Spring Place Festival highlights transportation history

Published 9:45 am Wednesday, July 27, 2022

The 25th annual Spring Place Community Festival will be Saturday, Aug. 20, at the Old Spring Place Methodist Church just off Georgia Highway 225 South. The theme this year is “Spring Place on the Move.”

Sponsored by the Spring Place Ruritan Club and the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society, the festival commemorates Spring Place’s past and raises funds for the continued preservation of the 1875 structure that is Murray County’s oldest building built for public use. There is no admission fee, but visitors are welcome to purchase raffle tickets on Festival Day. There will be two drawings, the first for a free two-night stay at Mud Flat Molly’s condo in Cedar Keys, Florida, and a second for a “Picnic in the Park” basket. Special “25th Year” T-shirts will be on sale, too.

The festival opens at 8 a.m. and will have something for everyone. Breakfast biscuits, coffee, soft drinks, snacks and bottled water will be available for purchase throughout the morning. Members of the Ruritan Club will have their usual bake sale with homemade cakes and sweets of all kinds. A variety of used books, collectibles and flea market items such as vintage glass and cookware, “blue” China, Christmas and other seasonal decorations, pictures and frames, vinyl records, cassette tapes and CDs, linens, baskets, tools, toys and other household items attract buyers as well.

Special features will include a display of antique automobiles outside and a display of photographs highlighting the changes in transportation since the Old Federal Road was built through Spring Place in 1805. The oldest car to be on display is a 1925 Model T that was purchased by the well-known Goswick family who had a general store on what is now Highway 286 in the Fuller’s Chapel community. The car has been restored and was featured in Vintage Ford magazine in 2019. It’s now owned by Jay Corman of Adairsville.

The Goswick children came to Lucy Hill High School in Spring Place, so it’s likely the car has been here before. Others planning to display vehicles are Fred Welch, Tony Jones and Ethan Smith.

Festival newcomer Judy Alred of Cedartown will have wreaths and other crafts for sale at her booth, and Benny Huggins will be selling locally-produced honey. Author Jodi Lowery, a festival regular, will sell and autograph her books about local historic events, and Jacob Howard will have his “Family History Videos” for sale, one about the interesting burials in the famous Spring Place Cemetery and a new one on the history of Spring Place and historic places in southern Murray County. Various publications of the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society will also be available and some of those authors will be around to autograph purchases, too.

The popular auction begins at 10 a.m.

This year the auction will include antique and vintage furniture, rugs donated by Value Carpets, local artist prints, gift cards from area restaurants and businesses, a basket of NASCAR collectibles, a Wii system with accessories, antique quilts, a set of “Forget Me Not” china and even a telescope! Auction items can be previewed on the Old Spring Place Methodist Church Facebook page during Festival Week.

The Murray High Alumni Association will also have prints, postcards and notecards featuring the “Old Rock Building” for sale, and the Old Church Museum room will be open throughout the day as well.

Parking will be available on Elm Street with shuttles to the church and auction site provided.

To find out more about the festival, call Elizabeth Robinson at (706) 695-6021, Jyana and Chuck Smith at (706) 695-8297, or Tim Howard at (706) 695-2740.