Peacock Alley: A Community Celebration (by Brookwood School)

(Dalton, Georgia): Brookwood School will present a history event to celebrate the history of Dalton's bedspread and carpet industry. "Peacock Alley: A Community Celebration" will feature art, dance, poetry, and music, and community history. "Simple Gifts" was conceived and directed by Sandra Hughes, with musical accompaniment by Paul Byrum and friends. There will also be photography, spoken word poetry, and guitar by Mason Gavin and Nicky Millwood, along with Community conversation, music, art, video, and a living history exhibit. Creative Arts Guild is a partnering organization.

(Historic background): Dalton, known as the Carpet Capital of the World, is known for the manufacture of tufted carpet. The industry had its beginnings in a humble cottage bedspread industry that started with one handmade bedspread, tufted by Catherine Evans (who later became Catherine Evans Whitener). Evans' bedspreads became so popular with tourists, that Evans devised a folk method of transferring the patterns to speed up the process. Local families sold the spreads to tourists along highway 41, who enjoyed buying them off of spreadlines. One favorite motif was the colorful peacock: hence the nickname, "Peacock Alley," for old U.S. 41. "Simple Gifts," an excerpt from a dance and drama tribute to Catherine Evans Whitener, will be a highlight of the exhibit. Evans was honored by being inducted into Georgia Woman of Achievement in 2001.

(Dates, Location, Information):
This event will be held on Friday, May 1, 2009 at 6:30 pm at First Presbyterian Church, 510 S. Tibbs Road, Dalton, Georgia. For more information, visit the Brookwood School website: http://www.bkwdschool.org/

Marcelle is back at Crown Gardens and Archives

Marcelle is back at Crown Gardens and Archives! I had been filling in for her since the end of April. She is at work on the next quarterly and newsletter. They should be out soon.

Crown Gardens and Archives (Dalton, Georgia) is the headquarters for Whitfield-Murray Historical Society. There really isn't much of a garden, unfortunately. There's a small library for genealogy, and some of the local clubs meet at the archives on a regular basis.

Presidential Seal in Carpet

Ya can't get away from carpet! Then again, why would you want to? On a trip to Plains, Georgia, the women at the welcome center showed us the Presidential Seal, made of carpet. They were proud that it had actually hung in the oval office during Jimmy Carter's administration, so that it was seen in each presidential address. They mentioned that the carpet was made by a mill in or near Dalton, Georgia (I believe it may have been Calhoun or White, but I've forgotten the plant name). They said they would really like to have a duplicate one made, but didn't know if the mill was still in business.

Most of the smaller mills are either out of business or are now owned by one of the larger mills, Shaw, Mohawk or Beaulieu.

A bit of trivia, I suppose, but interesting to those of us in the Carpet Capital of the World...

Old Rome Road and a question...

I never know what questions will come into the archives. Today's question was about Old Rome Road, a short local road outside of Dalton, in Whitfield County, Georgia. The researcher said that her mother remembered it as the main road. She wanted to know if Rome Road was the old name for Highway 41. It's difficult to find road names on the 1908 map ~ if there are any. Community names are there, and I think some of the smaller roads have names. The caller said that this had been the main road going through Five Springs years ago.

Even though I haven't located a "Rome Road" on an old map yet, it occurred to me that road names follow a pattern. Here, most road names that have a town name in them are main roads that lead to the town. Five Springs Road leads to Five Springs Community. Cleveland Highway (Highway 71) leads to Cleveland (Tennessee). In Chatsworth, part of US Route 76 is called "Dalton Highway" (leading to Dalton); in Dalton, the same thoroughfare is called "Chatsworth Highway" (main highway leading to Chatsworth). Parts of "old Highway 411" or "Old Dug Gap Road" still exist. It makes sense, then, that the main road leading South out of Dalton would have been called "Rome Road" or "Rome Highway."

To test this theory, I searched the 'Net and found that Sugar Valley and Calhoun have roads called "Old Rome-Dalton Road." Rome, Georgia, has an "Old Dalton Road." This seems to support the idea that the main highway (now 41) was probably called locally, "Old Rome Road," and a segment of it still bears the name. I can't be sure of it, and would like to find it so designated on an old map. I'm going to recheck the 1908 map (road names aren't always apparent on it, though every other landmark is well marked). If anyone has information on this, we would appreciate it!

Mr. Carter: Undertaker in Dalton, Georgia

For the researcher looking for Mr. Carter...

A researcher came by the Crown Gardens and Archives today seeking information on Mr. Carter, a former undertaker and furniture maker in Dalton, Georgia. He was known for having owned or run West Hill Cemetery in Dalton. It got kind of busy at the archives and the researcher left without leaving us any contact information. I've found the first names ~ I believe they were Albert and Charles, possibly a father-and-son pair. (I don't have the source available at home, so please contact us to get the complete source information and to make sure I have the information right.) Sorry about that. It's unusual that we had so many visitors and calls at one time!