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Murray County History
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In December, 1832 the Georgia Legislature designed the extreme
northwestern corner of the state as Murray County.
Formerly part of Cherokee County, the area was named for a
distinguished Georgia statesman from Lincoln County, Mr. Thomas
W. Murray, a former speaker of the Georgia House. Within a
short time the legislature found the county was too large to
administer properly as the population grew, for the county then
included what is now Dade, Walker, Catoosa, Whitfield, Murray,
Gordon and parts of Bartow and Chatooga Counties. No
citizen should be more than a day's ride from the county seat,
so further divisions were necessary. Within two decades,
Murray County came to be 342 square miles of land with Spring
Place as its county seat.
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The area was in
the heart of the Cherokee Nation at the time the boundary lines
were drawn through the territory. Not until after the
Cherokees were removed in 1838-39 did white settlers enter the
county in large numbers. Spring Place had been established
in 1801 as a Moravian mission to the Cherokee and had been a
post office since 1810 - the second oldest in North Georgia.
Soon after the Cherokee "Trail of Tears", the white people who
had drawn or purchased Murray County land lots of 160 acres in
the Georgia Land Lottery were pouring into the area. |
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Life drifted
along at an even pace in Murray County for a three-quarters of a
century. The area was completely agricultural and somewhat
secluded since the only railroad went through Dalton, the county
seat of Whitfield, which had been formed from Murray in 1851.
Since Murray had no industry and little wealth, the county was
primarily undisturbed during the War Between the States, with
only a handful of raids taking place here. During
Reconstruction, Murray residents had financial problems and a
significant number migrated to the West to begin new lives.
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With the dawn
on a new century, new life and new hope came to Murray County.
At last, industry and transportation arrived! Two earlier
attempts at building a railroad had failed, but the third time
was a charm as the Louisville and Nashville line ran along the
mountains the entire length of the county by 1906. Murray
would never be the same as new towns sprang up and old towns
changed their names as the county boasted at least seven rail
stops and new businesses were begun. Timber could be
shipped out of the mountains, and talc deposits, discovered in
the 1870's, could now be mined and the ore shipped all over the
country. |
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Unfortunately
for some, the railroad had by-passed the old town of Spring
Place, and amidst the hopes and new opportunities for
prosperity, dissention tore the county apart as a fight to move
the county seat to the new boom town of Chatsworth began.
The bitterness surrounding a controversial election in 1912,
which resulted in the naming of Chatsworth as the seat of local
government divided the county for many years. |
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Into the
twentieth century, Murray remained predominantly agricultural
and most residents weathered the storms of the Great Depression
fairly well. Shortly after World War II a new era began -
the textile mills of Whitfield County began spilling over into
Murray, and what was once an inside occupation for farmer's
wives during the winter became a million dollar industry.
Murray Countians produced thousands of spreads yearly, and
easily made the transition to carpet in the 1970's. |
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As textiles
became king, the talc and lumber industries continued.
Other economic boosts came too, such as the building of the
Carters Dam complex in the 1960's. Murray County
progresses, and yet remembers its rich heritage. |
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 In the old
county seat at Spring Place, several century-old houses are
preserved, but the nationally famous landmark is the Chief Vann
House, built in 1804 as the home of Cherokee chieftain James
Vann. The Vanns, wealthy mixed breeds, had the only brick
mansion in North Georgia, and hosted President James Monroe
there in 1819. The Vann House has been operated as an
historic site since 1958. Nearby, the local historical
society has restored the old Spring Place Methodist Church,
built in 1875. |
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Chatsworth still boasts its
railroad depot - now undergoing restoration on a new site -
several original store buildings, the Wright hotel and the
beautiful doric columned courthouse. Now owned by the
Whitfield-Murray Historical Society, the Wright Hotel has been
named to the National Register of Historic Places, as has the
courthouse. Also, on Green Road stands the well-known rock
building, the first home of Murray County High School.
This structure stands not only as the alma mater of hundreds of
residents, but it is a symbol of the progress of education in
the county through the school consolation program. The
1934 building was constructed out of native stone by WPA labor
during the Depression. |
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Overlooking
Chatsworth and most of Murray County is beautiful Fort Mountain,
so named because of the old stone fort which encircles its
summit. Though its origins are uncertain, the ancient fort
pre-dates even the earliest Cherokees. |
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North of
Chatsworth on Highway 411 at Eton are a number of historic homes
that have been preserved along with the old town well.
South of Chatsworth off Highway 411 is the Dennis Mill at
Ramhurst. The mill was built before the Civil War by
Dennis Johnson and operated well into the twentieth century. |
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 Still further
south is the old community of Carters. Though few signs
remain of the early settlement, this is probably the oldest
continuously inhabited site in the county. When Spanish
explorer Hernando DeSoto visited Murray County in the 1540's, he
found an Indian town there, and the later Cherokees called it "Coosawattee
("Old Town"). After the Indian Removal, a wealthy Georgia
planter and merchant, Parish Carter, bought the old John Martin
place on the Coosawattee River and the duplicate George Harlan
house above it. Carter accumulated thousands of acres of
land, much of which is still owned by his descendants. Mr.
Carter is the same man for which Cartersville, Georgia is named,
and he also gave his name to the dam. His home, called
Carter's Quarters, is part of the old Harlan house.
Privately owned, it too has been placed on the National
Register. |
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Murray County
does indeed have a rich heritage. |
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Provided by Tim Howard
Whitfield-Murray Historical
Society
September, 1996 |
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