Murray County, Georgia

Information about Murray County, Georgia

Murray County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is part of the Dalton, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2000, the population was 36,506. The 2005 Census Estimate shows a population of 40,812 [1]. The county seat is Chatsworth, Georgia6.

History

In December, 1832 the Georgia General Assembly designated the extreme northwestern corner of the state as Murray County. Formerly part of Cherokee County, the area was named for a distinguished Georgia statesman from Lincoln County, Mr. Thomas W. Murray, a former speaker of the Georgia House. Within a short time the legislature found the county was too large to administer properly as the population grew, for the county then included what is now Dade, Walker, Catoosa, Whitfield, Murray, Gordon and parts of Bartow and Chatooga Counties, so further division became necessary. Within two decades, Murray County came to be 342 square miles (886 km) of land with Spring Place as its county seat.

The area was in the heart of the Cherokee Nation at the time the boundary lines were drawn through the territory. Not until after the Cherokees were removed in 1838-39 did white settlers enter the county in large numbers. Spring Place had been established in 1801 as a Moravian mission to the Cherokee and had been a post office since 1810 - the second oldest in North Georgia. Soon after the Cherokee "Trail of Tears", the white people who had drawn or purchased Murray County land lots of 160 acres (0 km) in the Georgia Land Lottery were pouring into the area.

Since Murray had no industry and little wealth, the county was primarily undisturbed during the War Between the States, with only a handful of raids taking place.

In 1906, after two earlier attempts at building a railroad in Murray County had failed, the Louisville and Nashville line was built to run north to south through the entire length of the county. Murray grew, with new towns developing along the railroad. One of these new towns was named Chatsworth. With the new railroad line in place, timber could be shipped out of the mountains, and talc deposits, discovered in the 1870's, was able to be mined and the ore shipped throughout the country.

The old county seat of Spring Place was bypassed by the railroad. Some Murray Countians began an effort to move the county seat to the more central and accessible railroad town of Chatsworth. Much dissention was caused by this effort. A county-wide referendum was held on the matter in 1912, which resulted in Chatsworth being named as the seat of local government, where it remains to present day.

Into the twentieth century, Murray remained predominantly agricultural. Shortly after World War II the textile industry, prevalent in neighboring Whitfield County, began move into Murray. Today, the carpet industry is the predominant employer in Murray County.

Attractions

The Chief Vann House Historic Site at Spring Place. Constructed in 1805 for James Vann, a Cherokee chief, the two-story red brick home was built alongside the Federal Road, a major early path in northwest Georgia.

Fort Mountain State Park. A 1,897 acre (8 km) park in the Cohutta Mountains.

Another major asset is the Chattahoochee National Forest, which occupies a large portion of northeastern Murray County. Within the forest is the Cohutta Wilderness Area, a roadless, mountainous landscape featuring several of Georgia's premier backpacking trails.

Carters Lake, on the Coosawatee River, was formed by the Carter Dam, which is the largest earth-rock dam east of the Mississippi. The 3,200 acre (13 km) lake attracts fishermen, boaters and campers.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 898 km² (347 mi²). 892 km² (344 mi²) of it is land and 6 km² (2 mi²) of it (0.71%) is water.

Major Highways

Adjacent Counties

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 36,506 people, 13,286 households, and 10,256 families residing in the county. The population density was 41/km² (106/mi²). There were 14,320 housing units at an average density of 16/km² (42/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.30% White, 0.62% Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 2.64% from other races, and 0.88% from two or more races. 5.49% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 13,286 households out of which 39.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.80% were married couples living together, 11.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.80% were non-families. 18.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the county the population was spread out with 28.00% under the age of 18, 9.50% from 18 to 24, 33.00% from 25 to 44, 21.50% from 45 to 64, and 8.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 99.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $36,996, and the median income for a family was $42,155. Males had a median income of $29,812 versus $23,035 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,230. About 9.20% of families and 12.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.90% of those under age 18 and 19.40% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

  • Chatsworth
  • Eton
  • Cisco (Unincorporated)
  • Tenga
  • Crandall
  • Spring Place (Historical Township)
  • Ramhurst (Unincorporated)
  • Carters (Unincorporated)
  • Ball Ground (Unincorporated)
  • Bloodtown (Unincorporated)
  • Sumac (Unincorporated)
  • Fashion (Unincorporated)

Links

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State of Georgia
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Coordinates:
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A county is generally a sub-unit of regional self-government within a sovereign jurisdiction. Originally, in continental Europe, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count.
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State of Georgia

Flag of Georgia Seal of Georgia
Nickname(s): Peach State, Empire State of the South
Motto(s): Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation

Official language(s) English

Capital Atlanta

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Dalton, Georgia
Location in Whitfield County and the state of Georgia
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Georgia
County Whitfield
Area
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urbanized area—a contiguous area of relatively high population density. The counties containing the core urbanized area are known as the central counties of the MSA.
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A county seat is a term for an administrative center for a county, primarily used in the United States. In the Northeast United States, the statutory term often is shire town, but colloquially county seat is the term in use there.
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Chatsworth, Georgia
Location in Murray County and the state of Georgia
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Georgia
County Murray
Area
 - City  4.
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geographic coordinate system enables every location on the earth to be specified by the three coordinates of a spherical coordinate system aligned with the spin axis of the Earth.
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Georgia General Assembly

Type Bicameral
Houses Senate
House of Representatives
President of the Senate Casey Cagle, R
since January 2007
Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson, R
since January 2006

Members 236
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Trail of Tears refers to the forced relocation in 1838 of the Cherokee Native American tribe to the Western United States, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 Cherokees.
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Chatsworth, Georgia
Location in Murray County and the state of Georgia
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Georgia
County Murray
Area
 - City  4.
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Chatsworth, Georgia
Location in Murray County and the state of Georgia
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Georgia
County Murray
Area
 - City  4.
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Chatsworth, Georgia
Location in Murray County and the state of Georgia
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Georgia
County Murray
Area
 - City  4.
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Whitfield County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on December 30, 1851. It is part of the Dalton, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2000, the population was 83,525. The 2006 Census Estimate shows a population of 92,999 [1] .
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Location: near Chatsworth, Georgia

Built/Founded: 1804
Architect: Dr. Henry Chandlee Forman[]
Architectural style(s): Federal[0]
Added to NRHP: October 28, 1969

NRHP Reference#: 69000044[0]
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Fort Mountain State Park is a 3,712 acre (15.02 km²) Georgia state park located between Chatsworth and Ellijay. The park is named for an ancient 885 foot (269.48 m) long rock wall located on the highest point of the mountain.
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The Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest in northern Georgia is actually two U.S. National Forests, the Oconee National Forest and Chattahoochee National Forest, linked together.
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Square kilometre (U.S. spelling: square kilometer), symbol km², is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of surface area, the square metre, one of the SI derived units. 1 km² is equal to:
  • 1,000,000 m²
  • 100 ha (hectare)
Conversely:
  • 1 m² = 0.

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square mile is an imperial and US unit of area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. It should not be confused with the archaic miles square, which refers to the number of miles on each side squared.
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548 mi[1] (882 km)
1926[1]

I-24 at Chattanooga, TN

I-75 at Dalton, GA
I-26 at Columbia, SC
I-95 at Florence, SC
US 17 in Wilmington, NC
Wrightsville Beach, NC

United States Numbered Highways
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314 mi (505 km)
1934[1]

US 78 at Leeds, AL

US 25 at Newport, TN

United States Numbered Highways

U.S. Routes - Bannered - Divided - Replaced
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S.R. 193 in the community of Flintstone

South Carolina border southeast of Clayton

Georgia State Routes
<

State Route 2 is a west-east route in the northern part of Georgia.
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80.65 mi [1] (0 km)

Tennessee state line, north of Chatsworth.

in Villa Rica

in Dallas

and in Cartersville

and in Cartersville
Georgia State Route 166 north of Carrollton

Georgia State Routes
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State Route 225

36.24 mi [1] (0 km)

US-41/GA-3 in Calhoun

TN-74 Tennessee state line

Georgia State Routes
<
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Polk County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The county had a population of 16,050 in 2000. Its county seat is Benton6.

It is included in the Cleveland, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

According to the U.S.
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Fannin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on January 21, 1854. As of 2000, the population was 19,798. The 2005 Census Estimate shows a population of 21,887 [1] . The county seat is Blue Ridge, Georgia6.
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Gilmer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on December 3, 1832. As of 2000, the population was 23,456. The 2005 Census Estimate shows a population of 27,335 [1] . The county seat is Ellijay, Georgia6.
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Gordon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 44,104. The 2005 Census Estimate shows a population of 50,279 [1] . The county seat is Calhoun, Georgia6.
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Whitfield County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on December 30, 1851. It is part of the Dalton, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2000, the population was 83,525. The 2006 Census Estimate shows a population of 92,999 [1] .
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