History
At one time the entire mountain was owned by the Wigley family. Henry Clay Wigley continued to live at the base of the mountain for decades. Right across from his house was a gravel road that led to the summit. Years ago, before satellites took over, a U.S. Forest Service ranger would scale a giant fire tower to provide smoke coordinates for fire control every day. With suburbanization, this tower has been removed, but there is a benchmark set in concrete where one of the tower feet once rested. On the most northern side of the summit are natural rock formations, including a natural rock shelter that could house one or two campers.
Wigley Road at one time went from Sandy Plains Road all the way through to Georgia 92, but it was closed in the 1970s due to poor maintenance. The main road now turns off from itself (makes a 90-degree turn) and continues generally west as Jamerson Road. Following the remaining Wigley Road to the dead end, there is a barrow pit just past the barricades. There was a place where natural springs created a huge swampy mudbog in the middle of the Wigley Road, which led to its closing.
In the early 1970s, a lake off Mountain Road at the base of the mountain served as the site for a huge music festival.
In early April 2006, the south side of the mountain was grazed by an F1 tornado, causing relatively minor damage to some homes. The storm moved due east from Noonday to Alpharetta, doing much more serious damage in several other places.
Read more about this topic: Sweat Mountain
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