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| | | (SPECIAL/www.northfulton.com)
Roswell Manager of Historical and Cultural Affairs G. Morgan Timmis, right, unveils the city’s new Southern Trilogy logo which is part of a comprehensive historical interpretation of Roswell’s historic sites. (click for larger version) | |
October 17, 2008
ALPHARETTA - First Lady Laura Bush has made Roswell and Alpharetta two of only 12 cities nationwide to be designated in 2008 to receive Preserve America grants.
As Preserve America communities, the two cities have been recognized for their efforts to bring forward their history and recognize its value as an historical asset, said Burt Wilkerson, Southeast Regional director of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
"These cities have worked hard to preserve their heritage and to keep a small-town feel despite the growth going on all around," said Wilkerson.
Roswell has embarked on an ambitious marketing plan in which it invites tourists to visit its "Southern Trilogy," the homes of three founding families of Roswell owned by the city: Bulloch Hall, Barrington Hall and Archibald Smith Plantation.
To that end, it has used its $100,000 grant with a like amount contributed by the city to come up with first a comprehensive interpretive plan for the three sites to create a synergy among these three unique antebellum homes.
Next, enlisting the company that markets Biltmore House, the city created a marketing plan and finally it expanded its "wayfinding" sign program to direct visitors to the sites.
"We have an incredible critical mass of historic resources in Roswell, and we want to capitalize on them as tourist attractions to the greatest extent possible," said G. Morgan Timmis, Historic and Cultural Affairs manager for Roswell.
Now the city is in a better position to jointly market the sites as three elements of a single tour of all Roswell, said Timmis.
"We also want to reinvigorate Roswell citizens' interest, sense of stewardship and ownership in the story of Roswell," Timmis said.
In Alpharetta in its sesquicentennial year, that city has instituted a number of projects to increase awareness of its history while ongoing projects have coalesced to add to the city's historical emphasis.
The Alpharetta Historical Society has pulled together a number of sources in the community to mark the city's 150th birthday with a book entitled "Alpharetta, Milton County — The Early Years." Billy Bates, Howard Knight and Connie Mashburn were the authors of the book filled with photos, anecdotes and information about the city in the 19th and 20th centuries.
American Legion Post 201, under the direction of Legionnaire J.R. Wages, has created its "Walk of Memories" Park at the post in which the names of all of those Georgians who have died in war since World War II are inscribed on memorial bricks.
The Mansell House, restored by the Alpharetta Historical Society, and the city's Historic Walking Tour have given the city a new appreciation of the history shared in the city.
Both cities received a plaque signed by Laura Bush recognizing their achievements.
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