EDITOR: I am a 92-year-old shut-in (Lenbrook retirement community) but I read, with interest, your recent column on Wieuca [Road]. As the founding pastor of the Wieuca Road Baptist Church, I also sought meaning and origin of the word. Our church enjoyed immediate regional and national attention, and I was besieged with inquires about the name “Wieuca.”

[Historian] Franklin Garrett [author of “Atlanta and Environs”] shared his file with me, and other theories were offered. I was fascinated with the following: The church is located on a site which is known to have been a rendezvous point for the Creek and Cherokee [Indian] tribes, a sign attached to a tree read “Wyuka.” The accepted translation was “The End of the Trail.” As new members come into the growing church (1954 and forward), I often gave my translation of the Indian lore, with “You have arrived.” Mr. Garrett was unable to find “any solid confirmation of this legend,” but I enjoyed the convenient and striking “welcome” to new congregants.

Respectfully,

J.T. Ford

Pastor emeritus,

Wieuca Road Baptist Church, Buckhead