Why you should join the Catoosa County Historical Society
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Folks might be surprised that they can become members of the Catoosa County Historical Society (CCHS) for just $7.50 per person per year. For $10, a whole family can join.
But why join? Here’s a partial rundown of what CCHS has accomplished and is doing today:
- They saved and continue to preserve the Old Stone Church in Ringgold. If you’ve never seen it or learned its history, you might want to check it out. There’s still blood on the floor from amputations performed there when the church served as a hospital during the Civil War (and you can see the window where severed limbs were tossed from the building to a wagon). One pew bears the teeth marks of a horse from the days the Union occupied Ringgold and dragged pews outside to use as feeding troughs.
The church has served as a Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist (owned by Highland Park Baptist Church at one point) place of worship and is now a museum featuring local history ranging from Cherokee to Civil War and beyond. The piano upon which the music for the hymn, “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms,” was composed sits in the church, where A.J. Showalter, a local leader and businessman, put notes to lyrics he and Rev. Elisha Hoffman had written (the song has been used in at least six movies and one TV show).
- CCHS holds monthly meetings at The Old Stone Church featuring special speakers, including historian Jim Ogden of Chickamauga Battlefield, officers from the Georgia chapter of the Trail of Tears, and a representative of the Ringgold Telephone Company (who will be sharing the company’s fascinating history at a future meeting). It’s a great way to learn about the amazing history of the area without paying anything besides your membership fee.
- CCHS has an excellent collection of local and family histories, as well as other materials, that you can spend time reading and researching, including many books written and/or compiled by their own members. You’ll find journals and diaries, census records, Cherokee history, Civil War history, local cemetery records dating to the early 1800s, and much more.
- CCHS is looking for people who not only want to learn but also want to make history come alive. “We would love to do more in the local schools, reach out to young people, and we always need people to do things like act as docents at the Old Stone Church and share our history with tourists,” says Nancy Crowe, president of CCHS. There are also plenty of opportunities to write and compile information, to help CCHS create more of an online presence, to record the memories of older people of the community and to come up with new and creative ideas for engaging a modern world with the richness of its past.
- Finally, wouldn’t it be cool to be able to tell people you’re a member of the Catoosa County Historical Society? There aren’t too many organizations you can join for $7.50.
You don’t have to join to check out the Catoosa County Historical Society. Their next meeting is Monday, September 11, at 7 p.m. at the Old Stone Church, 41 Old Catoosa Parkway in Ringgold. For more information, contact the Old Stone Church at 706-935-5232 (you may have to leave a message, but someone will get back to you), or visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/ catoosahistory.