The Carpet Capital's Peacock Alley: Remembering Dalton History

Remembering History in the Carpet Capital: Carpet and peacocks by Werner Braun

In his July 22, 2011 column titled "Carpet and peacocks" for the Dalton Daily Citizen, Carpet and Rug Institute president Werner Braun reflects on Dalton’s history as the “Carpet Capital of the World” and how that history includes hard times as well as boom years. He contrasts the recent announcement that Carpets of Dalton, the city’s powerhouse carpet andfurnishings retailer, recently auctioned its inventory and faces “an uncertain future”.

The same week, the Downtown Dalton Development Authority announced they will display peacock statues downtown as a way to commemorate the city’s textile history.

“To talk about where you are going, you must reflect on where you have been. We’re a carpet town. For all of us Daltonians, whether native or transplanted from afar, it’s our life. And more importantly, it’s our home.

This past week we read in The Daily Citizen that the famous company “Under the Big Sign” — Carpets of Dalton — has liquidated its assets and faces “an uncertain future” after decades of selling carpet, floor covering, furniture and home accessories. 

Once upon a time, there wasn’t any carpet in Dalton. Remember, Dalton started out as the land of bedspreads and peacocks. As it says in the New Georgia Encyclopedia, Catherine Evans Whitener revived the handcraft technique of tufting in the 1890s near Dalton.

As the story goes, by the 1930s, “clotheslines bearing chenille bedspreads lined U.S. Highway 41 through Dalton and other small communities in northwest Georgia. Tourists on their way to Florida stopped to buy these spreads … of the many designs adorning the spreads the most popular among tourists was the peacock.”

One section of Highway 41 became known as “Peacock Alley” because of the peacock designs that dominated the roadside displays.

Last Friday, the Downtown Dalton Development Authority unveiled the upcoming public art project called “Peacocks on Parade,” where 10 five-foot-tall, 100-pound fiberglass peacocks will be painted and placed throughout downtown. The peacocks will be painted by Georgia artists and sponsored by an array of private citizens, businesses, corporations and community groups.     

This idea demonstrates our pride of origin and celebrates our heritage in the midst of change.  Dalton’s peacocks will continue to tell the story of Catherine Evans Whitener and the original chenille bedspreads that started it all, while reflecting on companies like Carpets of Dalton that helped make Dalton “The Carpet Capital of the World.”

Thank you, Werner.

~Bethany