First let me tell you a little bit . . . I come from northwest Georgia and live in a small town called Resaca (pronounced re-sack-uh). The story goes that the reason the town is called Resaca is because a man ordered a mail-order bride years ago and was waiting for her to arrive at the train station. When the bride-to-be arrived and he saw how ugly she was he turned to the conductor and said "Resack 'er boys, and send 'er back!" Resaca really means 'dry river bed' or 'drunk'. Any of those are possible reasons for naming the area Resaca.
Resaca is a small town between the famous Carpet Capitol of the South, Dalton in Whitfield County, and historic Calhoun in Gordon County. During the Civil War, battles were fought here on Sherman's march to the sea. Each year the reenactment of the Battle of Resaca is held on some farmland where some of the battles occurred. The reenactment is held in the middle of May one weekend every year. Gordon County would like to capitalize on the history of the Civil War and use the history of our area to draw in tourists in the area. Battles occurred all throughout our community all the way to Atlanta and on into the Union's final victory in Savannah.
Gordon County is also famous for being the last Capitol of the Cherokee Indian Nation in the east. Sequoyah, a famous Cherokee leader, lived in what is now Gordon County and created the first Indian alphabet and published the first Indian newspaper. Many Indians were prosperous and created a government patterned on the white man's government. They abided by the white man's laws. The Cherokee were the last Indian nation in north Georgia because the Treaty of Indian Springs had already removed the Creek Indians that had lived in this area by 1827.
The population exploded six-fold in just forty years by the late 1700's and early 1800's. People wanted more land to expand. Many people went west but other people wanted more land in Georgia. The Indians land became valuable when gold was discovered in Georgia in 1828. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830. Congressmen like Davy Crockett opposed the removal of the Indians. Chief Justice John Marshall ruled in favor of the Indians in 1832 and declared them a Cherokee Nation. In 1838 President Andrew Jackson ordered the forced removal of the Indians from their lands and homes. They were ill prepared for their journey and many starved and froze and died of disease on their forced march to the west. They were exiled from their own land. Four thousand Indians died on the Trail of Tears called "Nunna daul Tsuny" which was translated to mean 'The Trail Where They Cried'.
Gordon County's bucolic beauty belies it's bloody and ruthless past. This is the first and only country in the world that usurped the original inhabitants and built a new society from all over the world. America is a melting pot. Our community is becoming a reflection of people from around the world.
Things Dalton Is Famous For
Carpet Capitol of the World
Deborah Norville, TV commentator
Marla Maples, the ex Ms Donald Trump
All My Children had a storyline with a wounded vet and they mentioned Dalton
Things Calhoun Is Famous For
Cherokee Indian Nation Capitol
Sequoyah make Indian alphabet and used local printing press to print Cherokee newspaper
Battle of Resaca 1864
Roland B. Hayes was a black man who became a world famous operatic tenor
Hot Spots
Dalton State College grew from a 2 year college to a 4 year college
Dalton Trade and Convention Center
Things To Do Around Here
John's Mountain is located in Gordon County. It is part of the Chattahoochee National Forest. Camping hunting, hiking, and fishing are all family pastimes. A hike up the trail in the Pocket leads to a waterfall.
Baseball and softball is a favorite community activity in the spring and summer.
Lazy, hot, humid days of summer are a welcome relief from the monotony of winter's dull, erratic flip-flop from warm to cold to warm. Carters Dam in Chatsworth is a great place to take a boat and swim or ski. Fishing and camping are also pleasant close to home. Chatsworth is in Murray County which is east of Whitfield and Gordon Counties.
The Carpet Industry
Northwest Georgia is strongly invested in the carpet industry. The carpet industry sprang up from its beginnings in the chenille industry. Before there was a chenille industry ladies used to sit and tuft chenille bath robes and bedspreads to sell them from their front porch homes along Highway 41. Travelers who ventured along the Dixie Highway from their homes traveling north or south spread the fame of the Dalton chenille robes and bedspread home craft industry. One of the founding carpet industries was in Dalton, Georgia. It was the Crown Cotton Mill. They have a museum that explains the history of the mill. It was one of the few union carpet mills in the south.
Many people were drawn to north Georgia during the period after the depression seeking jobs. Today is no different. People from all parts of the country and the world come to our thriving community seeking work. Our community has changed tremendously over the past 30 years. Many Mexican and Hispanic people have come to north Georgia.
I Bet You Didn't Know
When Jimmy Carter was President of the United States he and Rosalyn traveled to Calhoun, Georgia to visit their son, Chip, who lived there.
I thought it was Jack Carter that lived here. He bought the old grain mill out on 156. Could be wrong. It's been a long time. Where are the swimming hole and falls?
ReplyDelete@PB&J Adventures. This was in northern Alabama at Little River Canyon. I didn't take the picture so I don't know what route it was on. It's beautiful though.
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