#LocalHistory | AM 1180 Radio

September 21, 2026

From Lamplight To Long Distance: How Electricity And Telephones Changed Chattooga County

Local News, Local News Items #chattoogacounty, #ChattoogaCountyHistoricalSociety, #ChattoogaCountyHistory, #ChattoogaInfo, #CloudlandGA, #CloudlandHistory, #CommunityHistory, #ElectricityHistory, #ElectricLight, #GeorgiaHistory, #GoreGA, #HistoricSummerville, #HistoricTrion, #LocalHistory, #LookoutMountain, #lyerlyga, #LyerlyHistory, #MenloGA, #MenloHistory, #MondayHistory, #MondayHistoryFeature, #northwestgeorgia, #OurHistory, #PartyLine, #PartyLines, #PennvilleGA, #summervillega, #SummervilleHistory, #SummervilleNews, #SummervilleTelephoneCompany, #TelephoneHistory, #trionga, #TrionHistory, #TrionManufacturingCompany, #TrionMill, #WZQZ, #wzqznews 0

Telephone operators at the Summerville Telephone Company on the final day of operator-assisted telephone service in 1960. Direct dialing began the following day. (Photo courtesy of Ben Bridges/Chattooga Photo History)

For people living in Chattooga County today, flipping a light switch or making a telephone call is so ordinary that little thought is given to either one.

But a little more than a century ago, both represented technologies that were beginning to fundamentally change everyday life.

There was a time when darkness meant lighting an oil lamp, when many homes drew their water from wells, and when making a long-distance telephone call in Chattooga County meant traveling into Summerville and going inside a local store.

The arrival of electricity and the telephone didn’t happen everywhere at once. The technologies spread gradually through mills, businesses and towns before becoming commonplace in homes throughout the county.

And when it came to electricity, Trion was among the first places in Chattooga County to enter the electrical age.

September 15, 2026

by Jimmy Holbrook

Antique Tractor & Small Engine Show Coming To Summerville Train Depot

Local News, Local News Items #AgriculturalHistory, #agriculture, #AntiqueTractors, #AntiqueTractorShow, #chattoogacounty, #ChattoogaCountyEvents, #ChattoogaInfo, #CityOfSummerville, #CommunityEvents, #DowntownSummerville, #FarmEquipment, #FarmingHistory, #FarmMachinery, #GeorgiaAgriculture, #LocalHistory, #lyerlyga, #MenloGA, #NorthGeorgia, #northwestgeorgia, #RailroadHistory, #RuralGeorgia, #RuralHistory, #SeptemberEvents, #SmallEngines, #StationaryEngines, #SteamLocomotive, #SteamTrain, #SummervilleDepot, #SummervilleEvents, #summervillega, #SummervilleTrainDepot, #SummervilleTurntable, #TennesseeValleyRailroadMuseum, #TractorShow, #TrainHistory, #trionga, #TVRM, #TVRM4501, #VintageFarmEquipment, #WZQZ, #wzqznews 0

A celebration of rural American history and the evolution of farming technology is coming to downtown Summerville later this month.

September 14, 2026

by Jimmy Holbrook

From Iron Ore To Coal — Chattooga County’s Mining Past

Local News, Local News Items #AppalachianHistory, #CampJulietteLow, #chattoogacounty, #ChattoogaCountyGA, #ChattoogaCountyHistoricalSociety, #ChattoogaCountyHistory, #ChattoogaCountyMining, #ChattoogaHistory, #ChattoogaInfo, #ChelseaGA, #Cloudland, #CloudlandCoal, #CloudlandGA, #CoalMine, #CoalMines, #CoalMining, #CommunityHistory, #GeorgiaCoal, #GeorgiaGeology, #GeorgiaHistory, #GeorgiaMining, #GeorgiaMountains, #HistoricChattooga, #HistoryFeature, #IndustrialHistory, #IronOre, #IronOreMining, #LittleRiver, #LocalHistory, #LocalIndustry, #LocalNews, #LookoutMountain, #LookoutMountainCoal, #LookoutMountainGA, #lyerlyga, #MenloGA, #MetallurgicalCoal, #MineralHistory, #MineralResources, #MiningHistory, #MondayHistory, #NorthGeorgia, #northwestgeorgia, #NorthwestGeorgiaHistory, #ShackeltonGA, #StripMining, #summervillega, #TaylorRidge, #trionga, #WZQZ, #WZQZHistory, #wzqznews 0

Long before manufacturing became a major part of Chattooga County’s economy, people looked to the mountains and ridges surrounding the county for another source of economic development — minerals buried beneath the ground.

September 10, 2026

by Jimmy Holbrook

Museum Of LaFayette Seeks Local Cherokee Family Histories For New Exhibit

Local News, Local News Items #ChattoogaAcademy, #ChattoogaInfo, #Cherokee, #CherokeeHeritage, #CherokeeHistory, #CherokeeNation, #CityOfLaFayette, #CommunityNews, #FamilyHistory, #FortCumming, #Genealogy, #GeorgiaHistory, #GeorgiaMuseums, #HistoricPreservation, #HistoricSites, #HistoryMatters, #LaFayetteGA, #LocalHistory, #LocalNews, #MuseumOfLaFayette, #Museums, #NativeAmericanHistory, #NorthGeorgia, #northwestgeorgia, #NorthwestGeorgiaHistory, #OralHistory, #OralTraditions, #WalkerCounty, #WalkerCountyGA, #WalkerCountyHistoricalSociety, #WZQZ, #wzqznews, georgia 0

The Museum of LaFayette is asking area residents to help document local Cherokee history as the museum prepares a new exhibit at the historic Chattooga Academy in LaFayette.

September 9, 2026

by Jimmy Holbrook

Historic District Hill Cemetery Project Nears Completion In Walker County

Local News, Local News Items #AfricanAmericanHistory, #BattleOfChickamauga, #BlackHistory, #CemeteryPreservation, #ChattoogaInfo, #Chickamauga, #ChickamaugaBattlefield, #ChickamaugaGA, #ChickamaugaHistory, #CivilWarHistory, #CommunityHistory, #CommunityNews, #CovenantCollege, #DistrictHill, #DistrictHillCemetery, #GeorgiaHistoricSites, #GeorgiaHistory, #HistoricCemetery, #HistoricPreservation, #HistoricSites, #LocalHistory, #LocalNews, #MarkThrash, #NorthGeorgia, #northwestgeorgia, #NorthwestGeorgiaHistory, #RiverviewFoundation, #SpanishAmericanWar, #UGA, #UniversityOfGeorgia, #WalkerCounty, #WalkerCountyGA, #WalkerCountyHistoricPreservationCommission, #WalkerCountyHistory, #WZQZ, #wzqznews, georgia 0

A decade-long effort to preserve and honor an important piece of African American history in Walker County is nearing completion, with a formal dedication ceremony now scheduled for next month.

August 31, 2026

by Jimmy Holbrook

South Carolina In Chattooga County? The History Behind An Unusual Local Name

Local News, Local News Items #CampMeeting, #chattoogacounty, #ChattoogaCountyHistory, #ChattoogaHistory, #ChattoogaInfo, #ChurchHistory, #GeorgiaHighway100, #GeorgiaHistory, #HighPointGA, #Highway100, #HistoricalMonday, #HistoricChurches, #LocalHistory, #lyerlyga, #MethodistHistory, #MondayHistory, #northwestgeorgia, #SouthCarolinaCampground, #summervillega, #TaylorsRidge, #WZQZ, #wzqznews, #YourHometownRadioStation 0

Motorists traveling Georgia Highway 100 between Summerville and the Floyd County line pass a place whose unusual name reaches deep into Chattooga County’s earliest history.

South Carolina Campground sits near the southern end of Taylor’s Ridge in the High Point area. To someone unfamiliar with the community, the name might seem out of place. After all, the South Carolina state line is many miles away.

But the name is a reminder of the families who settled this portion of Chattooga County during the 1800s — and of a time when a rural campground could serve not only as a place of worship, but as a school, meeting place, cemetery and center of community life.

Records indicate the history of South Carolina Campground stretches back to the 1840s, only a few years after Chattooga County itself was created in 1838.

August 31, 2026

by Jimmy Holbrook

Local Libraries Expanding Services Beyond Books In Chattooga County

Local News, Local News Items #AmericanLibraryAssociation, #chattoogacounty, #ChattoogaCountyLibrary, #ChattoogaInfo, #CommunityResources, #DigitalAccess, #GeorgiaLibraries, #LibraryAccessibility, #LocalHistory, #Makerspace, #northwestgeorgia, #PublicLibraries, #RuralLibraries, #SaraHightowerRegionalLibrary, #SMARTroom, #summervillega, #trionga, #TrionPublicLibrary, #WZQZ, #wzqznews, #YourHometownRadioStation 0

The role of the public library continues to change, and residents in Chattooga County and Trion have access to services that go well beyond checking out a book.

August 24, 2026

by Jimmy Holbrook

Whatever Happened To Sprite, Georgia?

Local News, Local News Items #AgriculturalHistory, #CentralOfGeorgiaRailroad, #chattoogacounty, #ChattoogaCountyHistoricalSociety, #ChattoogaCountyHistory, #ChattoogaInfo, #Chattoogaville, #GeorgiaCommunities, #GeorgiaHistoricNewspapers, #GeorgiaHistory, #GeorgiaPeaches, #GeorgiaRailroads, #GhostTowns, #HistoricGeorgia, #HistoricMaps, #HistoricRailroads, #HollandGA, #Kincaid, #KincaidMountain, #LocalHeritage, #LocalHistory, #LostCommunities, #lyerlyga, #NorthGeorgia, #northwestgeorgia, #NorthwestGeorgiaHistory, #OurHistory, #PeachIndustry, #PoetryGeorgia, #RailroadHistory, #SpriteGA, #SpriteGeorgia, #summervillega, #SummervilleNews, #TulipGeorgia, #WZQZ, #wzqznews, georgia 0

Long before GPS, interstate highways and modern road signs, the map of Chattooga County was dotted with small communities whose names were familiar to generations of local residents.

Some survived. Others changed names or gradually disappeared.

One of the more unusual was Sprite, Georgia.

August 24, 2026

by Jimmy Holbrook

Walker County Receives Historic Preservation Grant For Third Survey Phase

Local News, Local News Items #CertifiedLocalGovernment, #ChattoogaInfo, #CommunityHistory, #GeorgiaDCA, #GeorgiaDepartmentOfCommunityAffairs, #GeorgiaHistory, #GeorgiaStateHistoricPreservationOffice, #HistoricBuildings, #HistoricLandmarks, #HistoricPreservation, #HistoricPreservationFund, #HistoricResources, #HistoricSurvey, #LocalHistory, #NorthGeorgia, #northwestgeorgia, #Preservation, #PreservationGrant, #StateRoute151, #StateRoute337, #TransAmericanTrail, #WalkerCounty, #WalkerCountyGA, #WZQZ, #wzqznews, georgia 0

Walker County is one of six Georgia communities selected to receive federal funding for historic preservation work across the state.

August 16, 2026

by Jimmy Holbrook

Museum of LaFayette Seeks Cherokee Artifacts for New Exhibit

Local News, Local News Items #ChattoogaInfo, #Cherokee, #CherokeeHistory, #CherokeeNation, #CommunityHistory, #GeorgiaHistory, #GeorgiaMuseums, #HistoricArtifacts, #HistoricPreservation, #HistoryMatters, #IndigenousHistory, #LaFayetteGA, #LocalHistory, #MuseumExhibit, #MuseumOfLaFayette, #NativeAmericanHistory, #NorthGeorgia, #northwestgeorgia, #TrailOfTears, #WalkerCounty, #WalkerCountyGA, #WZQZ, #wzqznews 0

The Museum of LaFayette is asking area residents to help preserve and share an important part of Northwest Georgia’s history as it develops a new exhibit focusing on the Cherokee people, their lives, removal, and lasting legacy.