Dalton Civil War Sites

Civil War Sites

WAR COMES TO DALTON
Take a guided driving tour with the "War Comes To Dalton" Civil War driving tour.

Civil War Driving Tour

Whitfield County is home to a rich Civil War heritage. This area felt the war's impact almost from the beginning of the conflict, thanks largely to the presence of a main north-south rail line, the Western & Atlantic.
During the early years of the war, Whitfield County witnessed the famous Great Locomotive Chase along with more customary signts such as troop trains and supply shipments puffing along the tracks. The area later became a hospital zone for confederate wounded, utilizing hospitals, churches and private residences to provide these medical services and eventually creating the need for a military cemetery.
The driving tour touches on each of these experiences, but it is generally organized to highlight the opening action of Sherman's Campaign.
For sale now in The Dalton Freight Depot Welcome Center in historic Downtown Dalton, Georgia, and the Tunnel Hill Heritage Center in Tunnel Hill, Georgia. For more information or to order your copy to be mailed, please call 706-270-9960.

DALTON HISTORIC CEMETERY TOUR
West Hill is Resting Place for Poets, Sports Heroes, and Civil War Soldiers.

A new brochure, map and street signage around Dalton’s historic West Hill Cemetery will showcase notable figures from the 19th and 20th centuries who are buried there. The brochure is designed to capitalize on public interest in historic events and unique human interest stories. The cemetery features a Civil-War era Confederate Cemetery with 421 graves and a commemorative wall listing the names of both Confederate and Union soldiers buried there. Architectural features include a Gothic-inspired stone chapel, a reproduction Civil War cannon and a number of exemplary obelisks, pedestals and angels, as well as a Civil War statue known as the Lone Sentinel.

Dalton Depot Restaurant
110 Depot Street, Dalton, 30720
706-226-3160
Open Monday - Saturday
Built in 1847 and used by the railroad until 1978, this National Register Historic Site is now in use as an upscale restaurant and lounge. In the lobby is the original beginning point for surveying the city of Dalton.

Directions from I-75: Exit 333, Walnut Avenue east 2.3 miles, left on Thornton Avenue,
1 mile to Crawford St, turn right, three blocks to Hamilton St, turn left, 1 block,
right on King St.

Tunnel Hill - Western & Atlantic Railroad
TUNNEL HILL HERITAGE CENTER
Open Monday - Saturday
9am - 5pm
Admission: $5.00 Adults; $3.00 Children 12 and under
Site of one of the many skirmishes during the Civil War and one of the oldest railroad tunnels south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Clisby Austin House, cir. 1850, still stands. The Battle of Tunnel Hill reenactment takes place each September.

Directions: From I-75, Exit 336, Hwy. 41 north 4.5 miles to Tunnel Hill, right on Oak Street, 1/4 mile ahead.
From I-75, Exit 345, Hwy. 41 south 4 miles to Tunnel Hill, left on Oak Street, 1/4 mile ahead.

Chickamauga National Military Park
The Visitor Center is open daily from 8:am - 4:45pm, and the Park is open daily during daylight hours.
706-866-9241
The nation's oldest, largest and most visited national military park, it's the site of the bloodiest two-day battle of the Civil War and the home of the Fuller Gun Collection. The park features a multi-media program, self-guided tours, trails and roads for hiking, biking, running and horseback riding.

Directions from Dalton: I-75 north to Exit 350, Battlefield Parkway/Hwy. 2. 2.7 miles West on Hwy. 2, then left at Hwy. 27 intersection.

Dug Gap Battle Park
W. Dug Gap Battle Road, Dalton, GA 30720
1-800-331-3258 or 706-278-0217
Open daylight hours; Breastworks built by Civil War soldiers during the Atlanta Campaign; Scenic view from the top of Dug Gap Mountain hiking trail.

Directions from I-75: Exit 333-Walnut Ave., west up the mountain 2 miles; park on pull-off on the right at the top of the ridge.

Prater's Mill
GA Hwy. 2 (1 mile east of GA Hwy. 71)
P.O. Drawer H, Varnell, GA 30756
706-694-6455
Open daylight hours
Prater's is a historic grist mill built in 1855 and was the site of Confederate and Union camps during the Civil War. The mill operates during the country fair each October. Fishing is permitted in Cohulla Creek; A nature trail provides a walk thru the area, and, with a donation, the grounds can be reserved for private use.

Directions from Dalton: I-75 north to Exit 341, left on Hwy. 201 north for approx. 4 miles, right on Hwy. 2, 2.5 miles.

Atlanta Campaign Pavilion #2
I-75, Exit 336,Hwy. 41 north, located in front of the GA State Patrol Office
Open daylight hours
Describes Sherman's and Johnston's movements on May 7-13, 1864.

Directions from I-75: Exit 336, Hwy. 41 north 1 mile.

Confederate Cemetary and Memorial Wall
Near Downtown in Dalton's Historic District
This cemetery has 421 Confederate and four "unknown" Union soldiers. The recently discovered names of the Confederates are engraved on the Memorial Wall.

Directions from I-75: Exit 333, Walnut Avenue east 1.6 miles, left on Thornton Avenue, 1 mile then left on Cuyler Street. Cemetery entrance is straight ahead. Confederate section is to the right of the rock chapel inside the cemetery.

Resaca Confederate Cemetery
Following the Battle of Resaca, this site became the burial place of 450 Confederates moved from shallow graves around the plantation home of Col. John Green.
Annual Battle of Resaca Civil War Reenactment held nearby the 3rd weekend each May.
For more information, visit www.GeorgiaDivision.org or www.FriendsOfResaca.org

Directions from Dalton: Hwy. 41 south; cemetery entrance at Whitfield/Gordon County line.

General Joseph E. Johnston Statue
This is the only outdoor statue of General Joseph E. Johnston, who commanded the Army of Tennessee during the Atlanta Campaign December 1863 - July 1864. It is located in Downtown Dalton on the corner of Hamilton and Crawford Streets.

Directions from I-75: Exit 333, Walnut Avenue east 2.3 miles, left on Thornton Ave. 1 mile, right on Crawford St., statue ahead 3 blocks.

For more about Civil War sites in Northwest Georgia,
visit the Blue and Gray Trail and Civil War Discovery Trail.

Open By Appointment...

Blunt House
506 S. Thornton Avenue, Dalton, 30720
706-278-0217
Open by Appointment - small admission
1848 home of Dalton's first mayor, postmaster and religious leader, the Blunt House is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Civil War in Dalton.