Pike Pathways app, murals completed

A second mural based on local history was completed recently. The Pike Pathways app went live, offering a trip to historic Pike County places. The app can be downloaded free on any cell phone by searching Pike Pathways in the app store. There are 21 stops on the tour. The app includes historic information and photos. Signs marking each stop will be installed in the coming weeks. ’It’s a great way to find out more about your community and its history. The Pike County Tourism Group is working up a great contest to inaugurate the app,’ said Zebulon Downtown Development Authority director Chris Curry. ‘Stay tuned on how you can enter and win some great prizes.’Two murals are stops along the tour. Both are artistic renderings based on local canning labels. The Zebulon mural features pimientos, a popular crop in Pike for many decades. They were canned by the Besco plant which employed over 500 people at its peak in the 1960s. The Concord mural features a rendition of a peach label which says, ‘Grown and packed by J.C. Owen, Concord, Ga.’ Peaches are still a major crop in Pike though there are no longer any canning plants. Both murals were painted by local artist Shannon Lake and his son Lofton Lake. The murals were paid for with the Georgia Tourism Grant. ’The whole mission of the grant is to attract tourism to Pike,’ said Curry. ‘Heritage tourists spend money on things like gas, meals, books and antiques. We’ll undoubtably see an increase in visitors at the antique market Molena.’The murals are designed to compliment the app and bring more people to the area or encourage them to stop and shop. Stops on the tour include the courthouse, Zebulon canning plant which was used for peaches and pimientos, Revolutionary soldier and freed slave Austin Dabney’s grave, the site of Williamson’s transcontinental railway, Pike’s aviation history at Candler Field Museum, Gregg Farm’s orchard in Hollonville, the Strickland building in Concord, the James Eppinger home place, the Whiskey Bonding Barn, Lifsey Springs, camp meetings and campgrounds at Mountain Gap and several other locations.