09/05/2026
Somebody recently commented that it will take a financial miracle for us to be able to preserve all of the mountain along Rocky Face Ridge.
 I responded to that comment with the following: 
We have had a number of financial miracles so far to be able to save and create in Whitfield County (with the help of a lot of other organizations including ABT and the leadership of Whitfield County), Rocky Face Ridge Park, a 1000 acre park (which included a 1.3 million dollar acquisition), plus Potato Hill Park, Mill Creek Gap Park, and now the Washington Artillery site (another 61.50 acres of the side of the mountain that contains two artillery redoubts and at least 12 lunettes and other earthworks which was a $677,000 project in which we received support from so many organizations from American Battlefield Trust, Open Space, Georgia Battlefields Association, Blue and Gray Education Society, the Frank P. Pierce Foundation of Chattanooga, The Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia, Georgia Civil War Commission, civil war roundtables in England, Atlanta, Cobb County, Chicago, Denver, Northern Illinois, Columbus, OH, Milwaukee, Scotsdale, AZ, North Georgia Relic Hunters Association (NGRHA), and many other groups, families, and individuals).
We are also in the middle of a couple of other projects that are very exciting including participating with ABT, GBA, and our friends with Friends of Resaca Battlefield group in saving another 305 acres on the Whitfield/Gordon County line extending the Resaca Battlefield preservation efforts. That project came within one Gordon County commissioner’s vote of becoming a 154 port Truck Distribution Center that would have added additional traffic of up to 300 trucks per day at both the Carbondale and Resaca exits on I 75.
Together with other state and national organizations, Save the Dalton Battlefields and Friends of Resaca argued before both the Gordon County Zoning Board and Gordon County Board of Commissioners to not re-zone that battlefield property to allow the construction of a distribution center.
At the same time, we continued to maintain a positive and open communication with the land owners so that as soon as the zoning request was denied, thanks to our friends with ABT and the Georgia legislature in recently enacting the Dooley Preservation Trust in honor of the late coach, Vince Dooley who was an avid preservationist, we were able to immediately step in and offer full fair market value, and the same value that the land owners would have received had they sold it to the developer. It was vital that we helped our friends at Resaca because the Resaca battle is an integral and important part of the Dalton story and the battlefield covers portions of both counties. (That effort is a 1.8 million dollar project).
Also, some of the leaders in our organization helped to prevent the development of 15 acres on top of Blue Mountain.
All of these projects served to bring dollars into Dalton and Resaca and Whitfield and Gordon counties to not only help us preserve and save these important lands, but also interpret to them by opening them up to the public with safe trails and park space with interpretive markers. There are also plenty of people who appreciate these green spaces for hiking, nature, and recreation.
Your support helps not only to preserve this land, but open it to the public to enjoy and learn, and to promote tourism dollars to our community. 
And stay tuned for some additional exciting developments on yet another project which will soon be announced.
***
Last week, we posted a video about the progress of the Washington Artillery site which has received more than 18,000 views across the nation and across multiple platforms and organizations. We are so very grateful for all of the trust, help, and support from all of the preservation groups, conservation groups, foundations, historic round tables, and individuals and families.
I shared some numbers in this post concerning the “financial miracles“ that we have already been blessed with in our community to save a number of sites. A half-million dollar project here, and a $2 million project there, seemed absolutely insurmountable to our small organization, but with the support of all of these organizations, we have saved nearly 1500 acres over the past two decades, and raised between $4 and $5 million to do it.
And you ain’t seen nothing yet…
I am so very grateful to all of these organizations and to the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners, Whitfield County Parks and Recreation, and Whitfield County Road Department for all of their support of these projects and for improving and maintaining them for the public to enjoy. 
Please support our mission. Even your $25 donation to this site below makes all the difference! When we reach out to other state and national organizations who want to know how many people have contributed to our project and when I am able to tell them we already have over 50 local donors or 75 donors or 200 donors on a given project, we can obtain matching Grant and foundation donations.
Below are two website links to support our mission in preservation and interpretation, with one link for each affiliated organization. 
Thank you again for your support!
Bob Jenkins,
President,
Save the Dalton Battlefields, LLC
Executive Director,
Blue and Gray Education Society, Inc.
To support our preservation efforts in Dalton, Resaca, and with Save the Dalton Battlefields, please click here: (and be sure to direct your contribution to Save the Dalton Battlefields).
https://www.communityfoundationnwga.org/giving
To support our mission in interpretation (providing support to help parks across the Nation by providing interpretive markers, cannons, and other infrastructure) with Blue and Gray Education Society, please click here: 
https://blueandgrayeducation.org/give
Phil Gast
Friends of Buzzards Roost
John Banks' Civil War blog
Aaron's Civil War Travels
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dalton Daily Citizen
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Make a gift to the Community Foundation or a specific local fund, from general donations to the Burr Park Endowment. Donate to Northwest Georgia causes you love.
