Entry No. 42 — the Atlanta file — filed under: ruins
New Manchester Mill Ruins
Constructed in 1849, this five-story water-powered textile mill once anchored a thriving factory town along Sweetwater Creek. During the Civil War, Union forces burned the mill to the ground, arresting the workers and leaving only the brick shell. Today, the towering, soot-stained ruins stand surrounded by dense forest inside Sweetwater Creek State Park.
The story
In 1849, businessmen built a five-story brick mill along Sweetwater Creek, naming it New Manchester after the British textile hub. Powered by a colossal 45,000-pound waterwheel churning in the stream, the factory anchored a remote mill town of 250 people. By the time the Civil War arrived, about 90 workers—mostly local women—were running the looms around the clock, spinning cotton yarn and heavy osnaburg cloth under contract for Confederate military uniforms.
In July 1864, Major General Sherman's troops marched into Campbell County and shut the operation down permanently. Union forces arrested the female mill hands and their children, loaded them into wagons, and shipped them north by rail as refugees to Kentucky and Indiana. Then they set the mill ablaze, leaving a five-story roofless brick carcass blackened by soot. You didn't hear it from us, but many of those deported factory workers never made it back home to Georgia.
Hollywood eventually found a use for the scorched shell, casting it as a ruined District 12 backdrop in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1. Today, the hollow brick walls stand inside Sweetwater Creek State Park, completely gutted of their timber floors and iron driveshafts. A chain-link perimeter fence keeps casual visitors from climbing through the crumbling masonry, though you can still step inside if you sign up for an official ranger-guided tour.
What it's like
Pay the state park parking fee at the visitor center and take the Red Trail half a mile along the creek over flat, packed dirt. On warm weekend afternoons, the trail clogs with family crowds and photo-seekers lining up at the viewing platform. To get the soot-stained brick walls to yourself, arrive right when the park gates open at 7:00 AM on a weekday or hit the trail on a foggy morning. Once you've inspected the shell, continue just downstream where the banks turn rocky, scramble out onto the flat shoals, and sit right above the whitewater rapids.
The move: Hike the scenic Red Trail along the creek to photograph the towering brick ruins, then find a spot on the nearby rocky shoals to sit and listen to the rushing rapids.
📍 Before you go The ruins are located inside Sweetwater Creek State Park and are easily reached via a well-maintained trail. While the mill structure itself is fenced off for safety, visitors can view it closely from the trail or register for a ranger-led tour to step inside.
- 📍 Lithia Springs
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Low-key
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: Lithia Springs, GA 30122, USA
Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current access before you go.
Pair it with
- Concord Woolen Mill — Another Civil War-era mill ruin burned by Union forces in 1864, offering an unfenced, lesser-visited twin ruin eight miles north in Smyrna.
- The Goat Farm Arts Center — Compare New Manchester's abandoned state park ruins with a 19th-century textile complex that was saved and re-engineered into working artist studios.
- Eleanor's — After hiking through dusty 1860s history, head ten miles northeast to slip through a restaurant's walk-in cooler door for a quiet drink.
Good to know
Can you walk inside the New Manchester Mill ruins?
No, the brick shell is fenced off to protect visitors from crumbling masonry, but you can view it closely from an elevated platform or register for a ranger-led tour to step behind the fence.
How long is the hike to reach the mill ruins?
It is roughly a half-mile walk from the state park visitor center along the Red Trail, making for an easy one-mile round trip on flat terrain.
Was this mill actually used as a filming location for The Hunger Games?
Yes, the ruins were featured in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 as part of the destroyed District 12 landscape near the river.
Why was the mill destroyed in 1864?
Union troops burned the mill down because it held Confederate government contracts to supply yarn and cloth for military uniforms.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: gastateparks.org · Atlas Obscura · Reddit
last checked: 2026-07-20