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Our headquarters is open Monday-Friday, 10:00-4:00.  We are practicing social distancing.  You may drop off rummage for our two annual sales  anytime.  If you need other help, please email us at director@whitfieldmurray.org &/or call 706-278-0217.

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Notice:

 

All Whitfield-Murray Historical Society properties are owned by the historical society, so are therefore private property.

 

If you would like to use the grounds for photographs, etc., please obtain permission by calling 706-278-0217, Monday through Friday.

 

Please note that if an event is occurring on the property, no one else is allowed to be on the property.

 

Professional photographers must schedule events for all outside & inside areas at all WMHS properties. The fee for the rental is $100 per session per property.

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Rent a Whitfield Murray Historical Society Property for your next event.

As you plan upcoming family or organization events, consider using WMHS property. Contacts for information &/or reservations are:

Old Spring Place Methodist Church

Call Tim at 706-695-2740

 

Crown Garden and Archives

Call Tina at 706-278-0217

 

Hamilton House

Call Tina at 706-278-0217

 

Blunt House

Call Joanne at 706-271-8702

 

Huff House

Call Virgelia at 706-226-6774

 

Chatsworth Depot

Call Ted at 706-581-5482

 

Wright Hotel

Call Ralph at 706-695-9808 or 706-260-1320

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Chatsworth Depot Raising Funds with Raffle

The Chatsworth Depot, a property of the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society, has announced that a raffle will be conducted to raise funds for several upcoming projects. Like many tourist attractions and historical sites, the depot has remained closed for the better part of 2020 because of COVID. 2021 seems to be looking much more promising.

Modern Woodmen will provide matching funds for a raffle.  Raffle tickets are now on sale at Pat’s Antiques, Market Street, Chatsworth and Crown Garden and Archives, 715 Chattanooga Avenue, Dalton. Depot committee members also have tickets for sale.  Tickets are $5.00 or three for $10.00. Prizes are meals at CiCi’s Pizza in Dalton & Village Cafeteria in Chatsworth, a Joel Carroll art print of the Chatsworth Depot, and a grand prize of an HO electric model train set.

2021 plans for the Depot include the restoration of Ed Campbell's model train display.  A new single plaque that combines all donor recognitions to one display has been ordered. Restorations of the station train board & a couple of semaphore train signals are being planned. Outside shrubs and roses are being trimmed, & new mulch will be put down. Spring cleaning has begun inside the depot. We have been and are still being busy at the depot.

            For 2021 Second Saturday openings, the depot will return to yesteryear with Movies at the Depot in June, Country Fair at the Depot in July, and old-fashioned Singin' at the Depot for August, with the very popular Model Train Expo in September & local favorite the Polar Express in December.

            The next Depot opening will be Sunday, May 2, from 1 to 4 p.m. with free guided tours. This special opening is in conjunction with Super Museum Sunday sponsored by the Georgia Historical Society. The Wright Hotel, located next door to the Depot, will open at the same time. The raffle drawing will be held at 3 p.m. on this day.

 

Attached Photo info:

Donald Jones, representative from the local Modern Woodmen, shows a model electric train set to Ted Yarbrough, tour guide from the Chatsworth Depot.

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The Georgia Historical Society’s Super Museum Sunday 

is 

Sunday, May 2, 2021. 

Six WMHS properties will be open from 1:00 until 4:00.

Visit the Blunt House, Chatsworth Depot, Hamilton House, Huff House, Old Spring Place Methodist Church, & the Wright Hotel.

For location of the above properties, go to 

http://www.whitfield-murrayhistoricalsociety.org/historicproperties.html

Admission is free.

Donations are encouraged.

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MURRAY COUNTY DEEDS ARE NOW ONLINE

All Murray County deeds--back to 1833--are now accessible online.  This includes the earliest deeds for Whitfield County, too, since we were one county through 1851.  Use this link to access the deeds:

https://kofilequicklinks.com/MurrayGA/

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Whitfield-Murray Historical Society Benefits from Grants

     

            During the COVID-19 virus pandemic, the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society has benefited from both member donations & government grants. The US government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), created to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll, enabled the organization to cover employee payroll, payroll taxes, & utilities.  The Society also received funds from the Georgia Humanities Council through the CARES Act Emergency Operating grant.  WMHS is grateful for this state humanities support.

Organized in 1952 to preserve the Vann House, the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society is the pivot point for all things historical in Whitfield & Murray counties.  The Society preserves area history by maintaining structures, archiving objects & materials, & serving as the go-to entity for historical questions.  WMHS also conducts historic house tours, bi-annual rummage sales, and Holiday House tours.  Among the many activities conducted by the WMHS are Social Distancing Concerts at the Chatsworth Depot.  Upcoming date is August 8. 

            The Society has placed 11 sites on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition, the group has preserved the 1864 Dug Gap Battle Park, the 1909 Wright Hotel, old Spring Place Methodist Church (1875), & the 1905 Chatsworth Depot. The 1840 Hamilton House which is the oldest home in Dalton, and the 1848 Blunt House, home of Dalton’s first mayor, and second oldest house are also part of the preservation done by WMHS. The 1855 Huff House was General Joseph E. Johnston’s headquarters during the winter of 1863-64 preparing for the Atlanta Campaign is another WMHS property.

            WMHS headquarters, Crown Gardens and Archives--the 1890 Crown Cotton Mill office building--is a resource for local historical & genealogical research.  The Society sells books on local history & publishes a bi-monthly newsletter as well as a historical review.  Annual scholarships are awarded to young researchers, & historic preservation awards recognize area preservationists.  Meetings feature topics of local historical interest in Whitfield & Murray counties.

            Individuals interested in local history are encouraged to join the Society. Donations to aid in the very important work of protecting our local history may be mailed to: WMHS, P.O. Box 6180, Dalton, GA 30722.  For more information, call 706-278-0217, or visit http://www.whitfield-murrayhistoricalsociety.org.

 

Bylines:
Sherrian Hall, Jean Manly, and Joanne Lewis scraping old wall paper at the Blunt House, one of the WMHS historic properties.

 

Children at one of the history camps rubbing tombstones.

 

VINTAGE MAGIC CHEF GAS STOVE FOR SALE--Manufactured in 1920s or early 1930s.  $ 200 cash.  Serious inquiries only. 

 Call 706-278-0217 & leave message.