Our headquarters is open Monday-Friday, 10:00-4:00. You may drop off rummage for our two annual sales during business hours. If you need other help, please email us at director@whitfieldmurray.org &/or call 706-278-0217.
PHOTOS show Zac Brown with veterans during past VetClassics.
On Saturday, Sept. 24, Prater’s Mill Historic Site will host the 2022 VetClassic, an automotive fundraising event to benefit Camp Southern Ground, a multi-missioned non-profit organization founded by Grammy Award-winning artist Zac Brown.
In 2011, with the belief his musical talent was given for the purpose of putting more good into the world, Brown purchased 400 acres of farmland about 30 miles south of Atlanta and built Camp Southern Ground, a world-class facility dedicated to serving youth during summer months and veterans for the rest of the year.
Camp Southern Ground is committed to supporting veteran mental health and wellbeing with two on-site programs that help our nation’s veterans find community, direction, purpose, and healing during – and even long after – their transition back to civilian life.
Warrior Week, their signature 12-month workforce and wellness program, begins with a high-touch week at Camp. The goal of this week is to help transitioning veterans discover their strengths, define their purpose, and develop an action plan for a productive and fulfilling life after service.
Warrior PATHH (Progressive Alternative Training for Helping Heroes), which also starts with a high-touch week at Camp, is the nation’s first non-clinical program aimed to cultivate and facilitate post traumatic growth among combat veterans struggling with PTSD, depression, anxiety, and/or combat stress. Both programs, offered at no cost to veterans, welcome warriors from across the country.
Prater’s Mill Historic Site in Dalton will be the backdrop for the Sept. 24th fundraising event, a Jeep and truck show called The VetClassic. This hometown event will feature community, automotive, manufacturing and food vendors, along with activities and live music.
One of Chatsworth and Murray County's most historic buildings, listed on the National Register of Historic Places twice, is the Wright Hotel located at the corner of Market Street and Second Avenue in downtown Chatsworth. Built in 1909, the Hotel is owned and preserved by the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society whose Wright Hotel Committee sees to the regular maintenance and use of the amazing structure and manages the growing collection of artifacts housed there.
Wright Hotel
MY LIFE AND TRAVELS
written by former slave
LEVI BRANHAM
has been reprinted.
I WAS born in 1852 in Murray county, Georgia, and lived there until 1863. Then I refugeed from here (Murray county) to South Georgia, Terrell county of which Dawson was the county seat.
My first owner that I am able to recollect was Dr. Black, who later sold me to Mr. Jim Edmondson. Dr. Black not only sold me but he sold all of his negroes to Mr. Edmondson, declaring that he (Mr. Edmondson) would not separate the Negroes.
A white boy, Sam Carter, brother of Sooth Carter, was my first white playmate that I am able to remember. We would tie pine tops together to make a seine to catch fish.
So begins the story of an incredible man who made a huge difference in the Northwest corner of Georgia. He was a slave at the Chief Vann House in Murray County. Because he was taught to read and write by his Mistress while a slave, he recognized the advantage of an education. He taught schools following the Civil War. He traveled around the area, helping found educational opportunities for freed slaves and their families/ He was also a Sunday school teacher. Mr. Branham, known locally as "Uncle Boisey" published My Life and Travels in 1929, when he was seventy-seven years old.
The book has just been reprinted and will be available for $8 at the Crown Gardens & Archives, 715 Chattanooga Ave, Dalton, GA 30720. (706) 278-0217
GENEALOGY WORKSHOPS
How to Begin Your Family Research
Saturday, January 14, 2023
9:00 a.m.- 3 p.m.
Includes: Genealogy Basics Walking the paper trial
Searching for Women and why are they important How can land records, wills and census help you in your research
Brick Walls Workshop
Saturday, February 18, 2023
9:00 a.m.- 3 p.m.
For intermediate & advanced researchers who have hit a wall.
Instructor: Jennifer S. Harvey, NSDAR Genealogy Consultant Regent of the Chief John Ross Chapter, Member of the TN State Application Team, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.
Location: Crown Gardens & Archives
715 Chattanooga Avenue, Dalton, GA
Mail checks to P. O. Box 6180 Dalton, GA 30722-6180
The Whitfield-Murray Historical Society recently received a $500 Keep Dalton/Whitfield Beautiful Grant for the 1840 Hamilton House. Our focus was to add fresh paint to the doors and windows. Along the way, we also painted porch furniture and added new plantings. Thanks,KD/WB, for encouraging us to spiff up!
The window paint was chipping, and we needed a facelift! In addition to the fresh paint, we decided to change the paint color from brick red to black for the doors and porch.
The new paint pops, and the side porch bench and floor are more welcoming.
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.
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
Historical Dalton City Directories are online
Researchers may now access Dalton city directories from 1940-1963 online, thanks to Georgia Public Library Service. They joined previously digitized Georgia city directories from Albany, Athens, Atlanta, Columbus, Gainsville, and Macon. To locate a city directory, go to the following link.
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:
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.
Sherrian Hall, Jean Manly, and Joanne Lewis scraping old wall paper at the Blunt House
Children at one of the history camps rubbing tombstones
Copies of Dorothy "Dot" McCrory's poetry book,
"Too Much Cider in the Applesauce,"
are available at the Crown Gardens & Archives,
715 Chattanooga Ave. Dalton GA
Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Copies are $25.
A copy can be mailed for $35.
Book sales benefit the Lesche Club scholarship fund.
Hours at Crown Garden and Archives
To better serve our community
we are open M-F 10am - 4pm.
Please call to schedule an appointment on weekends and evenings for research and events!
For research, please call to verify that we have the family files.
To make an appointment, please call during our business hours!
