by Randy Golden

Click here for a directory of Carpet Outlets in Dalton

Today Dalton, Georgia is known as the "Carpet Capital of the World," and for good reason. More than 90% of the functional carpet produced in the world today is made within a 65-mile radius of the city. The story of how Dalton became the Carpet Capital of the World dates back a hundred years to a cottage industry that grew thanks to the invention of the automobile.

Before the 1920's, state roads connected major cities. One popular route ran from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Atlanta, Georgia, much of it running through the rural areas of Northwest Georgia. To earn extra household money many women began selling bedspreads, which they would hang in front of their homes. By far the most popular design was a colorful peacock, which quickly spread up and down "Bedspread Alley." They used a process called "candlewick embroidery" to make the rugs, a hand-tufting technique dating back to the late 18th century.

In the mid 1920's a government road building program created U. S. Highway 41, which brought more people through "Bedspread Alley" or "Peacock Alley" and the section of road from Ringgold to Adairsville became a popular location for both through travelers and "Sunday drivers." Women continued to sell the bedspreads until the 1950's, although in later years they were frequently replaced by stores along the route.

It was Catherine Evans Whitener that turned the popular tufting technique into an industry. At first she hired local women to hand tuft bedspreads in Evans Mill, founded by Whitener and her brother. Other hand-tufters quickly followed suit, organizing "spread houses." Hand tufting was popular at first, but the labor-intensive process was converted to machines. By the end of the Depression most tufting was done by machines, but the industry still employed 10,000 people, mostly women, in the Dalton area.

In the early 1950's bedspread sales began to fall off, but the machines used to tuft bedspreads were easily converted to manufacturing carpet. Carpet sales were skyrocketing thanks to the concept of "wall-to-wall carpet" popularized in new homes in the 1950's. By the 1970's manufacturers had begun to develop techniques to move from plain tufted carpet to sculpted carpet. Improved patterning, stain and wear resistance, and colors have made today's tufted carpet the choice for functional carpet for the vast majority of homes and moved woven carpet to a decorative role.

Click here for a directory of Carpet Outlets in Dalton

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