Hudson-Nash Farm & Old Yellow River Post Office

I love living in Gwinnett County! The government here truly values parks, historic structures and nature. For as long as I can remember, newly constructed subdivisions have been required to save a certain percentage of the land acquired as greenspace. Not to mention our county parks are some of the biggest and best in the state. Just four of our largest public parks alone are large enough in size to house ALL of the parks located within the city limits of Atlanta.
Hudson-​Nash Farm falls into the historic category of county parks. Prior to the Civil War, Hudson-​Nash Farm was part of a 562 acre parcel of land. All that remains now is a little over 5 acres. Thomas P. Hudson not only established his farm/​business here, but was also one of only three men appointed in 1845 to design the path of a road between the rural communities of Dekalb County and the City of Lawrenceville (which was the county seat of Gwinnett). That road was called the Stone Mountain-​Lawrenceville Road and is now known as Five Forks Trickum, the same road in which this historic park is located.
Hudson’s business included a general store essential to the local community. Not only did it provide necessary goods but also a watering hole of sorts where people could gather an catch up on the latest news as well as receive mail. The Post Office was doubled in size by the 1850’s to accommodate his growing General Store business. His home was located directly across the street. These buildings were constructed during the antebellum period, a Latin term meaning «before the war» and reflect that antebellum-​style heritage.
The farm was later purchased by Lewis Nash’s cousin William Thomas Nash in 1880, and it remained in the family until 1996 according to the website. The land was divided between the Nash children and was farmed all the way into the 1950s. Buildings on site include:
1840’s Post Office where Thomas was also Postmaster.
1850’s Slave/​Tenant quarters [Thomas owned as many as 13 slaves]
1930’s Wash House
1930’s Barn
Main House
Restroom
Garden
and the remains of an old road once used a century ago.
NOTES — Look at the site plans to see just how much detail went into county planning and development:

The life of a slave involved working from dawn til dusk, often in harsh conditions and under unfair and unforgiving treatment. Tasks were not limited to farm work but often included cooking, carpentry, cleaning, making clothing and all sorts of daily jobs vital to society. Slaves left a long standing mark that is apparent in almost every aspect of Southern culture, none moreso in my opinion than Southern-​style cooking. According to the signage in the park, 13 slaves occupied a small building not even as large as my garage. Original construction had no windows but instead only board and batten shutters.
[History provided was resourced from the informative plaques throughout the park]
FINAL THOUGHTS
Hudson-​Nash Farm will catch your eye immediately because of its Little House on the Prairie throwback curb appeal. I must admit it saddens me to see so many reminders around the south of slavery and those who got rich treating others so poorly for so long, but it nonetheless is a part of the history of this region and our country. I am so proud Gwinnett County goes to such great lengths to make these historic properties available to the public. I simply can’t wait for them to begin and complete construction on Fort Daniel park, where the archaeological remains of an Civil War outpost still exist despite the century of construction that has go on all around it.
As these historic places are revived, it gives you a cool sense of where so many business, schools and streets get their names. The Hudson-​Nash Farm is a cool park easy to view in less than 30 minutes time. Stop and take a walk through history smack in the middle of one of oldest and most well developed areas of the county.

Nice little park! We drove by a few times and always thought it looked neat and we finally decided to actually stop and take some photos. The trail is pretty nice, is it gravel so no longboarding or rollerblading here. A large part of the trail is shady due to all the tree coverage, which is great! The parking area is super small but I don’t think many people visit here at once. The barn and «houses”/post office are neat to look at and walk around as well. We really enjoyed waking around here and spending some time… it was nice!