By Joel M. Sneed It was a typically hot August night, Tuesday the 31st, in 1886. In the small town of Pine Log, Georgia, worshippers had been listening to the preaching of Rev. J.N. Sullivan at the Pine Log Methodist Church. The air was thick, everyone tired as the evening [...]

Joel M. Sneed Joel Sneed at Tate Cave entrance Etowah Valley Historical Society member Sam Graham, with an interest in anything pertaining to the history of the county, became aware of another possible name for Jolley Cave, the name used by cave explorers and as listed in the [...]

Joel M. Sneed Entrance to Kingston Saltpeter Cave (Linda Pye photo)   As a part of our study of Kingston Saltpeter Cave in the 1980s, inscriptions were recorded from the walls of the cave, and these – nearly 500 names, some with dates and other information – were [...]

By Joe F. Head A sincere word of gratitude is extended to Mr. Stan Bearden for his civic mindedness to help bring these finds to the attention of the Etowah Valley Historical Society in the spirit of historic preservation Following the discovery of gold in north Georgia and the 1838 [...]

Mining in Bartow County has been an important facet of the county’s economy for much of its history. The iron industry was made possible by the early discovery of vast iron ore (limonite) veins in the southeastern part of the county, and the mining industry grew to include manganese, barite, [...]

  Bartow’s Mining Legacy Featuring a Special Tribute to 101 Years of New Riverside Ochre Mining History Staci Lusk, Intern Kennesaw State University Sponsored by: The Etowah Valley Historical Society August 2, 2016 Supervised by: Joe F. Head Bartow’s Mining Legacy Featuring a Special Tribute to 101 Years of New [...]

One can only surmise that in the years following the Civil War the saltpeter cave in Bartow County was a place of curiosity. Certainly, local residents who had enjoyed visits to the cave in earlier times and had been prevented from doing so by the extensive mining operation there began [...]

This list is a customized inventory of Bartow works assembled by Dr. Keith Herbert, Auburn University. This collection primarily focuses on documents that hold information about the Civil War and Reconstruction as it relates to Bartow County and northwest Georgia. Primary Sources Manuscripts Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery. [...]