Published: October 22, 2009 02:46 pm      

Opportunities aplenty with, through the historical society

Looking for something to do close to home? Want to participate in preserving the history of our community? The Whitfield-Murray Historical Society has many opportunities coming up soon.

Both the Chatsworth Depot and the Wright Hotel will be open again during the ’Fall for Chatsworth’ festival on Saturday and Sunday. Various publications and historical society items will be available in the hotel gift shop. Admission to the hotel is $2 for adults and $1 for ages 12 to 18. Children are free. Several society members will be on hand to give guided tours. For more information contact Jan McNeill at (706) 695-4313 or Pat Ausmus at (706) 695-4200. Books will be for sale in the Wright Hotel garage.

The Crown Garden Archives is hosting an outside volunteer day today from 8 to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 8 to 3 p.m. as part of Make a Difference Day. Everyone is welcome to participate in moving dirt and landscaping projects (or needed inside work).

On Oct. 29-30 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Oct. 31 (8 a.m. to noon), the Archives will have a rummage sale. Volunteers, donations and shoppers are needed.

Jack Bandy will be the featured speaker at the Nov. 17 meeting of the historical society (7 p.m. at the Brown Center at Dalton State College).’Bandy grew up hearing about the bedspread industry from his parents.’His mother, Dicksie Bradley Bandy, is among a select group of Georgia women who have been inducted into Georgia Women of Achievement. The Georgia Women of Achievement exhibit will be on display both at the meeting and at the archives. The exhibit also features Catherine Evans Whitener.

Work on the Hamilton House is moving forward. The pre-construction meeting will be held this week, and work will hopefully be up and running in about 30 days. Moving the contents of the house will continue the next two Saturdays.

Located at 506 S. Thornton Ave., the Federalist (with Victorian addition) style Blunt House, completed in 1848, is the second oldest house in Dalton. It was the home of Ainsworth Emery Blunt, the first mayor of Dalton, the first postmaster, one of the founders of the First Presbyterian Church, and a leader in the 1851 formation of Whitfield County from Murray County. The house is also unique because it was occupied solely by the Blunt family members from the time it was built until the death of Mrs. Emery Kirby Baxley in 1978, who willed it to the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society with the stipulation it be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. That was accomplished in 1981. Most of the furnishings, clothes, books, linens and objects are original to the house.

The Christmas tour of the Blunt House will be Friday, Dec. 4, from 6 to 9 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 5, from 2 to 5 p.m. Tickets will be $10 each and may be’purchased at Crown Gardens, from historical society members, or at the door. The decorations will be done from mainly live greenery and will include Christmas books, decorations, boxes and toys found in the house. The decorations will not be set in one era, for the Blunt family lived in the house from 1848 until 1978. Most of the Christmas items are from the 1930s to the 1960s. Plans are to have the house open every Friday and Saturday’starting the middle of January. It will be open on request until then.

The recent flood damage caused the need for electrical and plumbing services at the Crown Garden Archives. Organizations and individuals are welcome to sponsor such projects or specific sites such as the Blunt House, Hamilton House, Wright Hotel, Chatsworth Depot or the Crown Garden Archives. While much has been done, there is still much to be done at all of the society’s properties.

The heritage of Whitfield and Murray counties belongs to everyone, present and future generations. Everyone should enjoy and help preserve these valuable community sites. Please join us in this important mission. E-mail Eric Gallmon, executive secretary of the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society and curator of the Crown Archives and History Center, at wmhs@optilink.us. You may also call Eric at (706) 278-0217.