#SummervilleHistory | 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

Bid Deadline Approaching For First Phase Of Tooga Theatre Renovation

Local News, Local News Items #chattoogacounty, #ChattoogaCountyCommissioner, #ChattoogaInfo, #CommunityDevelopment, #CommunityInvestment, #ConstructionBids, #DowntownRevitalization, #DowntownSummerville, #EconomicDevelopment, #GeorgiaDCA, #GeorgiaDepartmentOfCommunityAffairs, #HistoricBuildings, #HistoricPreservation, #HistoricToogaTheatre, #LocalGovernment, #LocalNews, #lyerlyga, #MenloGA, #NorthGeorgia, #northwestgeorgia, #PublicBids, #RenovationProject, #summervillega, #SummervilleHistory, #ToogaTheatre, #ToogaTheatreRenovation, #trionga, #WZQZ, #wzqznews 0

Chattooga County is preparing to take another step toward renovation of the historic Tooga Theatre in downtown Summerville, with contractors facing a deadline later this week to submit bids for the first phase of the project.

August 26, 2026

by Jimmy Holbrook

Chattooga County Seeking Bids For Phase One Of Tooga Theatre Renovation

Local News, Local News Items #chattoogacounty, #ChattoogaCountyCommissioner, #ChattoogaInfo, #CommunityDevelopment, #DowntownRevitalization, #DowntownSummerville, #GeorgiaDCA, #HistoricPreservation, #HistoricToogaTheatre, #LocalGovernment, #northwestgeorgia, #PublicBids, #summervillega, #SummervilleHistory, #ToogaTheatre, #ToogaTheatreRenovation, #WZQZ, #wzqznews 0

Chattooga County is moving forward with plans for the renovation of the historic Tooga Theatre in downtown Summerville, with the county now advertising for bids for the first phase of the project.