LaFayette has unveiled its new cemetery walking tour brochure.
“LaFayette’s Historic Preservation Commission is interested in telling untold stories, preserving our community’s history and promoting tourism,” HPC Chairman Connie Forester said. “I think this brochure is going to be the most popular and interesting we’ve done.”
Forester and fellow HPC members spent many hours taking photos, interviewing family members, searching historical records and locating graves.
City staff developed a map, plotted the tour route and coordinated the brochure’s design, layout and editing with the printer.
The brochure features brief biographies and interesting stories about more than 20 individuals, as well as information about the Confederates soldiers killed in the June 1864 Battle of LaFayette who had been unidentified for nearly150 years.
“The cemetery is a lovely place to mediate, and it’s breathtaking to see when the dogwoods and azaleas bloom,” Main Street and Economic Development director Catherine Edgemon said. “The brochure will enhance visitors’ experience by providing educational information and encouraging them to walk for exercise.”
The brochure will be distributed to the Walker County Chamber of Commerce, Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau and other locations in coming weeks, and the HPC is investigating creating pod casts, social media and a QR code to publicize the brochure.
Participants in a recent talk and talk through the cemetery saw a preview of the brochure. Another HPC-sponsored cemetery walk and talk is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 6.
A Bike! Walk! Northwest Georgia grant funded the brochure’s publication.
The HPC has collaborated with Bike! Walk! on three other brochures: the scenic Walker County bicycle tour, Battle of LaFayette walking tour and walking tour of historic LaFayette.
Georgia Department of Transportation and Northwest Georgia Regional Commission work with communities throughout the region to sponsor the Bike! Walk! Northwest Georgia program, which promotes bicycling and walking as exercise, eco-friendly transportation and family-friendly fun.
For more information about the brochure, call (706) 639-1519.
For more information on Bike! Walk! Northwest Georgia, visit www.bwnwga.org.