DEL.ICIO.USONE-TANK TRIP: DALTON
Dalton lined wall-to-wall with history
For the Journal-Constitution
Sunday, November 09, 2008
The city that’s known as the “Carpet Capital of the World” has a lot more going for it than just the latest colors and weaves in floor covering.
Though you may want to see a rug or two when you stop at this city of about 33,000 residents in northwest Georgia, you can also tour a Civil War battlefield and a tunnel, hike around a historic mill and have a taste of muscadine wine.
PHIL SKINNER/pskinner@ajc.com
The Chickamauga National Military Park is a must for Civil War buffs. The Dalton area is a business center but remains as picturesque as a post card.
AMANDA MILLER ALLEN/Special
Prater’s Mill near Dalton dates to the 1840s and was a working mill for more than a century. Dalton has kept much of its history intact while becoming an international center for the carpet industry.
AMANDA MILLER ALLEN/Special
The American Home Show Place Dream Home, a full-size house built inside the huge Carpets of Dalton showroom in Dalton, gets an update every couple of years. The Carpets of Dalton showroom is large enough to hold 19 football fields.
Rest up: At the Historic Dalton Depot & Trackside Café downtown, you can enjoy a little history with lunch or dinner. Norfolk Southern and CSX trains still travel the tracks behind the depot, which opened to rail traffic in 1852. The depot still has a mark on the floor that denotes the center of Dalton in 1847. 110 Depot St. Lunch menu $7-$11; dinner entrees $10-$25. 706-226-3160; www.daltondepot.net
Dalton has numerous chain hotels and motels along I-75. For something a little different, try the Little River Farms Country Inn & Petting Farm, 669 Nickelsville Road, Resaca, a few miles south of Dalton. Rates $70-$130 a night. 706-629-9688; www.littleriverfarms.com
Getting there: Dalton is about 85 miles north of downtown Atlanta.
Information: Dalton Convention and Visitors Bureau, 1-800-331-3258, www.daltoncvb.com
Georgia travel stories
- Photos: Travel / Southeast Galleries
- Latest deals!
- Back to: Travel | Southeast destinations
- Travel Guide
Powered by
Downtown Dalton’s $7 million facelift was completed in 2006, and you’ll find an inviting area with clothing, gift and specialty shops and several locally owned restaurants.
Don’t miss:
• You can’t visit Dalton without stepping into the enormous showroom of Carpets of Dalton. Be prepared to get your exercise if you want to see it all — the American Home Show Place is big enough to hold 19 football fields, and, in fact, dwarfs the 3,424-square-foot house built inside. Those who come to buy will see a full selection of just about every household furnishing imaginable, but casual lookers head for the showroom’s Dream Home. Built in 1999 and redecorated every couple of years, it displays the latest furnishings, fabrics, paint and appliances. Adore the lamp in the living room? You’ll find it for sale in the showroom, of course. Charlotte Byrd, hostess of the home, will give you a tour, or just browse on your own. If you like the home’s Whitfield floor plan, named for Whitfield County, you can buy it and build the house. Byrd says a few hundred people, of the thousands who tour every year, have done just that. Free. 3010 N. Dug Gap Road, 800-262-3132, www.carpetsofdalton.com
• Aside from carpets, trains helped Dalton grow. The historic Western & Atlantic Railroad tunnel through the Chetoogeta Mountain at Tunnel Hill, 10 miles north of Dalton, and the Tunnel Hill Heritage Center are worth a stop. Displays in the small museum provide information about the construction of the tunnel, which opened in 1850, and its role in the Civil War. The 1,477-foot historic tunnel fell into disrepair when rail traffic moved to a larger tunnel, opened in 1928. The Tunnel Hill Historical Foundation led efforts to restore the old tunnel and opened it to the public in 2000. You’ll also learn a bit about the roots of the area’s carpet manufacturing and the cottage industry of craftspeople who sewed and tufted chenille bedspreads in what became known as Peacock Alley. $3 adults, $2 children 12 and under. 215 Clisby Austin Road, Tunnel Hill. 706-876-1571; www.tunnelhillheritagecenter.com
• The last major Confederate victory of the Civil War took place near Dalton in 1863. A visit to the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, the first established in the nation in 1890, gives you a sense of the epic struggle to control Chattanooga’s rail lines. Some 60,000 troops battled on the Union side; 43,000 defended the Confederacy at the 5,500-acre Chickamauga Battlefield. A seven-mile auto route takes you through the park. Chickamauga Battlefield, free; Lookout Mountain Battlefield, $3 for ages 16 and older; under 16 free. Take Exit 350 off I-75 toward Fort Oglethorpe. 706-866-9241; www.nps.gov/chch
• Prater’s Mill in Varnell, just north of Dalton, was established in 1855, though a working gristmill was on the site as early as 1847. The mill operated more than 100 years before it closed in 1969. Today visitors can hike a nature trail that begins at the mill or drop a fishing line in Coahulla Creek. In October each year, the Prater’s Mill Foundation and its volunteers organize a country fair with arts and crafts, entertainment and food to raise funds for restoration and maintenance of the site, which also has a country store, barn and cotton gin. Free. 500 Prater Mill Road NE, on Ga. 2, about 10 miles northeast of Dalton. 706-694-6455; pratersmill.org
• Stop by the Georgia Winery and Tasting Center in Ringgold, just north of Dalton, for a free tasting if you like the Southern tradition of muscadine wine. Not a muscadine fan? Try a sip; this wine is much better than your uncle’s homemade brew. The center also sells artisan cheeses and delicious fudge, and a wide range of gifts for wine-loving friends. 6469 Battlefield Pkwy., Ringgold (just off I-75, exit 350). A short tour of the wine-making area is $5, but save the fee unless you want a souvenir glass.
Services »
