BYRON HERBERT REECE SOCIETY

Length: 0.7 miles Rating: Moderate/Strenuous
This trail, in the Blood Mountain Wilderness, offers access to the well-known Appalachian Trail through the Flat Rock Gap.
This trail, fairly steep for about half its length, provides access to the Appalachian Trail at Flat Rock Gap. Since the trail is entirely within the Blood Mountain Wilderness, the blue trail blazes are widely spaced.
Directions: Take U.S. 19 and 129 south from Blairsville for 12 miles. Turn right into the Byron Herbert Reece Memorial and continue to parking lot on left.

CHRISTMAS POETRY

Poems of Byron Herbert Reece's poetry that share his insight into the quiet wonder and reverence of Christmas.

BYRON HERBERT REECE FARM AND HERITAGE CENTER

This farm home place is where Reece completed his writings. Still standing are the house Reece built for his parents, his study, the large barn and home of his sister. About three miles south beyond the home place is the Byron Herbert Reece Memorial Park with hiking trails and picnic area. Located nine miles south of Blairsville on US Highway 19 & 129.

Note: On June 5, 2004, Union County, owners of the approximately 9.4 acres in this farm property, officially granted the Reece Society a 50-year renewable lease to this site for the express purpose of development as an historic and cultural center. An architectural design has already been prepared, and plans are underway to obtain funding for initiating this project.

GEORGIA HISTORICAL MARKER

(Text approved by Review Committee):

Byron Herbert Reece

(1917-1958)

Renowned Appalachian poet, novelist, and farmer, Byron Herbert Reece lived most of his life near this site. Here he composed, to critical acclaim, four volumes of poetry and two novels, Better a Dinner of Herbs and The Hawk and the Sun. Reece was a five-time recipient of the Georgia Writers Association’s literary achievement award and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in poetry for Bow Down in Jericho. He served as poet-in-residence at the University of California at Los Angeles, Emory University, and Young Harris College. Suffering from tuberculosis, Reece took his own life three months before his forty-first birthday. He is buried in Old Union Cemetery near Young Harris.

Erected by the Georgia Historical Society, the Byron Herbert Reece Society, Union County Government, Union County Historical Society, and Young Harris College

REECE LITERARY RAMBLE

This driving tour was originally compiled by students of Alan Denmon at Union County High School, Blairsville, GA. Minor editing and additions were made for this special edition prepared for the Georgia Literary Festival, Blue Ridge, GA, September 28-30, 2007

REACH OF SONG ~ State Historic Drama

THE REACH OF SONG DRAMA is a celebration of mountain heritage that surrounds the life and works of native poet, Byron Herbert Reece. The show begins and ends in the present day through the stories and reflections of the native mountaineers who are actors in show. The First Act returns to a time in the mountains before the Second World War, and the Second Act begins after the Second World War and continues back towards the present. The main character, Byron Herbert Reece, does in the show what a writer does in life -providing a depth and perspective to the story of the area. At the same time, his life and tragic death mirror many of the changes which occurred to the traditional mountain culture.

UNION COUNTY HISTORICAL COURTHOUSE MUSEUM

A Romanesque style brick and granite structure built in 1899 unique in its Appalachian Georgia setting. The Union County Historical Society was organized in 1976 to restore the Courthouse and the old Courthouse clock which had been removed in the 1950's. The clock is proudly displayed in the Courthouse lobby.

There is a small exhibit on Georgia's Appalachian poet, Byron Herbert Reece, a native of Union County, and Margarita Morgan's internationally known miniature doll house collection. Visit the Historical Society's museum in the Courthouse, located in the center of Blairsville. Recently the studio where Byron Herbert Reece wrote his poetry and books, in his later years, was moved to the Historical Society's Heritage Center just off the square.

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA ~ Manuscript Holdings
Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia holds a large collection of Reece's correspondence; lecture notes on composition, poetry, English and American Literature relating to his work at Young Harris College; publications in which his work appear; published and unpublished manuscript poems and prose; and scrapbooks containing correspondence, news clippings, reviews, and press releases.

YOUNG HARRIS COLLEGE

Duckworth Library
- Paintings
- Literary Collection
- Byron Herbert Reece Digital Library
  - The Duckworth Libraries at Young Harris College is proud to announce the creation of a Byron Herbert Reece Digital Library. The BHR Digital Library will allow electronic access to some of the most rare and fragile Reece memorabilia including his correspondence and notes.
  - The Digital Library is the result of a class taken by Young Harris College Library staff member Debra March. Debra is nearing completion of a Master’s Degree in Library Science from the School of Information and Library Science at Southern Connecticut State University. She has been employed by the Library since 1995.
  - The Digital Library currently contains the letters Reece wrote to George Broadrick and Pratt Dickson, his notes for a lecture in Ohio in 1951, a sermon - delivery date unknown, and photographs of the farm and his family. In the future, the collection will be enhanced with more correspondence including letters to James Gaskin. E. V. Griffith and Dutton Publishing, as well as other photos and items of interest as they become available.
  - The Byron Herbert Reece Digital Library can be viewed after January 15, 2004 on the World Wide Web at http://www.yhc.edu/library/index.html and following the “Special Collections” link from the homepage.