Arabia Mountain, a part of Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area, is the northern of two peaks in the Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve, in

DeKalb County, Georgia DeKalb County (, , ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,382, making it Georgia's fourth-most populous county. Its county seat is Decatur. DeKalb County is inclu ...

, United States. A low saddle separates it from Bradley Mountain, several hundred feet to its south. The two form a monadnock. The peak is 955 feet (290 m) above sea level, rising 172 feet (52 m) above Arabia Lake reservoir. Bradley Mountain is closer to the visitor trails than Arabia Mountain and is often misidentified by visitors as Arabia Mountain. The mountain is also in a namesake

National Heritage Area In the United States, a National Heritage Area (NHA) is a site designated by Act of Congress, intended to encourage historic preservation of the area and an appreciation of the history and heritage of the site. There are currently 62 NHAs, some ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

that encompasses natural, cultural, and historical elements to form a cohesive, nationally significant landscape. The area is due east of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

and spans reaching from the historic commercial center of Lithonia to the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, including a number of sites in between, including Panola Mountain State Park, Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve, the historic Flat Rock Community with the

Flat Rock Archives The Flat Rock Archives is an African American historical museum located in the city of Stonecrest, Georgia. The mission of the archive is to preserve rural African American history in Georgia. The archive is located in a historic home built by T.A ...

, and more. The National Heritage Area was established in 2006 and is coordinated by the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area Alliance, which includes board members, representatives from the community and local organizations, and staff. Additionally, Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve includes 2,550 acres in

with a multi-use bike path, hiking trails, and lakes for fishing. The park features large exposed granite formations, wetlands, pine forest, oak forest, streams habitat and two lakes. Plant species include the rare red diamorpha in the winter and yellow daises in the fall. The area included rock quarries and abandoned structures from the mining operations.Arabia Alliance
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History

Although there is little historical evidence about what existed in the lands that currently make up the National Heritage Area, by the time of Anglo-American settlement in the early 19th century, the area was sparsely populated by

Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands The railroad connecting Atlanta and Augusta runs through the area. This railroad helped historically supported Lithonia's quarry industry, which was fed by the granite gneiss of numerous area quarries, including Arabia Mountain. Otherwise, much of the surrounding land was used for small-scale farming. The remains of the agricultural landscape are still visible in the National Heritage Area, including at the Lyon Farm, Vaughters Farm, and Parker House. Small settlements developed along crossroads, the South River (Upper Ocmulgee River), and the railroad, such as the Klondike National Historic District, Flat Rock Community, and downtown

Lithonia, Georgia Lithonia (, ; AAVE: ) is a city in eastern DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The city's population was 2,662 at the 2020 census. Lithonia is in the Atlanta metropolitan area. "Lithonia" means "city/town of stone". Lithonia is in the heart ...

. The existence of the Atlanta Augusta Railroad allowed the granite quarrying industry in the area to flourish in the late 1800s. Remnants of this industry can be seen throughout the Heritage Area in the form of quarry office ruins, rock ledges, and drill holes on the rock. Unlike Arabia, Panola Mountain was never quarried because of its geologic qualities such as softer texture and veining.Pamela J.W. Gore and William Witherspoon,''Roadside Geology of Georgia'', (Missoula, MO: Mountain Press Publishing Company, 2013) Like Stone Mountain, Arabia Mountain was quarried for decades before the property was turned over to the DeKalb park system. Structures and excavations from the quarry operations can be seen throughout the park. The stone quarried from Arabia Mountain, officially called "Tidal Grey", was prized for its high structural density and compressive strength as well as its "swirl" pattern. Tidal Grey Arabia Mountain can be seen in the construction of buildings for the U.S. Naval Academy, the Brooklyn Bridge, and street curbing in Atlanta as well as many other Georgia cities. Prior to 1880, the stone was hand quarried but starting in 1879, workers used drills, dynamite and air compressors to "raise a ledge" or sever a large block of stone from the mass. That allowed more control over the size of the stone and large stones could be used for dimensional or building construction. The proximity to the railroad meant that the Tidal Grey could be easily transported across the country. Another advancement to the quarrying industry at Arabia Mountain was the discovery that adding granite grit to chicken feed helped with the birds' digestion. The Davidson family, which owned several quarries in the area, became the largest supplier of poultry grit in the world. They claimed that the sparkling particles of mica in the Stonemo grit attracted the eye and helped the chicken's gizzard break down food. The company was so successful in distributing their feed additive, a ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' magazine article from 1941 reported the U.S. government allowed them to continue to operate during WWII in the name of national defense. In 1949, the Lithonia district produced nearly 1.5 million tons of granite valued at the time at $3 million. The proximity of the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area to Atlanta, the second fastest-growing metropolitan area in the country during the 2000s leaves it vulnerable to overdevelopment. This threat of encroaching sprawl was recognized after nearly a decade, as the area was determined to be a significant part of national history and earned congressional designation as a

in 2006.

Geology

Bulletin 426 Plate XXVII B Arabia Mountain Quarry

The defining feature that gives the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area its significance at the national level is its granite outcroppings, called monadnocks. These monadnocks are composed of a granitoid rock and are interspersed with islands of plant life. The Metro-Atlanta area has multiple monadnocks, including

Stone Mountain Stone Mountain is a quartz monzonite dome Inselberg, monadnock and the site of Stone Mountain Park, east of Atlanta, Georgia. Outside the park is the small city of Stone Mountain, Georgia. The park is the most visited tourist site in the state o ...

, Arabia Mountain and Panola Mountain. Arabia and Panola Mountains are located within the Heritage Area. The monadnocks were formed when erosion resistant rock is exposed after softer rock is eroded over time. The individual characteristics of the monadnock are determined by the individual processes that formed the granite. For example, Arabia Mountain features a unique "swirl" pattern due to the heat and pressure that caused Arabia Mountain to have a taffy-like consistency when it was cooling over 400 million years ago. Bands of different minerals folded and twisted, creating the "tidal swirl" pattern seen today . By contrast, Panola Mountain has a flakier rock with less compressive strength due to differences in cooling rates. Panola Mountain also has a darker colored rock and different mineral grains. Differences in mineral composition between Panola and Stone Mountains indicated different magma sources at the time of formation. Arabia Mountain appears to be composed of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

. Although made of

metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock ( protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, caus ...

, the mountain is actually composed of

migmatite Migmatite is a composite rock found in medium and high-grade metamorphic environments, commonly within Precambrian cratonic blocks. It consists of two or more constituents often layered repetitively: one layer is an older metamorphic rock th ...

, metamorphosed at higher temperatures than

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures a ...

but not sufficiently melted to become granite. The resulting ''swirl pattern'' made the rock a popular building stone and many buildings in the region were constructed with stone quarried from the Lithonia district

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

Botany and endangered plants

The seemingly barren landscape of Arabia Mountain is teeming with plant life specially adapted to live in the mountain's harsh environment. Arabia Mountain is one of five locations in the US where black-spored quillwort ('' Isoetes melanospora'') is found. It is one of 44 locations in the US where little amphianthus ('' Amphianthus pusillus'') is found. These are endangered species protected by Georgia and federal law. The largest and most important population of black-spored quillwort and one of the largest ''Amphianthus'' populations occur here. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's five-year review of these species, completed in 2008, states that "enforcement to protect sensitive areas needs improvement" in the Arabia Mountain area." Arabia Mountain is one of a small number of locations in the southeastern United States where Small's stonecrop ('' Diamorpha smallii'') thrives (this plant is not listed as an endangered species in Georgia or the US, but is in Tennessee). When granite and similar stone outcrops are exposed to

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...

, over time, small depressions, called solution pools, form where weaker rock wears away faster than surrounding rock (often assisted by lichen). Over time, these depressions fill with sand washed down from higher locations, which accumulates a small amount of organic content from decaying dead leaves and other detritus, as well as rain water. Small's stonecrop then takes hold in these sandy hollows. Primary Succession: It took thousands of years for plants and trees to grow in the granite outcroppings. The first plants on the mountains were lichens, which draw nutrients from dust and rainwater. Acids from these lichens and mosses gradually formed pits in the rock, called chemical erosion. This allowed shallow amounts of soil to accumulate, providing a place for more plant life to take root. This process is called Primary Succession as a succession of plants colonize the rock from lichen, to mosses, to diamorpha and larger plants, then gradually accumulating enough soil to support shrubs and trees. Physical Weathering: Not only does plant matter such as moss erode the rock and help to build soil levels in the pits, but the stone is also weathered by non-chemical factors. Wind, freeze-thaw cycles, and even lightning strikes cause the rock to fragment and breakdown. Cracks can form, giving another foothold to plant life, and the rock is broken into particles that add to the shallow soil. The Edge Effect: Due to the variety of eco-systems within the Heritage Area, the "edge effect" allows for greater biodiversity where two or more ecosystems intersect. For example, where the rock outcroppings border forests, the shallow soil retains more moisture due to runoff and can support the species of both the rock outcropping and the forest.

Preservation

In the 1970s, the Davidson family donated over 500 acres including Arabia Mountain and surrounding lands to DeKalb County as a nature preserve for local residents to enjoy. Since then, the Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve has been expanded several times and now includes 2,550 acres, several granite outcrops and two lakes. On October 12, 2006, the mountain and Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve were designated as nationally significant as a part of the Arabia Mountain

in recognition of its cultural, historical and natural features.

Bicycle trail

The

PATH Foundation PATH Foundation is a network of off-road trails in and around the metro Atlanta area for walkers, runners, skaters, and cyclists. The foundation was established in 1991. The goal was to develop a network of off-road trails in Atlanta in time for ...

has completed more than 30 miles of a concrete road for pedestrian and bicycle use running from downtown Lithonia to Stonecrest Mall and thence through the Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve to Panola Mountain State Park, ending at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers. This includes a spur to a parking area on Klondike Road and a spur to the DeKalb County School System's Murphey Candler Elementary School and

Arabia Mountain High School Arabia Mountain High School Academy of Engineering Medicine and Environmental Studies is located on the edge of the Arabia Mountain green space in Stonecrest, Georgia, United States, - Compare city map to the location of the school. with a Lith ...

Gallery

Image:Diamorpha smallii.jpg, Image:Colony of Black-spored Quillwort.jpg, Image:Closeup of Black-spored Quillwort (Isoetes melanospora).jpg, Image:Arabia Mountain cairn.JPG,

References

External links

Arabia Mountain Heritage Area

Arabia Mountain View Trail

Arabia Mountain Top Trail

{{NatHerArea Landforms of DeKalb County, Georgia Inselbergs of North America Mountains of Georgia (U.S. state) National Heritage Areas of the United States Protected areas of DeKalb County, Georgia Nature reserves in Georgia (U.S. state)