Norton headed that organization, " Pilcher said. "The two organizations, the Longstreet Society and the Trust, got this thing finished. We just have one floor and one wing but it s what we have."
There was not enough of the building left to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places but Pilcher calls it a historic treasure. If anybody wants to learn about General James Longstreet, the Piedmont is the place, he added.
"There s a lot of information in our library here, the Matthew Reynolds Memorial Library, and we're pretty proud of it," Pilcher said. "Come and see us, we're open on Wednesdays and Saturdays. "
To get there, go south on Main Street from Jesse Jewell Parkway, downtown, and turn right off Main onto Martin Luther King Boulevard, and then go one block and turn right onto Maple Street to find the Piedmont.
)(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is another in an occasional series AccessNorthGa.com will publish this year marking the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. Some, such as this piece, will be generated by AccessNorthGa.com staff members, with an emphasis on - but not limited to - northeast Georgia's role in the war and the impact it had on our region. Others will be the work of the Associated Press.)
Restored Piedmont Hotel
Gen. James Longstreet
http://accesswdun.com/article/2011/7/240012