RaceTrac loses its bid to build a 24/7 gas station at an Atlanta-area site where a Civil War house stood, cavalry clashed. Proximity to school, day care led to defeat

The sturdy home was cut into six pieces before its move in spring 2025 (Civil War Picket photo)

A two-acre parcel caught up in Civil War cavalry clashes northwest of Atlanta is destined to house some kind of business. But a proposed 24/7 RaceTrac gas station and convenience store that would have been built right across from an elementary school appear to be out of the running -- at least for now.

With very little discussion – unlike other hearings related to the controversial proposal – the Cobb County Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 on Tuesday morning to rebuff RaceTrac. The tally was followed by applause from opponents.

The Robert and Eliza McAfee home, built 20 years before the Atlanta Campaign, had been empty for years.

The home -- which briefly served as the headquarters for a Union general and was in the middle of cavalry movements and clashes in summer 1864 – last spring was moved to Ball Ground, adjoining Cherokee County after a long effort to save it from destruction.

It stood at the corner of Bells Ferry Road and Ernest Barrett Parkway. (At right, a map showing troop positions in June-July 1864; note McAfee House, Library of Congress)

Because the owner of the property never sought an historic designation or protection, and Cobb County declined to purchase the property, it is inevitable some kind of commercial development will come to the site. 

Neighbors suggest medical buildings or businesses that would generate less traffic than a gas station. A proposal to build a car wash was withdrawn a couple years back.

The nonprofit Cobb Landmarks, the Bells Ferry Civic Association, which opposed the plan, and the county’s historic preservation staff all recommended an archaeological survey of the site if the rezoning was ultimately approved.

RaceTrac and opponents on Tuesday repeated their arguments pitched over the past year at various meetings.

The latter have cited concerns about traffic, crime and gas vapors affecting Bells Ferry Elementary just across the street and a nearby KinderCare. The Bells Ferry Civic Association showed a map Tuesday (below) highlighting the proximity of a station to both places. A playground for the elementary school is within a few hundred feet.

RaceTrac – which intended to apply for alcohol sales -- said very little harmful benzene will escape from the 16 pumps and storage tanks. Neighbors claimed the potential health risks are too high.

Kevin Moore, attorney for the company and property owners, said the station would not contribute significantly to traffic congestion at Bells Ferry Road and Ernest Barrett Parkway. RaceTrac was willing to add a full right turn lane at the corner.

“RaceTrac is a proven community partner and supporter/partner of local schools,” it argued. The county's planning staff had endorsed the project.

But more than two dozen people who attended the hearing saying this particular parcel would not overcome concerns about air quality and young children being exposed to gas fumes.

The Cobb County Planning Commission earlier this month voted 3-2 to back rezoning of the property, but added stipulations that would not allow alcohol and fuel sales.

RaceTrac had previously approached the Board of Commissioners -- which has the final say -- but withdrew it before consideration. Tuesday, the consideration did not take long before the 5-0 vote.

Work last month on the McAfee house at its new home in Cherokee County, Ga. (Civil War Picket photo)

A couple commissioners lamented the lack of guidelines or rules in the county for the location of gas stations near schools. Moore pointed out dozens of stations in Cobb County are not far from schools.

The Civil War Picket reached out to Moore and Erick Allen, the district county commissioner for the neighborhood, for comment, but had not received a response as of Wednesday evening.

Officials said the decision effectively ends the case, unless RaceTrac decides to bring a lawsuit.

The property owner donated the land to Cobb Landmarks, which for years had tried to find a home for the house. Cobb Landmarks then sold it for $1 to entrepreneurs Lee and Brittani Lusk, with the main requirement it be moved and restored.

The couple moved the sturdy residence to near their former home in Ball Ground and have been working since on its foundation. The couple says they expect the house to either be rented as a residence or an Airbnb-style arrangement.

A sturdy metro Atlanta home used by both Confederate and Union forces has been divided into several pieces for its move this week 25 miles up the road

The sturdy McAfee Home has been cut into pieces for its big move to Cherokee County (Cobb Landmarks)

Editor's note: See photos taken May 19 on the eve of the move here:

The McAfee House – which witnessed cavalry clashes in Cobb County, Ga., and briefly served as headquarters for a Federal general – has been sliced into pieces for its move this week to a new home about 25 miles to the north.

Lee and Brittani Lusk of Ball Ground, in adjoining Cherokee County, will move the 1840s structure via trailers to a spot near their home. They plan to restore the central hallway cottage for use as a private residence or museum.

The dwelling has been cut into several pieces for the journey, which may begin Tuesday and take a few days. (Photo below courtesy of the Lusks)

The Lusks, who have performed many restorations in the region, bought the Robert and Eliza McAfee house for $1 from the nonprofit Cobb Landmarks, which said the proposal from the couple was the clear winner among dozens of applications.

The house has been empty for several years, and preservationists worried it would fall to the wrecking ball. Eventually, the owner donated the house to Cobb Landmarks so it could find someone to move it before an unspecified development is built at the busy intersection.

Cobb Landmarks on Sunday afternoon gave a Facebook update on the project.

The residence – which sits on three acres -- had no designated historic protection because the owner did not seek it, according to Cobb County officials, and is not on the National Register of Historic Places.

“Once the house has been relocated to Ball Ground, Cobb Landmarks will require a preservation easement to ensure the exterior will retain its historic integrity,” the organization said Sunday. “In the past year, Cobb Landmarks has played an active role in saving three historic structures from demolition.”

While many on social media have expressed happiness the McAfee House has been saved, others lament the change.

“I'm glad the house will survive but the land has as much history as the house,” said one commenter. “What for? Another car wash? That corner will never look right again.”

Some really old walls at the McAfee House and something a bit more contemporary (Courtesy the Lusks)

The McAfee House served a few weeks in June and early July 1864 as the headquarters for Brig. Gen. Kenner Garrard and his three brigades during the Atlanta Campaign

The Federal troopers clashed almost daily near Noonday Creek with Confederates led by Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler. .

Cobb County was the scene of significant combat action and troop movement as Confederates tried to stall Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s relentless campaign on Atlanta, which began in May 1864 in North Georgia.

The McAfee farm was believed to have been occupied by Confederates, too, during the action around Kennesaw Mountain.

Editor's note: See photos taken May 19 on the eve of the move here:

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Resaca Battlefield Historic Site opens with a bang (and volley), nice weather

Grand opening (Gordon County Chamber of Commerce photos)

Sunny weather greeted visitors this past weekend to the new Resaca Battlefield Historic Site in Gordon County, Ga. “I’ve received 100% positive feedback,” said county Administrator John King.

A grand opening was held Friday afternoon at the pavilion of the park, which is located off Exit 320 of Interstate 75.

Don Holley, who heads Gordon’s parks department, told the Picket he saw about 20 visitors Saturday morning while walking the Blue Battlefield Trail. He saw about 25 people on Sunday afternoon.

“We are expecting a larger crowd this weekend with the re-enactment going on at the Chitwood property,” he said.

The May 20-22 Battle of Resaca re-enactment is held a couple miles east of the historic site. It includes 2 p.m. battles on Saturday and Sunday, living histories, camps and services.

Photos by Gordon County Chamber of Commerce

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Georgia moves to save Civil War sites or reduce construction impact on them

Acknowledging that Civil War sites are endangered throughout the Atlanta region, the state of Georgia will provide guidelines to local governments on how best to save them or mitigate the effects of highway construction and other forms of development.

“We will do a context study of Civil War resources in all of metro Atlanta,” said Heather Mustonen, archaeologist with the Office of Environmental Services, Georgia Department of Transportation.

Mustonen says planning for the study is in the early stages. The project includes identifying sites and “assessing their current status and preservation potential.”

Working with Cobb County and the Historic Preservation Division of the State Department of Natural Resources, Georgia DOT will provide “useful documentation” to local governments and cultural resource managers who must conduct research and sign off on projects.

Cultural resource managers identify archaeological sites, historic buildings, and other cultural properties so that they can be considered under environmental policy laws and regulations.

“If an archaeologist is hired by a county… this will be putting [a project] in the context of the larger Atlanta Campaign,” says Mustonen.

Officials want planners to know that even a piecemeal loss of or damage to a site could have a larger, contextual effect on metro Atlanta’s Civil War resources. “The idea is to think about the broader picture,” Mustonen said.

The state is inviting groups such as the Georgia Battlefields Association to provide input.

The study would not just look at road building. Guidelines should be used for any development or project. “Folks can use this for their projects whatever they may be,” Mustonen said.

For 100 years after the war, Georgia and Atlanta did little to save Civil War sites. But attitudes and laws have changed in recent years.

Officials know that some losses will continue to happen. Lovett School in Atlanta, for example, last fall destroyed more than 110 yards of trenches (right) to build a sports complex. The school was able to show federal, state and city officials that other locations were too expensive and impractical.

But the state is hoping that the majority of Civil War sites will be saved in the future.

The impetus for the study was the upcoming interchange project (map above) for Atlanta Road at I-285 in the Vinings neighborhood of Cobb County northwest of Atlanta. Georgia DOT is doing an environmental study on the project, which includes a new bridge and other modifications.

The state learned that about 50 feet of Civil War trench line was on private property right next to the interchange. “We just shifted the work so that we are all on the existing right of way,” Mustonen said.

“We aren’t having a direct effect on the resource [trench line]. We are having an indirect effect.”

By that she means there will be more traffic and the higher possibility of commercial or retail development. The property owner could decide to sell the parcel – and its trenches -- to developers.

Cobb County, which was the scene of many engagements, including Kennesaw Mountain, during the war, is helping to fund the study.

Many Georgians may not know that Georgia DOT has an environmental division and archaeologists. Before a federal law passed in 1966, the loss of Civil War resources to road projects wasn’t uncommon. For example, Leggett’s Hill, the scene of vicious fighting during the Battle of Atlanta in 1864, was carved up to make room for Interstate 20 at Moreland Avenue in the early 1960s.

The U.S. DOT Act of 1966 “requires that before land from a significant publicly owned park, recreation area, national wildlife or waterfowl refuge, or any significant historic site (regardless of ownership) can be converted to a transportation use it must be demonstrated that there is no prudent or feasible alternative to that use and that the project includes all possible planning to minimize harm.”

Charlie Crawford, executive director of Georgia Battlefields Association, said the group will help in “mitigation planning” for the busy Atlanta Road interchange, which was near Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s River Line. He said he is not positive whether the trench line was Confederate or Federal.

“There’s a larger effort, especially in Cobb County, to inventory [Civil War] sites when they do future projects,” Crawford said.