Pictured, left to right: Mayor Andy Arnold, LaFayette; Chairman Shannon Whitfield, Walker County Board of Commissioners; District 1 Commissioner Robert Blakemore, Walker County Board of Commissioners; Buddy Chapman, Former Walker County sole commissioner; Mayor Teddy Harris, Rossville
190 years ago today, Georgia Governor Wilson Lumpken signed a bill dividing Murray County into two counties, officially creating Walker County.
During a ceremony to mark this anniversary, Walker County announced the “2033 Note to Self Time Capsule,” a campaign to encourage residents to write a letter to their future self. “These letters could include observations of life today in Walker County, reflections on the joys and challenges of growing up, or the hopes and dreams the writer aspires to achieve over the next decade,” said Joe Legge, public relations director, Walker County Government.
Letters, as well as poems and pictures, will be accepted for inclusion through the end of January.
These items will then be preserved in a time capsule at the Walker County Civic Center that will not be opened until the county’s 200th anniversary on December 18, 2033. Items can be submitted in person or mailed to the Walker County Board of Commissioners office (101 S. Duke St.) in LaFayette or sent online at walkercountyga.gov/timecapsule.
Named in honor of U.S. Senator Major Freeman Walker of Augusta, Walker County has grown from 6,572 residents in 1840, according to census data, to 68,915 men, women and children in 2022.
Many of the first settlers of Walker County were soldiers of the Revolutionary or Indian Wars, or their widows and orphans, who won lots in a land lottery and came to make their home in fertile valley land.
Portions of Walker County were used to create the counties of Dade, Catoosa, Chattooga and Whitfield. The state reduced the size of many counties in the 1800’s to address travel issues for those attending court sessions and registering deeds to record land transactions.