Hamilton House reopening will kick off Civil War celebration

Published 12:24 pm Monday, March 1, 2010

After being closed to the public for three years, Dalton’s oldest brick home is scheduled to reopen in November, just in time to kick off the local celebration of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War.

The Hamilton House, built in 1840, has been closed to repair a wall that was bulging outward. But officials at the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society, which owns the house, say they plan a grand reopening in November that will also feature an open house of the nearby Crown Garden and Archives, which has also been undergoing renovation. The archives, which is adjacent to the Hamilton House, is the society’s headquarters and the site of its collections.

“It’s a little early to be talking about specifics. But the grand reopening of the Hamilton House coincides with the beginning of the national celebration of the sesquicentennial, so that can serve as an exciting launching pad for other events,” said former Dalton State College president Jim Burran.

Burran is a member of a group put together by the Dalton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) to help the area plan its participation in the celebration, which will continue through 2015. Organizers hope the event will draw tourists to see Whitfield County’s many Civil War sites, such as the Tunnel Hill Battlefield and the fortifications on Rocky Face Ridge.

At a meeting last week, group members discussed several ways they might build on the Hamilton House reopening, such as sponsoring a costume ball where people would come dressed in Civil War or antebellum attire.

CVB executive director Brett Huske said the group should identify key events and build around them. One idea was to try to build on the annual Civil War collectors show held at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center each February by holding events after the show closes each night that might bring more of the people attending it into town.

Janet Cochran, president of the Tunnel Hill Historical Foundation, said the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw regularly holds bus tours of the Great Locomotive Chase route to Tunnel Hill. And this year, the museum plans to bring a tour to see the re-enactment of the Battle of Tunnel Hill, which takes place on the weekend after Labor Day. The Union soldiers who stole the General hoped to blow up the railroad tunnel at Tunnel Hill.

Ellen Thompson, president of the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society, hopes to keep the Hamilton House and the Blunt House, another antebellum house the society owns, open to the public so that those coming in for Civil War events have a chance to tour them.

“We hope to have both of them open regular hours. Does that mean every day? Probably not. But we will know more as the year continues,” she said.

The Blunt House is currently open for tours by appointment. Those interested should call the historical society at (706) 278-0217.