02/20/09

Photo Gallery: Catoosa County Courthouse

The act creating Catoosa County authorized the justices of the county's new inferior court to select the county seat and provide for construction of the courthouse and other public buildings. Catoosa County's first courthouse was a two-story brick building constructed in 1856. Shortly after its completion, the local Masonic Lodge asked permission to built a third story onto the structure for use as a meeting hall. This action reportedly saved the courthouse from destruction in 1864. After the Battle of Ringgold, victorious Union forces set fire to the courthouse -- but when Sherman rode up and saw that the building was also a Masonic hall, he ordered the fire put out. The old courthouse continued in use until the present courthouse was completed in 1939. (Carl Vinson Institute of Government)

Marker text:
Created December 5, 1853, the county has an Indian name. Ringgold bears the name of Major Samuel Ringgold, who died of wounds received at the Mexican War battle of Palo Alto in 1846.

Taylor's Ridge, visible for miles, is named for the Indian chief Richard Taylor.

Catoosa Springs, four miles to the east, and Gordon Springs, ten miles south, were colorful ante-bellum summer resorts.

The bloody Chickamauga battle was fought seven miles to the west, the battlefield now being a National Military Park.

023-7 Georgia Historical Commission 1953