From boarded up to reborn: This 1852 Western & Atlantic depot had a role in 'Great Locomotive Chase;' now it's reopened as a philanthropy center in NW Georgia

A nook overlooking rail line, the large boardroom and depot exterior work this week (Photos courtesy CFNW)

The old Western & Atlantic train depot has reopened in Dalton, Georgia, as a community gathering space where philanthropy aimed at solving 21^st century challenges can gain steam in a 170-year-old building integral to the town’s identity.

The Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia earlier this month moved a mile to a building that features 25-foot ceilings, charming brick and Civil War-era architectural features. But make no mistake, this will a very up-to-date environment -- from modern furniture to TV monitors that will prompt collaboration in today’s world.

“It’s been wonderful. It is beautiful office space,” foundation president David Aft told the Picket in a phone call this week. “It is a really neat place to work, and I have heard my whole life space has a huge impact on people’s creativity and the ease to get things done.”

A kitchen will provide refreshments for meetings (Community Foundation of NW Georgia)

The oldest commercial structure in the northwest Georgia city best known for its carpet industry is studied by Civil War enthusiasts for its brief part in the “Great Locomotive Chase.” Federal raiders commandeered a locomotive above Atlanta and raced north, bent on destroying sections of the railroad. Confederates pursued them through several cities, including Dalton

Locals tend to think more about the Dalton Depot, a longtime restaurant and club which operated in the long brick building until about 10 years ago. Trains still roll by regularly.

Aft said visitors and those attending foundation meetings in the depot appreciate its homage to the station’s history (it last had passenger service in about 1971) and its compelling design and architecture.

The foundation’s five employees are working in an office nearly twice as big as its longtime more traditional offices across town. They will facilitate meetings in a glass-lined board room and smaller “collaboration zones.”

A large freight scale (above) and telegraph window greet visitors in the open center of the depot. The foundation resides in the south end of the structure.

The depot fell into hard times after the restaurant closed. The city contracted with the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation to market the vacant and deteriorated building. Officials wanted $500,000, but eventually sold it to local Barrett Properties in 2018 for $300,000. 

The community foundation, which is leasing its space, occupies the former nightclub area. Barrett Properties is still marketing the other side, which still has remnants of dining booths.

Officials think a new restaurant might be a good fit.

Working with charitable givers, the nonprofit provides grants and funding for organizations in the area. Some of the endeavors involve mental health programs, historic preservation, neighborhood revitalization and other civic projects.

For now, the foundation is settling in as improvements to the brick exterior continue. Wood trim is being replaced and an old awning is coming down. (Above, the point of origin for surveys in Dalton)

He had to get a message through -- quickly

The Western and Atlantic Railroad line from Atlanta to Chattanooga, Tenn., was completed in the early 1850s and the Dalton depot opened in 1852 to provide passenger and freight service.

The depot was the hub for commercial growth in the Dalton area and the point of origin for surveys and maps. The 12,100-square-foot brick building is “a pretty high-style example of Georgia depot architecture” and has Greek Revival features, with stone lintels, brick pilasters and door entablatures.

Union raiders on the General set fire to a river crossing in North Georgia (Wikipedia)

The building had its moment of fame on April 12, 1862, when Northern raiders (the South labeled them spies) commandeered the locomotive General in Big Shanty. They chugged toward Chattanooga, intent on destroying parts of the railroad.

The pursuing locomotive Texas picked up a 17-year-old telegraph operator who rushed to the Dalton depot and wired Confederate troops to the north.

Although not all his message got through, Edward Henderson’s alarm sent troops toward the track. The Andrews Raiders were captured near Ringgold when the General ran out of steam. They had accomplished little. Many were hanged while others escaped. Several were the first to receive the Medal of Honor.

The depot remained in use as a rail stop for more than a century.

The setting: A comfortable place to convene, create

For Aft (left), the project mixes nostalgia, history and preservation. Not everyone is interested in each of those aspects, he acknowledged. But they are interested in community needs that include mental health programs, food banks, education and other civic projects.

The area’s Latino population has grown considerably while Whitfield County’s overall population growth has remained stagnant. Housing affordability and supply are big issues.

The foundation contends it setting needs to be comfortable, with a good flow that brings people together into the central room and then into corners featuring some privacy. Large TV monitors are being built into the space, and PowerPoints and other technology will provide visual representations of projects.

The hope is for outside groups to eventually utilize the convening spaces about four times a month. The foundation, naturally, will hold meetings in the depot the rest of the time. “We understand it will take maybe 12 months to fully activate the space and to get the staff understanding how others want to use the space,” said Aft.

The nonprofit’s leader said he has already talked with groups who might choose to hold meetings at the depot.

The 173-year-old building “has its own peculiarities to it,” said Aft, who quipped no ghosts have thus far made their presence known.

What is evident is the appreciation community members for the time and care into making a charming gathering place.

Aft summarizes their thoughts: “You made something important to me – you took care of it.”

Common area (left) and work spaces at Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia

Wrecking the railroads in Atlanta: What's going on this fascinating Barnard photo showing Sherman's men at work? Experts weigh in on this, other images

Barnard's fascinating photograph showing Union engineers (Library of Congress)

I’m a fan of Garry Adelman’s Civil War Page on Facebook. The director of history and education for the American Battlefield Trust regularly posts photographs from the collection of the Library of Congress and other sources.

I love his descriptions of Federal soldiers posing for the camera. Among them:

“Blue-eyed dandy”

“Jaunty caps”

“Photobomber”

“A dude checking his iPad”

You get the idea. But an image he posted on January 4 of soldiers destroying Atlanta railroad in November 1864 especially got my attention. George Barnard, a contractor for the U.S. Army, took many photographs of the fallen city after he arrived two months earlier, but I had never seen this one, for some reason. While most of these fellas were just standing around, others were engaged in a flurry of activity before the end of occupation and the commencement of the March to the Sea.

Labeled “Gen. Sherman’s men destroying the Railroad, before the evacuation of Atlanta, Ga.”, the photograph was taken in downtown Atlanta not far from skyscrapers, Underground Atlanta, Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the former CNN Center. (Detail from Georgia Battlefields Association walking tour map below)

It shows two groups of men destroying railroad track and machinery, vital to Confederate transportation in the Deep South. The larger contingent gazes at what appear to be pipes or boilers. The freight depot for the Western & Atlantic Railroad is in the background.

What exactly is shown here? I decided to reach out to Barnard authority Keith Davis and  Atlanta-area experts for their thoughts: The Atlanta History Center, Civil War author Steve Davis and The Atlanta Campaign History and Discussion Group and Uncle Billy’s Boys (Western Federals), both on Facebook.

Also consulted was the Georgia Battlefields Association, which will conduct two walking tours of Civil War Downtown Atlanta in March, using Barnard photos as reference points.

Why was Barnard in Atlanta in 1864?

Barnard, a pioneer in the field, served as the official photographer of the Military Division of the Mississippi, led by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman. He wasn’t primarily a photojournalist. A number of his works were reproduced in the illustrated papers of the day, and some stereographs were sold to a popular market. 

On July 28, 1864, Capt. Orlando Poe, Sherman's talented chief engineer, wired Barnard (right), who was in Tennessee: "Hold yourself in readiness to take the field if telegraphed to that effect." A few days after Atlanta fell, on September 4, Poe telegraphed Barnard to join him, shortly after Hood’s Confederate troops, cut off from supplies, abandoned the city.

The Atlanta of the Civil War was a boom town, just beginning to acquire the muscle and mettle that one day would make it the behemoth of the South. In 1860, on the war’s eve, it had fewer than 10,000 residents, making it the fourth-largest city in Georgia, behind Savannah, Augusta and Columbus.

With its nexus of four railroad lines, Atlanta quickly showed its importance to the Confederacy and Federal forces who finally reached its outer fortifications in July 1864. The city quickly descended into chaos as Rebel troops were moved around and supply lines threatened.

Davis, author of several books on the Atlanta Campaign, including “What the Yankees Did to Us: Sherman’s Bombardment and Wrecking of Atlanta,” has written extensively about Barnard’s documentation of the Union conquest of Atlanta, with scores of scenes showing destruction, fortifications, a slave mart and Sherman himself.

In the volume “100 Significant Civil War Photographs: Atlanta Campaign,” Davis (left) said Sherman and Poe wanted their troops to destroy only manufacturing and railroading capacity, which was concentrated in the downtown business district. Federal soldiers, Davis wrote, started their own fires as early as Nov. 11, 1864.

“We are fritened (sic) almost to death last night,” young Atlanta diarist Carrie Berry wrote. “Some mean soldiers set several houses on fire in different parts of the town.”

Barnard ranks among the top echelon of Civil War photographers – Gardner, O’Sullivan, Cook, Rees, Reekie, Gibson and Brady.

The three photographs I will be discussing here – showing destruction of the city’s railroad infrastructure – were taken by Barnard in mid-November 1864. They likely were taken within a short time of each other, and may include some of the same troops.

What’s going on in this picture?

It’s hard to get a consensus because there were few detailed photo captions in those days and it’s just plain difficult to know for sure, given several pieces of iron or steel jammed together.

Poe, in his set of images, wrote of this one: “View in Atlanta just before the ‘March to the Sea’; showing manner of destroying Railroads and Machines.” 

Jackson McQuigg, vice president of properties for the Atlanta History Center, which houses the giant Cyclorama painting and Civil War exhibits, said he thinks the largest item in the foreground is a stationary steam engine (used for power generation).

“The boiler is at right, while the stack is flopped over and laying on its side on top of the engine itself,” he writes. “Even though the caption said that Sherman’s men are destroying ‘the railroad’ I see rails at left … it sure looks like that’s mostly pipe on the ground in the front. Maybe those were locomotive boiler flues?”

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, theorizes the foreground may depict a boiler on the right and a detached exhaust chimney (long tube) lying on a flat car. 

“It could be an exhaust chimney for any piece of machinery that creates heat by using controlled flame,” he wrote. “The boiler is the item on the right of the flat car. It still has an end cap, unlike the hollow tube. Could well be that the exhaust chimney was paired with the boiler before the machinery was disassembled.”

Commenters on Adelman’s Facebook added these guesses:

The ‘toolbox’ looks to be a toolbox on top of a steam piston from a locomotive. A boiler appears to be behind the smokestack and toolbox.....and there appears to be steam pipe fittings on the platform as well.....possibly a disassembled locomotive.

What it is resting on to the right of the picture appears to be a steam engine cylinder and valve box.

As for the rest of the photo -- the men toward the back?

Michael Rose, curator of decorative arts and special collections at the Atlanta History Center, said the smoke emanating from the back half of the photo (above) are three fire pits built to heat the rails. The idea was to warp and bend the rails and render them useless.

“I suspect the men are waiting for the heat to do its job so they can do theirs before moving on to more,” Adelman wrote in his Facebook post.

Later in this post, I examine two more destruction photos.

What exactly is that writing on the iron?

Zoom in on the flat car or platform and you will see a horizontal piece of iron with writing. It’s tough to make out (and for me to brighten) but here are some posts from commenters on the Adelman Facebook post.

"Laimbeer & Co. Atlantic Dock, Brooklyn, NY, 1855" which was one of the main warehouse companies located at Atlantic Dock.

“ATLANTIC DOCK BROOKLN NY 1855”

Rose said he can make out Brooklyn, N.Y.

“But not what comes before it, undoubtedly the manufacturer’s name. It does look like it includes “Atlantic” – but not in a way that look like Western & Atlantic R.R.”

Who are these soldiers?

According to Steve Davis, Sherman initially assigned three regiments of the provost guard to oversee the destruction: The 111^th Pennsylvania, 2^nd Massachusetts and the 33^rd Massachusetts.

Their task to destroy track, the roundhouse, depots, the railroad car shed and more, said Gordon Jones, senior military historian and curator at the Atlanta History Center.

The general changed his mind and brought in professionals -- Poe’s 1^st Michigan Engineers and Mechanics and the 1^st Missouri Engineers – to carry out the work. The 58^th Indiana also pitched in, according to Crawford.

Poe (right), chief engineer of the Military Division of the Mississippi, supervised demolition of the main passenger depot in downtown Atlanta and many other buildings. He is remembered as a visionary engineer, for both military and civilian service.

In his memoirs, Sherman wrote of “Poe’s special task of destruction.”

Not only did Poe carry out the order to burn Atlanta in 1864, he built the roads and bridges that made Sherman’s March to the Sea possible, according to the National Park Service. “At the end of the war, he was named brevet brigadier general. Since no system of medals existed at the time, the brevet rank, meaningless in terms of real authority, served to recognize gallant conduct or other meritorious service.”

Where was the photograph taken?

Downtown Atlanta was an extremely busy hub for railroads serving the city and much of the South. The photograph was taken fairly close to the juncture of the Western & Atlantic and Macon & Western railroads.

GBA map of downtown; W&A depot is shown at far left (Click to enlarge)

Local historian and tour guide Michael Hitt says the soldiers are on the Macon & Western railroad.

“In the background is the W&A RR depot,” says Crawford. "Depot site would now be just west of Ted Turner Drive and just northeast of “The Gulch.” Photo was taken from WNW of the depot, about where CNN Center used to be.”

The W&A roundhouse would be to the left, outside the image, said Rose.

The Barnard photo below -- taken before its destruction by Yankee troops -- shows a different angle of the depot, this time with a large roundhouse in the background. The facility was used for servicing locomotives. (Photo: Library of Congress)

Barnard, of course, wanted to make money from his work. Anthony & Co. published several of his photos. A December 2014 article in the newsletter for the Center for Civil War Photography featured the photo of the machinery among others depicting destruction in the city.

“As Yankee engineers proceed with their destructive work, smoke drifts past the ruins of a destroyed building in this original Anthony stereo view. Indeed, there was plenty to dread as night fell on Nov. 15, wrote John Kelley and Bob Zeller. “It was, (Maj. Henry) Hitchcock wrote, “the grandest and most awful scene.”

When was the photograph taken?

Regarding the shot of the men standing around the metal pieces, Steve Davis believes it was taken around Nov. 10-11, days before much of the city was torched.

Keith Davis (left), a leading expert on Barnard, told the Picket the photos of soldiers destroying railroad were likely taken on both Nov. 14 and 15. Sherman’s troops began leaving the city before noon on the 15^th to begin the march to Savannah, Ga.

“On the following morning, the general staff, Barnard, and the remainder of the Union forces marched out of the shattered city,” Davis wrote in a book about Barnard.

“So, I have to think that Barnard was extremely active on Nov. 15; thus, making it correct to date these as Nov. 14-15, rather than strictly the 14^th,” he told the Picket.

Crawford doesn’t believe the photographs could have been taken Nov. 15.

“We can date these photos because they depict activity, and we know the car shed and rail lines were destroyed on 14 November. Since the armies left town on 15 November, the photos must have been taken on the 14^th. Barnard may have taken images as the armies were leaving, but the destruction was completed on the 14^th."

The one major gap in Barnard’s Atlanta photography is that no images exist showing the vast panorama of destruction after the fires of Nov. 15 and 16, according Kelley and Zeller in the “Battlefield Photography” newsletter.

What about the two other soldier photos?

Union engineers destroying track; Western & Atlantic depot behind (Barnard, Library of Congress)

You probably are familiar with two more photographs showing groups of men heating and damaging rail so that the South cannot quickly get the trains running again after the Federal army ends its two-month occupation of Atlanta.

The first photograph described here was taken very close to the main image we have been discussing. Barnard must have moved his camera forward. If you look closely, you can see the men working amid iron rail, wooden ties and other infrastructure.

The photograph with all the machinery shows a particularly tall soldier. I am trying to place him in this photo, and I wonder if he is the man wearing a hat with a round crown, his face not visible to the camera. But the hats don’t exactly match. I welcome guesses from anyone reading this. These men are believed to be from the 1^st Michigan and 1^st Missouri engineers.

The second photograph, a vintage original stereo view, depicts men heating track near the destroyed car shed, about 700 yards east-southeast from the machinery shot.

Sherman's men do their work; behind right are remnants of car shed (Barnard, Library of Congress)

Union troops used large iron bolts and others items to knock down the arch supports before setting fire to the remains. This was a devastating loss for Atlanta. The car shed was a cooperative venture of the four railroads that served the Georgia city and the Confederacy. The station had been a fixture for about 10 years.

This scene is mostly covered today by the Central Avenue overpass downtown. Smoke from burning railroad ties rises in the background, according to Kelley and Zeller, who date the photograph to Nov. 15. The view is to the west, said Crawford. (Below is a photo of the car shed before its destruction)

“This has been a dreadful day,” Carrie Berry wrote on Nov. 15. “Things have been burning all around us. We dread to night because we do not know what moment that they will burn the last house before they stop.” (Her journal is at the Atlanta History Center)

Modern view (below) is above where car shed was built (Library of Congress and Georgia Battlefields Association)

Those who visit downtown, especially around Underground Atlanta, will notice many street levels have changed in the past century.

“Present day photos are difficult because construction of the viaduct system in the 1920s put the roads 20 to 30 feet higher than the terrain shown in the 1864 photos,” said Crawford. “You can still look down from a few vantage points onto the existing freight line and the two MARTA tracks that occupy some of the space that the multiple rail lines once traversed.”

You can get an idea of the modern landscape from the photo (above) of Lot R parking area that is above where the car shed was formerly.

Sharing blame for all that destruction 

Let’s briefly step back for a little background on what’s been termed in folklore as the Burning of Atlanta. About 40 percent of the city was in ruins when Sherman began his March to the Sea. But don’t lay all the blame solely at his feet.

“It started when Confederate military planners stripped and leveled buildings and homes on the city’s outskirts to build the extensive fortifications that Sherman found impenetrable,” reads an online presentation, “War in Our Backyards,” produced by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Atlanta History Center for the 2014 Civil War Atlanta centennial.

Hood's troops blew up ammunition train before leaving (Barnard, Fleischer's Auctions)

“During the summer siege, Union artillery fire hit many of the city’s major structures, setting many afire. Miles of trenches dug by both sides scarred fields and roads. When the Confederates made their retreat, they blew up their ammunition train, damaging scores of homes, and burned the massive Atlanta Machine Works factory,” the AJC said.

Looters, arsonists and the need for material for Union forts took their toll until November 1864, when Sherman “ordered the destruction and burning of all facilities with potential military value, including ripping up rail lines and destroying Atlanta’s transportation infrastructure.” He ordered out the remaining civil population, who were offered a one-way train ride either north or south.

Steve Davis has written about how the fires spread to residences, and some Union soldiers decided to start some residential blazes of their own.

You can see sites in March walking tours

Sadly, virtually nothing from wartime downtown Atlanta remains today and only a guided tour and some imagination can provide an adequate picture.

Crawford has led the GBA walking tour for 18 years. I went on a version in 2014 with former The Atlanta Journal-Constitution editor Scott Peacocke in July 2014. I enjoyed it and wrote about the experience here. “It rained buckets,” Crawford reminded me.

Scott Peacocke, Charlie Crawford and Mary-Elizabeth Ellard in 2014 (Picket photo)

Free walks will be held on March 8 and March 22 as part of the Atlanta Preservation Center’s Phoenix Flies program of tours and other events.

Crawford works from a downtown then-and-now map and a PowerPoint presentation with Barnard photos. The slides include pointers and basic information. He then takes participants around the area to see the “now” view to correspond to the old images.

“It’s always fun to hear people say that they had seen some of Barnard’s photos and always wondered where they were taken,” he said.

Particularly popular are references to the book and movie “Gone With the Wind", including a scene in which Scarlett O’Hara approaches the car shed, which had been turned into a receiving hospital under care of Dr. Meade.

She walks through the expanse created by multiple rail lines, and hundreds of injured Confederate soldiers, some on stretchers, some on the red soil or tracks, writhe in agony or lie motionless. It is a powerful scene, punctuated by a tattered Rebel battle flag.

Crawford said he gets a variety of reactions and questions during his tours.

“Discovering that not all of Atlanta was destroyed is difficult for some to accept. Seeing that the state Capitol is now on the former City Hall site seems to give most people something they can surprise their family with.” 

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Georgia Battlefields Association will again lead free Phoenix Flies tours GBA of Civil War downtown Atlanta. Participants must preregister for the March 8 and 22 walks, which take about 2 hours and 45 minutes. The tours are limited to 25 people. Click here for more information. Registration for Phoenix Flies begins Feb. 21.

City all aboard for restoration: Civil War-era depot made famous by 'Great Locomotive Chase' is on track to becoming a philanthropy center in NW Georgia

Rendering of changes to the exterior to better match original appearance (Montgomery & Peeples, Dalton)

A long-closed Western & Atlantic railroad depot that played a part in the Civil War’s “Great Locomotive Chase” is being reborn in a way that reaffirms its importance as a community gathering place in Dalton, Ga.

A philanthropic organization and developer are nearly midway through the restoration of the oldest commercial structure in the northwest Georgia city best known for its carpet industry. The goal is to have a unique setting where ideas and dreams for the public good can gain steam.

The Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia and Barrett Properties have partnered for the project, with the foundation planning to relocate its offices to a portion of the depot later this year or in early 2025.

David Aft, foundation president, told the Picket the reopened 1852 depot also will buttress revitalization in downtown Dalton. Officials want locals to spend their dollars there rather than nearby Chattanooga, Tenn., and to enjoy the Burr Performing Arts Park, among other venues.

Glass-walled conference room, the old freight scale and floor work showing old timbers
 (Montgomery & Peeples rendering and David Aft photos)

“Working to renovate a building mothballed for 10 years is part of that, to bring life into old facilities.” The depot, he said, was the hub for commercial growth and the point of origination for surveys and maps in the 19^th century.

The resilient depot has had some hard times since its heyday. A 1977 nomination form for the National Register of Historic Places said Dalton citizens were aware of its value but “concerned about the deterioration of the building.” At that time, it was being leased to a railroad.

The depot housed a tavern for about 25 years, but officials closed the building in late 2015, citing conditions that “posed potential health hazards to the public,” including mold, according to the Daily Citizen-News newspaper.

The Western & Atlantic depot back when it was boarded up (Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation)

The brick building sat empty for nearly a decade. Now, workers are on site, making repairs and modernizing the space to create an open, welcoming environment.

“I’m excited to see downtown Dalton continue to blossom, and to see the Dalton Depot once again be a hub in downtown Dalton,” said Mayor Annalee Sams.

Andrews Raiders plowed through Dalton

The Western and Atlantic Railroad line from Atlanta to Chattanooga was completed in the early 1850s and the Dalton depot opened in 1852 to provide passenger and freight service.

The building had its moment of fame on April 12, 1862, when Northern raiders who had commandeered the locomotive General in Big Shanty, above Atlanta, were chugging toward Chattanooga, intent on destroying parts of the railroad.

Union raiders on the General set a fire at a river crossing in Georgia (Wikipedia)

The pursuing locomotive Texas picked up a 17-year-old telegraph operator who rushed to the Dalton depot and wired Confederate troops ahead in Chattanooga.

Although not all his message got through, Edward Henderson’s alarm sent troops toward the track. The Andrews Raiders were captured near Ringgold when the General ran out of steam. They had accomplished little.

According to the National Registration nomination form, “the depot might have been partially destroyed when Union troops entered Dalton and set fire to several buildings in 1862. It appears that the essential structure of the depot was not damaged and the restoration was confined to roof and interior repair. Since the ornamental brackets are stylistically later than the date of the rest of the building, it is likely that they replaced others lost in the destruction.”

The 12,100-square-foot brick building is “a pretty high-style example of Georgia depot architecture” and has Greek Revival features. It features stone lintels, brick pilasters and door entablatures.

The old ticket counter is among the surviving features (Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation) 

Safeguarding depot's historic features a priority

A February news release on the project said “Barrett Properties will be giving careful consideration to the preservation of historical elements that pay homage to an era’s character while innovative additions will infuse a modern and dynamic flair.”

The city years ago contracted with the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation to market the building. Officials wanted $500,000, but eventually sold it to Barrett Properties in 2018 for $300,000. At that time, Barrett said the area would be suitable for another restaurant/bar and perhaps a small museum.

The city required bidders to submit a written preservation plan and abide by a signed rehabilitation agreement.

Work crews have been on the site since spring (David Aft photo)

The trust's primary goal was seeing that historic features in the building are saved. The depot’s southern end retains features interior ticket windows, a freight scale and other rail service features.

The foundation has a 20-year lease with Barrett Properties, said Aft, who answered Picket questions on behalf of his group and the developer.

What the foundation does with charitable gifts

The five employees of the Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia, working with charitable givers, provide grants and funding for organizations in the area. Some of the endeavors involve mental health programs, historic preservation, neighborhood revitalization and other civic projects.

Undated photo and another from 1922 (Courtesy of the Bandy Heritage Center for Northwest Georgia)

Some grants come in the form of endowments, financial funds and scholarships to nonprofit groups or individuals. The organization oversees more than $90 million in charitable assets, said Aft.

The main economic engine for Dalton and Whitfield County is the carpet industry, while diversification has yielded a solar panel factory and supply chains for auto manufacturing.

“We are one of the country’s last bastions of manufacturing,” said Aft.

The area’s Latino population has grown considerably. Housing affordability is a big issue, compounded by the dearth of available land because of mountainous terrain, said Aft, indicating nearby counties have made strides. The Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce is working toward increasing residential units, including hundreds of apartments, he added.

Depot and other downtown buildings in 1932 (Courtesy of the Bandy Heritage Center for Northwest Georgia)

The foundation currently works from the top floor of a building about a mile from the depot.

“We have kind of outgrown our space,” said Aft, indicating the foundation needs a larger facility in which to meet with donors and working groups and to conduct strategy sessions. “When you have 20 people in for a workshop, we don’t have great bathrooms.”

New office will mix the old and the new

Aft touts the new space as ideal for meetings -- by mixing the depot’s historic architectural features and modern office design.

“The most significant feature is a room built within that space. It will have an ability to open its glass side walls into a bigger convening space,” he said. The office includes other meeting areas and work nooks. (Rendering at left by Montgomery & Peeples)

The foundation is moving into what once was a nightclub area of the depot. “There was a lot of live music. People used it for event space.” The other half was a restaurant.

Photos from the current work show wear and tear, including some graffiti on the walls.

“The entirety of the super structure and brick work is original. Much of the underpinning foundation is original,” said Aft, adding the current budget for the work is below $1 million.

(Barrett Properties is still marketing the other half of the building, perhaps for offices, event space or a restaurant.)

While the interior is receiving an overhaul and plumbing and heating and air are being modernized, work has not yet began on the exterior, which will have a few modifications to provide its original look.

Barrett Properties sent out samples of the brick mortar to use the right type while fixing damage created by wear and passing trains. Much of the brick has been repointed.

Three cornices need to be rebuilt. “It will look more like from the photographs of 50 years ago then now,” said Aft. (See collection of depot photos here)

The finished product will pay homage to the “Great Locomotive Chase” in some form, perhaps through markers.

“We understand the valuable piece of real estate we are part of,” said Aft.

(At right, David Aft photo of foundation, including old timber)