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Other Information: Whitfield County's first courthouse was
a wooden structure built in Dalton at some point after the county's
creation in 1851. That building was burned by Sherman's forces
in 1864. It is not clear what served as courthouse for the next
27 years, but in 1891 a new two-story brick was completed (see
photo 1 and
photo 2). Around 1960, this building was torn down and the
present courthouse erected in its place in 1961 (see
photo). In later years, the Whitfield County
Courthouse Annex (see
photo) was built directly across the street from
the county courthouse. In November 2000, Whitfield County voters approved
a 5-year $58 million special-purpose local option sales tax to relieve overcrowding
in the county jail, expand the county courthouse, and fund a number of other
projects. Approximately $29 million of the total was dedicated to a new courthouse
and parking deck. Rather than tear down the 1961 courthouse, the county built
the new courthouse to completely absorb the old structure. The result is
a much larger and totally redesigned courthouse.
County Courthouse Historical
Marker: Click
here
County History:
Whitfield County was created from Murray County on Dec. 30, 1851
by an act of the General Assembly (Ga. Laws 1851-52, p. 56).
According to that act, Whitfield County's boundaries were specified
as:
Beginning at the south-west corner of the county of Murray;
running from thence east with the line between Murray and Gordon
counties, until it strikes the mouth of the Conasauga river;
thence up and with the meanders of said river, to the mouth
of Sugar Creek; thence with the meanders of said creek to the
Tennessee line; thence west with said line to the line of Walker
and Murray county; thence south with the line of Murray and
Walker to the [place of] beginning.
Georgia's 98th county was named for the famous Anglican evangelist
George
Whitefield (1714-177), who is perhaps best remembered in
Georgia for establishing the Bethesda Orphanage (see
engraving) near Savannah in 1740. Apparently to insure the
correct pronunciation of Whitefield's name (which is "Whit-field"
not "White-field"), the legislature dropped the "e"
from Whitefield in the legislation creating Whitfield County.
In 1853, part of Whitfield County was used to create Catoosa
County.
County Seat:
The 1851 act creating Whitfield County authorized the justices
of the county's new inferior court to designate the location
of the county seat, purchase land, and make arrangements for
a county courthouse and other public buildings. Subsequently,
they designated Dalton as county seat. Dalton was originally
known as Cross Plains, a name perhaps indicative of its location
on the plains just east of Mill Creek Gap, an important transportation
corridor through Rocky Face Mountain (see
map). Around 1837, a white settlement sprang up on the old
trading path just southeast of the gap. In 1839, surveyors for
the new Western & Atlantic Railroad selected a route through
the gap, with a train station planned at Cross Plains. On Dec.
21, 1839, the legislature incorporated Cross Plains (Ga. Laws
1839, p. 83). On Dec. 29, 1847, the legislature changed the name
of Cross Plains to Dalton, enlarged the municipal limits, and
reincorporated the town. Reportedly, the new name was in honor
of the Dalton family of Massachusetts, notably U.S.
Senator Tristram Dalton; his daughter, Mary Dalton White;
and her son Capt. Edward Dalton White (1811-1898), an early Cross
Plains settler who donated land for a town park and local churches.
Maps
Size of County (Total
Area): 290.7 square miles
County Rank in Total
Area: 101st out of 159
Population:
Whitfield County
City of Dalton
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