Books by Richard Thornton

Earthfast is the culmination of a lifetime of architectural practice and seven years of concentrated research. The journey began when archeologists at the American Museum of Natural History asked Richard to prepare architectural drawings of the Mission Santa Catalina de Guale on St. Catherines Island, GA. One discovery led to another. A big, black hole in American history was filled by reading dozens of obscure 16th and 17th century books, plus visiting many archaeological sites. Being Creek Indian, Richard was able to discern evidence from passages on Native Americans that were missed by earlier scholars. This is the first book to comprehensively examine the architecture and planning practices of the early French, Spanish and English colonies. It is unique. Richard Thornton is a professional Architect & City Planner with degrees from Georgia Tech and Georgie State University. He is the national Architecture columnist for the Examiner and appeared on the premier of the History Channel's America Unearthed.

This concise, but heavily illustrated book, takes the reader on a journey through time from 1200 BC to 2016 AD, so you will learn what is known about the region's past.There is very little said about Native Americans and Colonial Period in the state historic markers of North Georgia that is accurate. During the mid-20th century state employees and amateur historians created an inaccurate understanding of this beautiful region's past, based on frontier folklore and poorly researched speculations. The new 2016 Edition includes discoveries made since the first edition of the book in 2014. It includes the Migration Legend of the Creek People, which was lost in 1735 and discovered by the author in England in April 2015. The new edition also includes a recently discovered letter from a director of the French-English colony of Melilot in Northeast Georgia to a Protestant minister in Rotterdam. It is dated January 6, 1660! However, North Georgia still has many secrets to reveal.