by Randy Golden

Woodland Indians and the Creek Nation held the area of present-day Dalton, Georgia until the mid-1700's, when the Cherokee pushed the Creek to the west and south. The Cherokee Indians called the mountains of North Georgia their "Enchanted Land" until their forced removal in 1838 in a travesty known today as the Trail of Tears.

By the time the last Cherokee had left, work was underway for a railroad, the Western and Atlantic, to join the Tennessee River with the Chattahoochee. In 1847, the newly renamed town of Dalton was defined as a mile radius from the city center - the Western and Atlantic depot. The final segment of this pivotal railroad was completed in Tunnel Hill in 1850. A second railroad, the East Tennessee and Georgia was completed in 1852.

During the Civil War, Dalton saw its first action during the Great Locomotive Chase, on April 12, 1862. More than a year later, on September 19 - 20, 1863, massive Union and Confederate forces battled a few miles to the west at Chickamauga, and later at Chattanooga. Finally, war came to Whitfield County in the Spring of 1864. The Battle of Rocky Face Ridge and Dug Gap began on May 7, 1864 and ended when General Johnston completed his withdrawal from Dalton on May 12. The last campaign of the Confederacy, John Bell Hood's Nashville Campaign attacked a Union blockhouse in Tilton before passing through Dalton and heading west.

With the invention of the automobile, a cottage industry arose in the homes along "Peacock Alley," U. S. Highway 41. Running from Copper Harbor, Michigan to Miami, Florida, the route ran on paved state roads. It was designated in 1925 and signed in 1926. Women would sell quilts to drivers along this popular north-south route. From this early origin, the carpet tufting industry grew in Dalton. Today carpet mills remain major area employers.

Cherokee Indians
Railroads
Civil War
Carpet Industry