Dowdell's Knob, named for an early Harris County family, rises 1,395 feet above sea level as the highest point on Pine Mountain and became one of Franklin D. Roosevelt's dearest places. Roosevelt first visited nearby Warm Springs, then known as Bullochville, in 1924 seeking treatment for polio that had stricken him three years earlier, and the area soon became his beloved home away from home. Beyond the warm springs, he loved the beauty, tranquility, and joy he found on and around Pine Mountain's wooded slopes, and with its sweeping views of farmland and forest below, Dowdell's Knob became his favorite picnic spot. He enjoyed visiting local communities, talking with farmers and other rural residents, and formed lasting friendships there, including with Cason and Virginia Callaway, founders of nearby Callaway Gardens. In 1932, the same year he was first elected President of the United States, he built his Little White House in Warm Springs as a simple and peaceful rural retreat, and he spent many relaxing afternoons at Dowdell's Knob with family and friends. Although he usually tried to keep his disability hidden from the public, this was one of the few places where he felt comfortable enough to wear his leg braces outside his pants. In the spring of 1945, while taking a much-needed vacation at the Little White House, Roosevelt came to Dowdell's Knob on April 10, asked his Secret Service agents to leave him alone in the car for two hours, and sat contemplating in the quiet. Two days later, on April 12, 1945, he died of a sudden and massive cerebral hemorrhage at the Little White House while working on a speech and sitting for his portrait.