This is a great example of a “shotgun” store, the most common vernacular store form of 19th and early-20th-century Georgia. It was also a common form for small town offices and warehouses, but a resource survey identifies this as a general store, circa 1900. It’s been well-maintained.
This general store, in one incarnation or another, was the gathering place for Graysville throughout much of the 20th century.
This Queen Anne home was built by Dr. William T. Blackford (1825-1904) in 1883. For many years, Dr. Blackford maintained his medical practice here, as well. A native Virginian, Dr. Blackford served as a delegate to the Alabama Constitutional Convention of 1867, then practiced medicine in Chattanooga before settling in Graysville. Charles A. Gray (1860-1960), a member of the founding family of Graysville, purchased the house from Dr. Blackford’s daughters in 1916. It remained in the Gray family until 1942. It has had numerous owners in the years since.
National Register of Historic Places
This congregation was organized on 2 September 1837 as the Chickamauga Presbyterian Church and is believed to be the first church in what is now Catoosa County. A log cabin and nearby home served as the first meeting places. The organizers were a group of Scotch Irish Presbyterians from Tennessee or the Carolinas and the charter members were Robert Magill, James H. McSpadden, Robert C. Cain, Sarah Black, Alfred McSpadden, Fanny Magill, Susan McSpadden, Winfred Cain, Margaret Cain and Nancy Tipton.
In 1850 construction on this structure began. Member Robert Magi and his brothers hauled limestone quarried at White Oak Mountain to this site and the church was completed in 1852. The church served as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War, and was also commandeered for use by Union troops. The name was changed to Stone Church in 1912 and in 1921 it was transferred to a Methodist congregation. It was used by other congregations subsequently and is now owned and maintained by the Catoosa County Historical Society.
National Register of Historic Places
There are over 500 monuments and markers within the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park, the majority of which were placed between 1890-1910. This is a very small sampling of them and in no particular order or preference. It would take several days to document them all. Text from the monuments or accompanying markers is included, as well as the dates they were erected. These monuments represent the greatest collection of public sculpture in Georgia and even someone with little interest in the Civil War should appreciate them from an aesthetic perspective.
26th Ohio Infantry, 1st Brigade, 1st Division. 21st Army Corps. (Erected 1894 by the State of Ohio)
This Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel William H. Young commanding, occupied a position at Lee and Gordon’s Mills from the afternoon of September 18th, 1863, till about 3:00 P.M. September 19th, when it was ordered at double quick to this position. It went into action at this place about 4:00 P.M. and continued in action the line alternately advancing and receding, till about 6:00 P.M.
September 20th, it first occupied a position near the Brotherton House till about 11:00 A.M. when it was ordered with the Division to the left at double quick. While executing this movement by the flank, it was struck by the advancing enemy and forced to the ridge near the Vidito Place. It there rallied and fought until it lost connection with the rest of the Army and finally retired to Rossville.
Number Engaged, Commissioned Officers 23: Enlisted Men 354: Loss, Killed, Officers 5: Enlisted Men 23: Wounded, Officers 6: Enlisted Men 133: Captured or Missing 45: Aggregate 212: Most of this occurred on the 19th.
Third Wisconsin Battery. 3rd [Barnes’s] Brig. 3rd [Van Cleve’s] Div. 21st Army Corps. (Erected 1890 by the State of Wisconsin)
About 1:30 p.m. the battery with Barnes’ Brigade moved from the line near Lee and Gordon’s Mill to this position. By order of Major Mendenhall the battery came into position on the right of the 2nd Minnesota Battery, southeast of the Viniard house. The battery fired until a battery on the left was captured by the Confederates, when it limbered up and returned to this position, opened fire on the woods filled with the enemy, checking his advance. The brigade having been driven back rallied and took position on each flank of the battery. From this position the battery opened a very effective enfilade fire on the enemy in the Viniard cornfield. This position was retained with slight changes until 2 a.m. of the 20th.
51st Ohio Infantry. 3rd Brigade. 3rd Division. 21st Army Corps (Erected 1894 by the State of Ohio)
September 18th, 1863, this Regiment, Colonel Richard W. McClain commanding, was under fire of the enemy at Class’ Mill. At 5:00 P.M. ordered to a position about one half mile north of Lee and Gordon’s Mills, where we lay on our arms all night.
September 19th, about 3:00 P.M. became heavily engaged in the timber southeast of this point and near Hall House, the engagement lasting till about 6:00 P.M. when being overpowered, were forced to retire.
September 20th, marched to the extreme left of our line, charged and drove the enemy at 10:30 A.M. and occupied a position near General Baird’s left until the Union troops were ordered to retire to Rossville. In consequence of this retirement without notice, to this Regiment, it became involved with the enemy and part of it was captured.
Loss, killed 8; wounded 35; captured or missing 55; total 98. Organized at Camp Meigs, Ohio, October 3d, 1861. Mustered out October 3d, 1865, at Victoria, Texas, by Captain William Nicholas, Commissary of Musters.
99th Ohio Infantry. Barnes’ Brigade, Van Cleve’s Division. 21st Army Corps. (Erected 1894 by the State of Ohio)
This regiment, Colonel Peter T. Swaine commanding, moved with the brigade into action September 19, 1863, at 3:30 P.M., advancing in an easterly direction from this point, through a dense woods; was attacked by a superior force on front and flank; after a spirited battle, lasting till near 5:30 P.M. was forced to retire, which was done in good order.
September 20, at 10:30 A.M. engaged the enemy near General Baird’s left, at the north end of Kelly’s Field, maintaining position there until the Army retired to Rossville at night.
Loss, killed 3; wounded 30; captured or missing 24; total 57.
13th Michigan Infantry. Buell’s Brigade, Wood’s Division, Crittenden’s Corps. (Erected 1895 by the State of Michigan)
This monument marks the position where the regiment performed its most important service.
Sept. 19th, 1863. Casualties: Engaged 217. Killed 14. Wounded 68. Missing 25. Total Loss 107. On the 18th of September 1863 the regiment occupied a position near Lee and Gordon’s Mill on the 19th at 2:30 PM, moved to this position where it was engaged until dark on the 20th. Moved with its brigade to the left, where it was engaged near the right flank of the army until night closed the battle.
58th Indiana Infantry. 1st Brigade-Buell. 1st Division-Wood. 21st Corps-Crittenden. (Erected 1897 by the State of Indiana)
This Regiment formed line of battle about 2:40 p.m., September 19th, charged the enemy, driving him from Viniard House across and east of LaFayette Road, and reformed on line with this monument, where a severe engagement ensued, with very heavy loss during the afternoon. Morning of September 20th went into position at Brotherton Farm and was soon hotly engaged. Moved at 11 a.m. with its Brigade to the left, and became involved in the break at the center. A considerable portion of the Regiment rallied on Snodgrass Hill and remained till the close of the battle. Loss in battle: Killed 16; wounded and missing 155.
105th Ohio Infantry, Col. Edward A. King’s Brigade, Reynolds Division, 14th Army Corps. (Erected 1894 by the State of Ohio)
September 19th, 1863, from about 3:00 P.M. to 4:30 P.M. this Regiment, Major George I. Perkins commanding, was engaged about 600 yards East of the Brotherton House. The success of the enemy at that time on that part of the line compelled it to retire, and it was rallied and reformed in this position, which it also occupied on the 20th, till about 1:00 P.M., when the retirement of Brannan’s Division to Snodgrass Hill made it necessary to take a more refused position facing South.
Loss, Killed 3: Wounded 41: Captured or Missing 26: Total 70.
17th Ohio Infantry. Lt. Col. Durbin Ward Commanding. Connell’s Brigade, Brannan’s Division. 14th Army Corps. (Erected 1894 by the State of Ohio)
September 19th, 1863, from about 10:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M. the Regiment was engaged on the right of Van Derveer’s Brigade, about one mile east of the Lafayette road, and a few hundred yards south of the Reed’s bridge road.
September 20th, was in the first line of battle in this position until 12:00 noon when General Wood’s Division vacated the line on its right, then being assailed in front and on the its right flank, was driven beyond the range of hills west of here and became separated from the left of the Army. Later in the day Lieutenant Colonel Ward was wounded. The command thereafter devolved on Major Butterfield. A detachment of the Regiment rallied on Snodgrass Hill and fought till the Army retired at night. Loss, killed 16: wounded 114: captured or missing 21: total 151.
Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park + National Register of Historic Places
Like the nearby Brotherton and Snodgrass farmhouses, the Kelly House is an historically accurate reconstruction of a typical single-pen dwelling of the era. It has been an integral part of the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park since its inception in 1890.
In their Historic Resource Survey (1999) of the park, Hanson & Blythe note: The Kelly House was a landmark for Union forces moving to extend Gen. Rosecrans’s left on September 18 and 19. The Union left dug in around the Kelly Farm at the north end of the Chickamauga battlefield and repulsed repeated Confederate assaults. [It also] served as [a] field hospital [like other cabins throughout the area] during and after the Battle of Chickamauga.
Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park + National Register of Historic Places
There were once about 24 working farms on the land that now comprises the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. Three were reconstructed as commemorative interpretive aids sometime before the incorporation of the property as the first National Military Park by President Benjamin Harrison in 1890*. This single-pen farmhouse, or cabin in the parlance of the National Park Service, is a reconstruction of the home of George Washington (September 1806-4 October 1869) and Mary Carter Brotherton (16 December 1812-24 March 1900) and their children.
An interpretive panel at the site notes: At the time of the Battle of Chickamauga, George and Mary Brotherton and their children lived in a log house here. In the surrounding fields they grazed cattle and grew corn and hay. To escape the battle, some of the Brothertons and other local families took refuge in a ravine about a mile from here. There they endured hunger and cold, and prayed for their boys serving in the Confederate army.
Tom Brotherton, one of the sons, played a key role in the battle. Because Tom “knew every pig trail through these woods,” General Longstreet, commander of the Confederate left wing, employed him as a scout. Tom served with pride, telling his brother Jim, “It’s a sorry lad that won’t fight for his own home.” Jim Brotherton also fought for the South.
After the battle, Adaline Brotherton, the youngest daughter, returned to the cabin in search of food. Finding four of their cows who had miraculously survived the battle, she prepared milk for the refugee families. However, the hundreds of wounded Union and Confederate soldiers she saw here aroused her sympathy, and she gave the milk to them.
Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park + National Register of Historic Places
Vanishing Georgia: Photographs by Brian Brown 