photo by Chris Stephens
The City of Dalton will name the trailhead of the Mill Line in honor of the trailblazer who first envisioned the project. The Chattanooga Avenue trailhead will be named in honor of Paul Belk in a ceremony Saturday at 11 a.m. The public is invited to attend.
The Mill Line Trail officially opened to the public last year in March and quickly became one of the most popular amenities in Dalton's parks system. The 1.2-mile paved trail parallels Mill Creek from Chattanooga Avenue until joining the Haig Mill Lake Trail on the lake dam. Much of the land for the trail was donated by Dalton philanthropist Paul Belk and his late business partner Horace Sewell. In addition to the land donation, Belk is credited with having the vision for a park there which eventually became the Mill Line Trail. The Dalton Mayor and Council resolved last October to name the Mill Line trailhead in Belk's honor. The resolution noted that Belk's contributions were instrumental not just for the creation of the Mill Line, but also Dalton's Civitan Park.
"I'm honored and humbled by this recognition, I'm a small cog in a big wheel," Mr. Belk said last October while accepting the honor. "Let it be said with God's help we will leave Dalton, which we love, an even more attractive and inviting community for all who live here."
City leaders have already returned to the drawing board to chart the next phase of the Mill Line project which will link the Paul Belk Trailhead with downtown Dalton via new paved trails along Chattanooga Avenue, through Mount Rachel Park, and the Crown Mill greenway before joining existing sidewalks and roadways. The second phase of the Mill Line was one of the projects included in the 2024 SPLOST ballot measure approved by voters last year.
Due to limited parking at the Paul Belk Trailhead on Chattanooga Avenue, there will be shuttle service provided to the ceremony from the nearby parking lot of the Georgia Department of Labor building at 1406 Chattanooga Ave.