Haralson County GAGenWeb

Haralson County was formed in January 26, 1856 from Carroll and Polk Counties and was named for General Hugh Anderson

Haralson. He was a member of the Georgia State House of Representatives (1831), George State Senate (1837),

US Representative from Georgia (1843-1851), Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs during the Mexican War,

The County seat is Buchanan which was originally called Pierceville. Other communities include Felton, Draketown, Tallapoosa (formerly

known as Possum Snout), Bremen, Waco (formerly known as Dean and Wacoville), West Crossing, Hooper, Popular

The Dahlonega gold vein runs through this region, so gold mining was the first economy in Haralson County. Once the mines

ran out the residents farmed chiefly cotton, and harvested lumber from the large stands in the area.

The local land developer (Ralph Spencer 1859-1916) brought Catholic priest Father Janishek (promising him a home and

horse and buggy. He then invited 200 Hungarian wine making families to come from Pennsylvania where they were working

the coal mines. 50 families originally accepted the invitation, more later came. They lived on 2,000 acres and started

3 communities: Budapest, Tokaj and Nyitra. Each family was allotted 10 acres. Wine making flourished and the communities

did well. Prohibition Act of Georgia in 1908 ended all fermented beverages so the residents no longer had a means of support,

There were mineral springs and the arrival of the railroad in the 1880s started a tourist boom. Lithia Springs Hotel is shown

	Historic marker at Bowden and Chestnut Street
Haralson County Courthouse built 1891
	This Historical marker is located at the Haralson County Courthouse "This County, created by Act of the Legislature Jan 26, 1856 is named for Gen Hugh A Haralson, Member of Congress and Chairman of teh Committee on Military Affairs during the Mexican War. the County site is named for James Buchanan, last Democratic President before the War. Among the first County Officers were: Sheriff John K Holcombe, Clerk of Superior Court Can A Brewster, Clerk of Inferior Court Jesse M Jeams, Tax Receiver Hiram Ray, Tax Collector Alfred H Green, Ordinary George H Hamilton, Surveyor William D F Mann and Coroner John McClung.
This road was orginally the Sandtown Trail traveled by several tribes of Creek Indians. It connected Sandtown on the Chattahoochee River near Atlanta, Ga. with another Sandtown in Tallapoosa Co., Ala. Later became Old Ala. Road over which early white settlers traveled. Itg was at one time a stagecoach route through this section." A. D. McBride Chapter, U.D.C. 1970
	Lithia Springs Hotel, which was the largest wooden building in the South at the time. Built in 1890, Tallapoosa GA. It had 175 rooms.
In 1888, three winemaking communities were founded here on some 2000 acres. A local land developer, Ralph L. Spencer, invited some 200 Hungarian wine-making families to settle this region. They named their largest community BUDAPEST, in honor of the capital of Hungary. The village of TOKAJ recalled the famous wine-making region of Hungary, and NYITRA was named after an ancient fort in the northern region of their homeland. Homes, streets, shops, a school, a Catholic church, a cemetery and other municipal facilites were built. The wine industry flourished in this climate. In 1908 the passage of the Prohibition Act in Georgia spelled their doom. The residents were forced back to the Pennsylvania mines. The rectory still stands on a hill, a fine tribute to the master masons who erected it. The pioneer Hungarians who became a part of the Georgia soil lie in the little fenced cemetery over the hill, many graves still marked with names which sound foreign to these parts. By ancient tradition the inhabitants lie with their heads toward the East and their beloved homeland.
	Tallapoosa was a place of great ceremonial importance to the Indians. Here in 1826 settlers discovered "Charles Town", an Indian village named for one of their great warriors. Several Indian trails intersected here and the Choctaw, Creek and Cherokee tribes frequently assembled here in a grove of "Seven Chestnuts" to trade or to make war. A local farmer, William Owens, found gold here in 1842. and some 100,000 pennyweights were mined. Tallapoosa achieved internation renown in 1890 when Gen. Benjamin F. Butler of Massachusetts and other notables including two United States Treasurers....A. U. Wyman and James W. Hyatt--organized the Georgia-Alabama investment and Development Co., to build a new city along the tracks of the Georgia Pacific Railroad, which had been built in 1882. The new city of Tallapoosa attracted some 15,000 investors, 3000 new inhabitants and a billion dollars in capitalization. It was a city "built as if by magic," Henry W. Grady said: "One which challenged the attention and admiration of the world.
Haralson County Courthouse Constructed in 1891 photo by Donald Allen
	Plaque on Haralson County Courthouse photo by Bobby Brooks

Commercial Hotel, Waco GA ca 1898; Dr Thomas Marion Carroll, Isabella Ann Carroll, Sarah Buford Carroll, Mary Fannie Carroll, Bernice Lonetta Carroll, oscar Bruce Carroll, Banie Gertrude Carroll, Eucleod McAllister Carroll, James moses Blackburn, Irwin Jefferson Carroll, Willie Belle Carroll, Cecile Fern Carroll, Minnie Lee Carroll, Lillie Gayce Carroll, Thomas Oree Carroll, Thomas R Carroll, Roderick Wallace Carroll, Ross H Carroll, Josephine Rebecca Carroll.