Back Roads Across America: South

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Adairsville was originally a small Cherokee village named after Chief Walter (John) S. Adair, a Scottish settler who married a Cherokee Indian woman. Hotels, mills, and blacksmith shops were built up around where the railroad in 1847. During the Civil War on April 12, 1862, Adairsville was part of the great locomotive chase and then the Battle of Adairsville. After the Civil War ended in 1865, Adairsville rebuilt and became a hub for the carpet and textile industries, and for farm and transportation services, including its famous railroad. Some historical buildings still intact in the town include the original train depot which was involved in "The Great Locomotive Chase". Adairsville is also well known for Barnsley Gardens, which is now a golf resort. Barnsley Gardens is situated southwest of the city center of Adairsville. The home was built by Sir Godfrey Barnsley of Derbyshire, England in the late 1840s for his wife Julia. She died before the house could be completed, but it is said that her ghost appeared to Sir Godfrey, telling him to complete the work. It was brought about by the visions of Andrew Jackson Downing, the architect who designed the grounds of the U.S. Capitol and White House. The ruins of the great main house remain. Almost lost to time and the elements, the land, including all of the ruins, was bought in 1988 by Prince Hubertus Fugger who restored the gardens and renovated the grounds into an upscale golf resort.