Walker County Historical Society meeting minutes
Walker County Historical Society August 22, 2021, 3:00 p.m. meeting The Sunday, August 22, 3:00 p.m. meeting of the Walker County Historical Society was an outdoor meeting at the John Ross House in Rossville to see the new Ecobox and improvements to the Duck Pond area.
Attenders included: Lem Arnold, David Boyle, Dottie Dover Strickland, Bethany Strickland Crowe, Nathan Gibson, Holly Hayes, Larry Rose Sr., Larry Rose Jr., Cleta Townsend, Susan Wells.
The minutes of the June 27 meeting were summarized. The treasurer’s report showed a balance of $2,192.16 in the checking account.
There was no old business. Under new business, President David Boyle described the sudden scheduling of the lot north of the Marsh House for an Internet auction by Potts Brothers on behalf of John Dana. The lot includes most of the north yard of the Marsh House and was bought in 2011 by Evelle Dana,
Chair of the Marsh House Board at the time, to preserve it for the Marsh House.
Dr. Boyle and several other WCHS members developed a plan to keep it off the market to prevent possible commercial development and to have the historical society buy the lot with a mortgage and 1520 cosigners. The plan is for later purchase by Walker County government to be added to the Marsh House plot. This process would be the same as what happened with the 2002 purchase of the Marsh House and later resale to the county. Jane Shelton (1) and Lem Arnold (2) moved to approve the plan for the WCHS corporation to purchase the lot with 15-20 cosigners and to formally request Walker County government to purchase the lot as soon as financing can be arranged to add it to the Marsh House plot.
Susan Wells discussed the process of conceptualizing, designing, and placing the Ecobox which has four oral recordings of the history of the Ross family, the House, and the area. Host Larry Rose Jr. opened the Ross House for the meeting on the porch in the shade during the hot afternoon. The group listened to all four recordings at the Ecobox as Susan explained that the information was thoroughly vetted by the WCHS, the Trail of Tears Association (TOTA) and the Ross House Board (Larry Rose) so that it is as accurate as it can be with our current information. The attenders warmly thanked Susan Wells for her and her partners’ work on the project, which is a great addition to the John Ross Commons and Walker County historical and tourist sites. It was financed by a Walker Chamber of Commerce grant as well as donations by the WCHS and the GA TOTA. The exterior of the solar powered box is decorated with letters of the Cherokee alphabet.
Marsh House Heritage Day, Saturday, September 18, was announced. In addition to arts and crafts booths, the heritage bake sale and house tours, there will be a classic yard sale with some antiques and many useful items in good shape. The items in the Welcome Center, which
was curated as an expansion of the Marsh House and historical society display space, will be sold in the sale except for those with historical value for the Marsh House. Everything must go in order to make space for the new Museum of African American Heritage. Members are
encouraged to donate a heritage baked item with a card explaining the history of the recipe. Bring it to the tent in front of the Welcome Center by 10:00 am, Saturday, September 18.
In the absence of Secretary Jamie Snyder, notes by Jane Shelton.