Today we’d like to introduce you to Martha and Tommie Alexander.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Martha and Tommie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Tommie and Martha Alexander bought a 350-acre farm in 1953 from Tommie’s sister and her husband. We started out with chicken houses, hog houses and cattle.
Farming was not bringing in much money so the Farmer’s Home Administration suggested to us to build a campground. Since the farm is located near Vogel State Park, which was often full it was ideal to build another campground. In July 1966, with 1 bathhouse, 18 campsites, a 3 acre man made lake, 4 borrowed rental horses, and 3 buffaloes to draw the campers off the highway we opened for business. Vogel State Park would send us their overflow but things were slow that first summer. The following summer a newspaper writer from Hollywood, FL camped at Trackrock went home and wrote a wonderful article about us that went in a number of Florida papers. The phone started ringing! In 1970 we purchased 3 park models for cabins and then later built 2 more. In the mid 90’s, we replaced the trailers with beautiful 2 bedroom cabins with fireplaces. We also increased the sites to 98 campsites and added a 2nd bathhouse.
When we opened camping was $2 per night and cabins $10 per night. The horses were $1 or $2 per ride and the pony rides were .25 and .50 with the kids leading the ponies. horseback riding went from the 4 borrowed horses to a full stable with 60 horses on the property. We have 32 trail horses and the rest are boarders and family
member horses.
We got to were we are today by hard work. We had 4 kids, Mary, Linda, Frank and Sonya. They all had to help. But it was a lot of fun also. Our kids would take the camper kids on adventures such as snip hunts and hikes. They would play cards at the office and do campfires and hayrides.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Tommie and Martha built the campground with the help of the kids. There were no paid employees for many years. Everything was done by the family. Martha would be in the office 7 days a week and Tommie did the campground upkeep, improvements and activities. The kids did what they were told to do. Cleaning campsites, taking care of the horses and doing the rides.
We had a 2 mile dirt road leading into the park for the first few years and when it rained hard campers would get stuck and Tommie would have to go pull them in with the tractor. Starting off the campground was only open from May till Labor Day so Tommie either did logging in the mountains or went off to work in the winter months and mom was left running the farm and raising the 4 kids plus working at the local shoe factory.
The weather played a role in camping. One summer, I remember it rained almost all summer , most everybody had tents and pop-up campers so most campers left. During this difficult time, we sold off some land to help make things easier on us financially. All of the buyer were previous campers that could not get enough of this beautiful area and the Trackrock experience.
Since we started the campground 52 years ago and are located in the mountains we have to limit our campers to 40 feet.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Trackrock Campground is known for tranquility. When you drive up the drive you come to the top of a hill and look out to see a beautiful meadow with the lake and mountains in the background. We are surrounded on 3 sides by the national forest and wilderness area. Our valley has a creek running thru it and pastures and woods.
We are a very friendly family oriented campground and cabins. We welcome families with their kids, young couples, and retires. We have 78 full hook up sites, 20 tent sites with water and electric and 2 bath houses.
We use to have the Buffaloes as an attraction for several years, one of the major attractions now are our stable. We are known for our horseback riding, summer day camps for those horse crazy kids and lessons.. We do hayrides, where you may spot wildlife on the ride around the farm. Other actives include hiking, fishing, swimming, playgrounds and recreational room. The campers enjoy the quite evenings around their campfires. We also have our old fashion pot luck dinners on Wednesday evening and an outdoor chapel service on Sunday mornings. The antiques around the property also adds to the charm.
The campsites are spacious, located in a forest setting, the sites are well kept and the bathhouses clean.
One of the accomplishments we are most proud of are the families that come back year after year generations after generation . We are touched by having the 4th generation here.
What were you like growing up?
Tommie was a native of Blairsville, being raised in the country. At 16, Tommie worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps building Vogel State Park. He then joined the army at 17 and due to his experience working at the CCC camp driving a bulldozer he was assigned driving a tank across Germany on the front lines.
Tommie met Martha after World War II in 1948 Furth Germany. Martha grew up a city girl with a bakery down the street. At the end of WWII was over Tommie was in Austria. He noticed that the recreation business was the first thing that got back up and running. People needed to get away from everything and have fun. After they married, Tommy went back to the states to finish out his time in the army and then went to Colorado to work in the logging industry. Martha joined him from Germany in 1952 with their first daughter, Mary who was 2 years old.
Tommie was always self motived, good with his hands and equipment, and loved by all. He had a great vision and never met a stranger. Martha is a very smart hard working woman and still talks with a German accent to this day. She was the practical one, Tommy had a lot of vision. Together they made the perfect team for developing such a unique business. Tommy was one of the founding fathers of the Union County Chamber of Commerce in the 80’s.
Contact Info:
- Address: 141 Trackrock Camp Rd
Blairsville, GA 30512 - Website: trackrock.com
- Phone: 706-745-2420 campground 706-745-5252 stable
- Email: Trackroc@windstream.net (campground) & trackrockstables@windstream.net
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