City of Calhoun history

Known formerly as Oothcaloga (“Place of the Beaver Dams”) and, later, as Dawsonville, the town was renamed in 1850 to honour the South Carolina statesman John C. Calhoun.

In 1854, the first railroad locomotive was delivered to Fort Wayne, and was built to cross over Calhoun Street.

One of the first states to secede from the Union in 1861, Georgia strongly supported the Confederate States of America (Confederacy) during the American Civil War.

The town was nearly destroyed during the American Civil War (1864) by General William Tecumseh Sherman’s Union army and was subsequently rebuilt.

The town was incorporated on February 10, 1870.

After a tornado and destructive fire in 1888, the business district was rebuilt mostly in brick.

A course of study covering nine grades was arranged, teachers were chosen, and the public school, at that time the town’s most ambitious venture, was inaugurated in September 1902, with an enrollment of 155 students.

Early in 1908, Dennis and Stanley Murphree purchased the Progressive Farmer outfit or printing plant, which was then located at Starkville, Mississippi.

June 3, 1913 – An order was adopted by the City Fathers in which “The County Board of Supervisors were given the privilege of building a good road through the corporation of Calhoun City.” 1913 – Tax levy for Town of Calhoun City was fixed at 10 Mills on the dollar.

May 4, 1915 – H. O. Burson was allowed $97.00 out of the General Fund for work done on the mineral well.

By 1917, a section of the Dixie Highway (later U. S. Highway 41) had been built along Wall Street.

Downtown streets began being paved in 1919, reflecting the growing popularity of the automobile.

Early in 1920, the Murphree Brothers bought The Dixie Herald, published at Calhoun City by Hon.

In 1921, Grady Cook bought The Calhoun Monitor and The Dixie Herald, and moving The Monitor machinery to Calhoun City, he consolidated the two papers under the name of The Monitor-Herald.

In 1922, Stanley Murphree became editor of The Monitor-Herald, which the Murphree Brothers had purchased from Grady Cook.

The Know Mississippi Better Train, founded by Dennis Murphree made its first tour in the summer of 1925.

About a year later, probably 1927, the Inland Utilities established a power and light office at the City and constructed power lines from Eupora to Calhoun City.

In 1928, the Mississippi Power Company took over the office and lines and built additional lines over much of the rest of the county.

Paradise Drag Strip – The drag strip was built from a cotton field in 1961, originally 1/4 mile long.

The 1964 Calhoun National Bank (now Gordon County Government Plaza) retains an excellent example of a modernist bank façade.

Georgia Northwestern Technical College performed the most recent needs assessment of the region in late 2007.

Gordon County is a rapidly-growing county 55th out of 186, according to the 2010 Census.