My Community

Resaca is a small town in northwest Georgia between Dalton and Calhoun. When we first moved here there was an old general store and a small post office and an old house used for council meetings. Resaca has an elementary school and numerous churches of different denominations. For a while the Calhoun Times printed stories about Resaca's council in power struggles and clashes between members. I enjoyed their antics and wished many times I could have voted in the elections. Unfortunately since I live outside of the city limits I could only watch on the sidelines. One of my favorite council members was Miss Julia Baker who lived to be 94 years old. She passed away last April.

Miss Julia stopped by the house one time when we were selling honey. She pulled up into our driveway and started honking the horn until I went outside to see what she wanted. She told me that she wanted to buy some honey and started telling me who she was. She said that she was on the Resaca council and she had even carried the torch in the Olympics when they came through Georgia on the way to Atlanta. Miss Julia had been a very tall woman when she was young but she was stooped over with osteoperosis and used a cane when I saw her. I thought she was delightful and seemed like a jolly old soul but I didn't believe a word she said until I started reading her name in the paper when there was an article about all the fighting between the councilmen. Miss Julia wasn't afraid to stand up to the men in the council and fight for what she believed in.

Today we have a Dollar General Store and the new Gordon County Jail was built next to the new Gordon County Fire Department on Highway 41 in Resaca. The Resaca Council voted to create a police department and even hired a chief and several deputies but when the Sheriff's department was relocated so close to Resaca they voted to abolish it and contract the Sheriff's department to patrol Resaca for them.

I haven't seen a lot of crime in Resaca but I have witnessed several high speed chases up and down the highway in front of our house. Sometimes the chase would be coming from Whitfield County and other times the chase would come from Gordon County. I have seen one high speed chase go in one direction and later they came flying back down the road in the other direction. I'd still like to know how they were able to turn around and go in the other direction without being stopped. I'd also like to know what happened to them but it seems I never see anything about them in our local paper.

When we moved to Resaca from Whitfield County I felt like I had stepped back in time. The first time I noticed a difference was when I went to the Gordon County Courthouse. I had become jaded to the rude and impersonal clerks at the Dalton courthouse who made you feel like you was wasting their time. When I had to go to the courthouse in Gordon County everyone was helpful and friendly.

Resaca is a nice place to live. It is a slow paced little community that is steeped in history and beautiful countryside. Over the years we have seen some strange and incredible and funny things. Resaca means "dry river bed" or "drunk". But I prefer to believe the story of the man waiting for the train who ordered the mail order bride and when he saw how ugly she was he said "Resack 'er, boys, and send her back!" Now that sounds like something that would happen in Resaca.


PIO