Town of Cohutta Mayor Ron Shinnick and Council Woman, Sandy Clayborne, at one of the stops on the “Tour the Town”
Mayor Ron Shinnick welcomed elected officials, representatives from the Dalton Chamber of Commerce, the Dalton-Whitfield Joint Development Authority, Whitfield County Board of Commissioners, and local residents to the “Tour the Town” event in Cohutta on Friday. The 90-minute walk started at the Cohutta Community Center and looped around Cohutta’s historic Wolfe Street.
With a rich rail history and buildings dating back to the Victorian-era, the town leans in to its traditional roots.
Cohutta established the first town charter 1969 – but you can still catch glimpses of its days as a “Shake Rag” rail town in the late 1800s. Located halfway between two bustling areas – Dalton and Chattanooga – postal carriers would shake a rag as trains passed through the area to collect the area’s mail.
Being a Cohutta resident for more than thirty years, and Town Mayor for the last eight, Mayor Shinnick had firsthand knowledge of local history and growth of the community. The friendly and educational tour highlighted the need for publicly accessible sidewalks to connect a community that has called for safer streets. At the August Council Meeting, Mayor Shinnick and the Town Council voted unanimously to partner with the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners and pursue the Reconnected Communities Pilot Program Grant. The initial funding would go to hiring a consultant to develop engineered plans for sidewalks and streetscaping along Wolfe Street, and preserve the town’s vision of a “traditional main street”. This grant would shift much of the cost to the Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). “We have really been looking forward to this, and have talked about it for years,” says Shinnick. “This is a great partnership, and I know the citizens have talked about how important it would be to connect in our community. Really good people live here,” added Shinnick. “And they’re what makes Cohutta home.”
One of those citizens, Kristy Adams, is Cohutta’s very own Red Wolfe Grill owner. “We opened Red Wolfe Grill in April of 2020, during the pandemic, so we served out of the windows, and on our very first day we ran out of everything”. Kristy has lived in Cohutta for 27 years. “I love living in Cohutta, the small-town feel, and everyone was so welcoming to us in the community”. Kristy is hopeful Cohutta will receive the grant to add sidewalks to the main street, “They have ‘Read Around Cohutta’, and what they do is bring the kids to the businesses downtown and they read books to the kids, so instead of the kids having to walk in the street, it would be safer for them.”
Cohutta has countless charming features, and one of them being the Cohutta General Store. “The thing that sets us apart from other towns is our originality,” said owner, Mandy Arriola. “My hope is to see Cohutta still so alive and thriving in the future. When I opened the store, I just wanted to see people gather, enjoy each other’s company, and talk about the good ole days.” Every morning, the General Store has complementary coffee and plenty of seating to sip and enjoy. “What I really think is sweet, is people will bring in their personal historic items to leave in the store for other people to look at and enjoy,” Arriola added.
Taking a walk down Wolfe Street made it easy to see why Cohutta is one of Whitfield County’s crown jewels. It comes as no surprise that Cohutta had close to 9,000 people in attendance for their Fourth of July celebration midsummer.
The deadline for all submissions on the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program Grant will be on October 13, 2022. Cohutta General Store has comment cards near the register where anyone can write the three best things they love about Cohutta. These comment cards will be turned in with the other requirements in the final application.