Silas Mc Dowell 1795 1879
Macon County, Macon County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Silas Mc Dowell 1795 1879. Botanical and historical writer; horticulturist. Originated concept of a temperate "thermal belt." Home stood 1/5 mi. W.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
Silas McDowell was a self-taught man of the southern mountains whose curiosity ranged across botany, horticulture, and local history. Observing how frost spared the slopes above valley floors, he articulated the idea of a "thermal belt" — a band of milder air on hillsides that shaped the region's orchards and farming. His writings recorded both the plants and the past of western North Carolina.
Why it matters
McDowell's thermal-belt insight influenced Appalachian agriculture and stands as an example of frontier-era American natural science born of close observation.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Silas McDowell
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Electric Streetcars
Asheville, NC
On February 1, 1889, Asheville opened North Carolina's first electric trolley system, an early adopter of a technology then transforming American cities. The line served the train depot a quarter mile southeast and helped knit the growing resort town together while boosting its tourist trade. Electric streetcars would shape Asheville's development for decades.
The Athens Double-Barrelled Cannon
Athens, GA
Designed by Athens gunsmith John Gilleland, a member of a home-guard unit of men too old or infirm for regular Confederate service, this double-barrelled cannon was meant to fire two chain-linked balls at once to "mow down" advancing enemies. Cast in a local foundry, it failed in testing because the barrels could not be discharged at precisely the same instant, sending the balls on wild, erratic paths. The gun survives in Athens as a beloved curiosity—one of a kind and famously ineffective.
Ben T. Epps, Georgia's Pioneer Aviator
Athens, GA
A self-taught mechanic and inventor, Ben T. Epps designed, built, and flew the first airplane in Georgia in 1907 — just four years after the Wright brothers. From his Athens shop he built a series of ever-lighter monoplanes, including a 1924 model weighing just 350 pounds and powered by a motorcycle engine, and he opened an airfield here in 1917. He died in 1937 from a crash on takeoff at this very field.
Aviation Tragedy
Gwinnett County, GA
On the evening of December 6, 1953, four F-84 jets of the Georgia Air National Guard's 128th Fighter Bomber Squadron went down near this spot while returning from weekend training and trying to land at Dobbins Air Force Base in bad weather. All the pilots were killed, though no one on the ground was hurt — the family whose home was destroyed happened to be away. Investigators traced the disaster in part to confusion reading the aircraft altimeter, prompting the U.S. Air Force to redesign the instrument.