April 9, 2025 • 26 mins
We are back with the last installment from the Milton Historical Society!
In the previous two episodes, we recounted many pivotal moments in Milton's history—ultimately going from rural farmland to a now thriving community—this transformation tells a quintessentially American story of progress, preservation, and purposeful growth.
In this episode, we will get some insight from Jeff Dufresne and Lynn Tinley, on how Georgia 400 changed many things, how a grassroots movement led to cityhood, and how Milton continues to balance growth with a deep commitment to greenspace, community character, and civic pride. If you love history, hidden gems, and stories that define a place—this one's for you.
With the community in mind, this podcast explores the stories, people, and initiatives that make our community unique. Each episode offers insights into local government, highlights Milton's history and future developments, and showcases the vibrant arts, culture, and sustainability efforts shaping our city. Join the conversation, celebrate our community, and discover how we're building a better Milton together.
Do you have an idea for an episode or would like to request a specific topic to be covered? Email Christy Weeks, christy.weeks@miltonga.gov
Learn more about the City of Milton at www.miltonga.gov.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to Milton and Maine, the official podcast for
the city of Milton.
We want to bring you closer tothe heart of our community
through stories that inform,inspire and connect.
Each episode offers abehind-the-scenes look at the
people, projects and prioritiesshaping Milton, covering
everything from local governmentand future development to arts,
culture, sustainability andpublic safety.
(00:27):
Whether you're a resident, alocal business owner or just
curious about our city, this isyour front row seat to what
makes Milton special.
Welcome back.
I am your host, christy Weeks,the communications manager for
the city of Milton, and todaywe're continuing our journey
through Milton's fascinatinghistory with Jeff Dufresne and
Lynn Tinley from the MiltonHistorical Society.
The last time we chatted, weexplored how Georgia's history,
(00:50):
from the Civil War to the GreatDepression, shaped the growth
and resilience of Milton County.
We discussed how local farmersweathered the Bull Weevil Crisis
, how the Great Depression ledto the merger of Milton County
into Fulton County and thelong-lasting impacts of those
changes.
Today, we are going to shiftour focus to the modern
development of Milton, includingthe arrival of Georgia 400, the
(01:12):
city's incorporation and theefforts to preserve its rich
heritage.
Jeff and Lynn, so glad youcould join us again today.
Thank you Great to be here.
So I'm actually before we getinto the nuts and bolts of this
episode.
I do have a question that wegot from the last episode.
We were talking about MiltonCounty.
Where did the name MiltonCounty come from?
(01:33):
It's got to have a history, itdoes.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
It's a million-dollar question.
It's actually reallyinteresting.
Milton County was named forJohn Milton, not the 17th
century poet John Milton Good toknow.
If you're going to Google ityou'll find a lot about him, so
you've got to be very specific.
But to back up a little bit,there's a strong tradition in
the state of Georgia to namecounties for revolutionary and
(01:58):
important military figures oftennot all military figures, but
most of the counties are namedfor important citizens and
military figures.
John Milton was the firstSecretary of State for the state
and he is credited withactually saving the state's
documents at the beginning ofthe Civil War.
So he never actually was in thisarea, but the people who were
(02:21):
involved in naming the countywere very familiar with him and
were aware of the fact that acounty had not been named for
him.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
And he played quite a role by saving documents.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
He's a known Revolutionary War figure and was
known to society and topolitics during the
Revolutionary War.
So, at any rate, there's awhole history about who wanted
to name him.
But it was named after him.
And, yes, a bit of an enigma,because we don't know when he
was born, when he died, wherehe's buried, or we have no image
(02:54):
of him.
We do have a signature, manyimages of him.
Not one image but a signature.
I mean, we're on, there's somefolks with the Historical
Society trying to track all thisstuff.
They're working very hard totrack it down.
But he is who the county wasnamed for and a lot of the
family moved to Florida.
So in this search a lot ofinformation is from Florida too.
(03:16):
So I hope that answers yourquestion.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
That is incredibly interesting.
We love questions, by the way.
So if anything comes to mindduring this episode or any of
the previous episodes, feel freeto submit them to me and I will
get them to the appropriatehands of the Milton Historical
Society and we'll get thosequestions answered for you.
Back to where we are headedtoday, with a little bit more
(03:38):
modern-day Milton, we're goingto start with the Georgia 400.
And I say the Georgia 400, andI've been corrected.
You're not supposed to put thethe in front of the 400.
Now I come out of Coloradowhere everything is the I-25,
the I-70, things like that.
So trust me, I've beencorrected.
So Georgia 400, it shaped thegrowth of North Fulton County.
(04:02):
Why was this highway projectinitiated and what were the main
goals of it?
And when did it happen?
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Well, back as far as the 1950s, land planners
recognized that the North wasthe path of growth and to help
with commerce and travel,whatever they started thinking
about it.
Help with commerce and travel,whatever they start thinking
about it Now.
It was originally the NorthFulton Expressway, which was
later named Georgia 400.
(04:31):
And there was a lot of give andtake.
Originally it was going to gofrom Atlanta to Asheville, but
by 1979, the northern plans weresort of watered down.
So the first phase of Georgia100 was open in 1968 from 285
into North Fulton County and in1981, it was widened from four
(04:53):
lanes to eight lanes in 1989.
And that kind of coincided withthe opening of the North Point
Mall.
I remember when that was in theboondocks and now it's a
vibrant area.
With that the area became amajor employment center with
great schools and SAT schools.
The population, just in thelast 15 years, has raised by 58
(05:20):
percent, from 18,000 in 2010 to43,000 now.
That's huge.
Yeah for sure, that'sexceptional.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
So obviously affecting our population and the
economic growth possibilitiesup in the North Georgia areas.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
And the need for road access and widening the road
and just improving the access.
Major employers NorthsideHospital employees 6,000 people
Verizon Wireless employees 3,300people.
Adp 3,000, ups 3,000, it goeson and on.
Big employers, well-paying jobs, buy beautiful land, they pick
(06:03):
up their.
Their children want a hobby, sothey buy them horses.
So hence the horse logo,because there are a lot of horse
farms.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Up here in Milton.
Up in Milton there are.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Very, very fine equestrian facilities and
equestrian trainers.
It is interesting to note thatthe horse is on our logo, but if
you really want to get down toour heritage back in the mid-50s
, it really should have been amule, because those are the
animals that work the farm andall that.
But it's a wonderful image.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Very useful, but not as good on a logo.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
I'm sorry, not pretty .
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Hard to put that on a flyer, I'm just saying.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
But it really spearheaded the access and
economic growth of the area.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Were there any controversies that accompanied
this development of Georgia 400?
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Oh, absolutely, whenever you impact people's
land, the old saying not in mybackyard NIMBYs.
One big episode was just rightat Perimeter Center in 400.
All sorts of lawsuits.
Gdot were able to force theextension.
They won basically.
But if you've noticed in thelast few years, there's a lot of
(07:19):
metal, noise barriers andconcrete dividers.
It just changes the look andthe feel as you travel.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Travel north, and that's because of the public
wanting to somehow mitigate theadverse effects of growth well,
listen, it's hard to have growtheconomically, population wise,
if you're looking at newbusiness opportunities, new
schools, as people are movingfurther north.
There is no other way toaddress some of these issues and
(07:53):
it's inconvenient, it's hard tojustify, but it has to happen
in order for progress andbalance and there's.
There's a very fine balance inthat and it's something that has
to be handled very respectfully, okay, so we've got georgia 400
(08:14):
now off question here.
Is it also called the 19?
Where's the 19?
Why it has enough.
It has another name, does itnot?
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Yes, it's State Route 19.
It's State Route 19.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
So that's really confusing to us new people.
We're like well, I'm supposedto get on Georgia 400, but it
says 19.
And then you're lost, and thenyou don't even realize you're on
the right road.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
I never thought about that because I only think it
was 400.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Yeah it has to do with the jurisdiction.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
It's really funny to be new to Georgia andia and not
have any straight roads anywhere.
I'm just saying that's anotherquestion.
Yeah, that's a whole anotherdiscussion I'm gonna have with
public works here in the nextfew weeks.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Good luck at least they stopped naming them peach
trees right, yes, okay.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
So we're gonna fast forward to 2006, when Milton
officially became a city.
What led to the push for thatincorporation?
Speaker 3 (09:10):
I'm quoting this.
After the turn of the 21stcentury, a movement for local
governance emerged, driven bythe belief that the needs of the
upper northernmost part ofFulton County were not
adequately prioritized bydistant county officials.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
It's a big county to have to manage.
Yeah, different needs.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Absolutely.
There was a strong belief onwhere we are and where we want
to go, these comprehensive plansand have a lot of consultants.
You want a uniformity ofarchitecture.
You want being able to connectfrom A to B without getting run
over.
Greenspace was a big part of it, just to preserve the bucolic
(09:54):
heritage and have acquiredgreenspace for public and
passive parks.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Yeah, that's a discussion I got into a little
bit with Parks and Rec and greenspace.
Acres were over 400 acres ofgreen space, but that's not
including our active parks andour inactive parks.
So when you look at the acreageoverall that Milton has green
(10:22):
space plus parks and things,you're looking at almost 1,000
acres of stuff, and don't quoteme on that.
1,000 acres.
Parks and Rec had their numberand then, as we keep looking at
things, I keep hearing but weshould include this.
It's not open yet, but we havethis, so it's quite a number for
a city that has 41,000residents.
Yes, I mean that's large, it'swonderful, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
A lot of farmers or landowners are no longer farming
.
They can't pay the taxes.
So the city has been veryhelpful in terms of conservation
use agreements At a lower taxbreak and agreeing to maintain
it in an architecturalagricultural use for 10 years.
You get to preserve that greenspace.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah, it's important.
So that's a whole notherdiscussion.
I'm sure we could get into andspend quite a bit of time there,
but I kind of want to focusback into when Milton became the
city.
So what are the challenges thatthey faced creating this
government from?
You could say scratch, it's notgoing to be scratch, but you're
(11:28):
starting over and you'recreating things from the bottom
up.
What were some of thosechallenges?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Well, political will.
Jan Jones was spearheading theeffort.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
The mother of Milton.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
The mother of Milton, and she did a marvelous job
navigating the politicallandscape.
You had many other peoplehelping.
They brought it to a referendum, referendum, and it was
overwhelmingly passed.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
It's amazing A lot of voices up here.
I know there was quite anincredible amount of support for
this and a lot of people spenta lot of time advocating.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Yeah, it was a very successful endeavor and you're
really starting a city fromscratches.
We had no fire trucks or policecars, no mayor, no this or that
, so we had people like RonWallace who helped acquire fire
trucks and housing on hisproperty.
Joe Lockhart was a magnificentchoice for starting something.
(12:27):
He's a builder, he knows how tobreak it into a critical path
schedule and what we have todayis largely through that effort.
Bob Buscemi, the city architect.
The look and the feel of thisplace is consistent.
You drive into one of ourgateway streets and oh, I'm
someplace different.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
And that continues today yeah, we are going to have
bob buscemi on because he's gota lot to talk about, some very
important topics, one being thedevelopment of deer field
destination deer field overthere, and I've been learning a
lot about that project and andits direction and the effort
that goes into it is absolutelyamazing.
(13:09):
So I'm going to ask you guys,just on your opinion, what makes
Milton unique compared to theother cities in North Fulton?
Speaker 2 (13:19):
I would say you know, to mirror Jeff, the bucolic
nature of it and it's difficultto say that without praising the
city in the end, becausethey're very careful and mindful
of the area in general.
I would say we built up herethree years ago and it's pretty
(13:40):
unusual to say that I found itquite easy to work with the city
and there were very few thingsthey requested or did or
whatever that I found difficultor onerous and I don't know if
anything's changed between nowand then.
But I will say also that I comehere and some of it's quite
intangible actually.
(14:00):
I come here and it just feelsgood, it does.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Yeah, it does.
This is a great place andpeople I just have just I.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
It does, yeah, it does.
This is a great place andpeople I just have just.
I love it, yeah, how about you?
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Jeff.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
I find you know I grew up in Boston where it was
difficult to get involved.
You know you go to a meetingand they would say well, what
parish are you from?
Yeah, here, you can join acommittee, you can join
workshops.
You have as much time andinterest.
You can have your fingerprintson everything Parks and
recreation, sidewalks, colorchoices.
(14:34):
It's just a playground forinviting the public and
fortunately you have to havesort of an invisible hand that
will bring it to a appropriateresolution.
So inclusivity is veryimportant.
Certainly, the school, theeducation is great, Excellent
(14:56):
schools, Services are great.
I took this course.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
The Citizens Government Academy.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Yeah, Lynn just spoke to it yesterday where the
services that you had no ideawere behind the scenes are
working for you and protectingyou and setting you apart from a
lot of the other competitionJust using a septic rather than
sewer and holding down the sizelots.
And that type of control isdriven by the will of the people
(15:28):
and managed by the citygovernment.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Yeah, for sure.
So I'm going to skip a littlebit, and I want to know about
the Milton Historical Society.
So y'all were founded in 2018.
Yep, what was that drivingforce behind its creation?
Speaker 3 (15:46):
What was that driving force behind its creation?
Well, there was a group of usthat wanted to initially
recognize historic places, so itstarted with historic markers.
You'll see them around town,about 28 of them.
Someone would write the marker.
It would be installed.
The city was helpful insupporting that and then it kind
(16:06):
of grew into that.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
We have founding members, and they include yeah,
who are those people let's talkabout?
Who got started on this?
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Well, let's see Ron Wallace, Adam Orkin, myself,
Bill Lusk, Joan Bozzolari, JimFerris.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
There's a large group of you, yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Right on.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
And they're all still involved.
That's amazing.
That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
And we have committees.
For anyone who wants to getinvolved in the organization
that we invite you to join as apatron.
Membership starts at $10 forstudents, so it's really a
bargain.
We invite people to getinvolved in selecting lecturers
or recruiting speakers for ourlecture series.
There's the editorial committeewhich, as I said, driving
(16:53):
content is what we're all about.
We only have so much room forpeople that want to donate stuff
like a combine or whatever.
The social media archivecommittee, which is vetting
historical documents, catalogingthem, exhibiting them on a
case-by-case basis.
Our signature events, which arereally social but they always
(17:16):
have a historic theme, like theSpring Fling, which is on April
26th, and the Shindig, which isin September, celebrating the
planting and the harvesting ofour agrarian culture,
restoration and preservation Tothe extent possible.
(17:37):
We'll identify a building inperil, and one example is the
McConnell Chadwick House, whichwas built in 1840.
We approached the Georgia StateHistorical Trust and had that
designation as a place in peril.
We worked with the landlord,the owner, larry chadwick.
I decided to donate thebuilding to the city.
(18:00):
It's on arnold mill road andreally at the gateway of our
city, so it has amazingpossibilities.
It could be a museum.
It could be a welcome center,it could be anything we wanted
to be, but we're trying reallyhard to preserve what we have,
even working with the designreview board.
You had that section of land onMayfield and mid-Broadwell
(18:20):
where I had several homes builtalmost 100 years old.
Wow, putting in the district ofMayfield, knocking down those
buildings is difficult to do fora developer.
So it's those things, thepreservation, and we even have
times when, if you want to swinga hammer and peel paint to go
(18:46):
to some site, the Double BranchCourthouse, which is on Carol
Cokerley's property.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
It was an old courthouse, not very big but it
has meaning, has a story and itis now looking good rather than
a derelict structure, right,right, wow, that's interesting.
So you've talked about a lot ofthe programs that you've
launched and you focus onpreservation and education, and
(19:15):
you really told us about yourmajor initiatives.
You've got Spring Fling andthen you also have the Shindig
in September.
Just kind of give me a quickoverview of those two.
Those are some pretty biginitiatives.
What's the basis for them andthe difference?
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Well, it's a social gathering with overtones of
history.
The last shindig was onConstitution Day, so we
collaborated with the sons ofthe American Revolution and the
daughters of the AmericanRevolution and had the color
guard and this, and that wetried to exhibit some of our
acquisitions of the yeardonations from families, writers
(19:53):
, audrey Morris.
We try to showcase what we'vefound and stories.
A lot of history centers isstorytelling, educating and
making it interesting.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Hence all the lecture series and the educational
series that you guys do as well.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Yeah, we're going to be doing more lunch and learns,
which are more interactive whatI would say is that they're
quite different.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Interestingly enough, the shindig is outside on a
farm that's been in the samefamily like four generations,
and it's a wonderful familyevent.
I mean the kids come, there'sface painting, there's cows, I
mean it is just so much fun.
People love it and then andthey do a little ride in the
wagon and everything, and thenthe spring fling is more of an
(20:41):
adultish kind of a thing andmore of a social at different
locations and, like I say, itcelebrates the beginning of
spring and, I love that no, it'speople enjoy it.
I think I'm really gonna like it, I'm ready.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
I'm ready for spring.
I'm not gonna lie.
So I think it's funny.
We chatted about this earlier.
And not funny, that was a wrongword.
I think that's next year,that's the 2026.
It's coming up quick yeah gotany plans yeah, on the spot and
(21:25):
make you share some details no,no, no.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Sneak preview here I tried, I tried uh, it is an
opportunity to spread the wordand again, there's so much to
tell.
People want to be proud of theplace they live at, proud of
their country.
It's kind of the roots of atree.
This is where I stand and Iwant to protect this and make
(21:49):
this a better place.
Protect this and make this abetter place.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Absolutely, Absolutely.
So I'm going to ask you whatare some ways that residents can
get involved with the MiltonHistorical Society and support
its mission.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Well, we always have things going on finding a
lecturer, writing an article,We'll have projects like GPS
coordinates of the 26 or 27cemeteries you know.
So I mean you'll go out in thewoods and see a headstone and
that's a cemetery.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
But I didn't notice that about georgia.
There every church has almostits own and that is not normal
where I come from, so it wasquite interesting.
I think I find ge find Georgiahistory so interesting.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Yeah, and a lot of these people you know again,
they're dirt poor farm families.
They were just if you died, yougot buried on the property.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Many, many are on property.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
Yeah, and you might be in the middle of the woods
and see this metal little.
Yeah an enclosure.
An enclosure and someheadstones.
We do have one RevolutionaryWar soldier buried here.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Wow, I did not know that.
It's amazing stuff.
I really appreciate the workthat you all do because it's
important and it's enlightening,and when I was a kid, I was not
a history person, it was really.
I was a math person.
But as I've gotten older, yourealize the value of the history
and the importance it is tounderstand, and you may learn
(23:26):
something that you thoughtdifferently about along the way,
and so I really appreciate allthe work that you all do.
So it's been amazing having youon here.
I hope you'll come back.
I know we've just scratched thesurface and there are several
subjects that I'm sure we coulddig a lot deeper into.
I'm just trying to whet theappetite of everybody so they
(23:49):
can know that we have a lot ofthings coming their way, and I
certainly am very muchinterested in the information
that you all hold and preserveso preciously.
So, before we sign off, I'mgoing to ask you to share with
our listeners how they can findyou all for more information.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
Sure, well, come to one of our events.
Put your email address.
We have an office at CrabappleMarket.
It's invitation only.
It's not permanently staffed.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Gotcha.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
But we've got about 800 people on our mailing list
and, through the collaborationof the city and North Fulton
Chamber of Commerce, we'rebroadening our reach.
So keep an eye on somethingthat interests you.
Show up.
A lot of our programs are freeand you'll meet friends or new
(24:48):
friends and learn something andhave something to talk about at
the next cocktail party.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
I love it.
We have Facebook.
We have Facebook and Instagramtoo.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
We do have Facebook.
I'm not sure about Instagram,but we try to do our best in
terms of social media.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
And I'll be sure to include your website in the show
notes.
I'll put your Instagram or yourFacebook handle and any other
additional information in thereso people have easy access to it
and hopefully they'll circleback around.
And again, if any of thelisteners have any questions, go
ahead and shoot them over to memy email's in the show notes as
well, and I'll get themanswered for you.
(25:24):
So again, I'm so grateful foryour time and effort you put
into sharing this informationwith us.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
Our pleasure.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Well, and that's it for this episode of Milton and
Maine.
If today's chat sparked yourcuriosity, be sure to subscribe
and follow us for more storiesthat connect Milton's past,
present and future.
And, as always, if you want tolearn more about the city of
Milton, be sure to visit ourwebsite, miltongagov, and follow
us on social media.
Until next time, keep exploringand take care.
Thanks for listening to Miltonin Maine.
(25:56):
We hope this episode gave youfresh insights into what makes
our city so special.
Stay connected and don't missan episode by subscribing to
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And, of course, if you want tolearn more about the city, visit
us online at wwwmiltongagov forresources, news and upcoming
(26:19):
events.
Until next time.
Thanks for being part of theconversation and we'll see you
on the next Milton in Maine.
Welcome to Milton and Maine, the official podcast for
the city of Milton.
We want to bring you closer tothe heart of our community
through stories that inform,inspire and connect.
Each episode offers abehind-the-scenes look at the
people, projects and prioritiesshaping Milton, covering
everything from local governmentand future development to arts,
culture, sustainability andpublic safety.
(00:27):
Whether you're a resident, alocal business owner or just
curious about our city, this isyour front row seat to what
makes Milton special.
Welcome back.
I am your host, christy Weeks,the communications manager for
the city of Milton, and todaywe're continuing our journey
through Milton's fascinatinghistory with Jeff Dufresne and
Lynn Tinley from the MiltonHistorical Society.
The last time we chatted, weexplored how Georgia's history,
(00:50):
from the Civil War to the GreatDepression, shaped the growth
and resilience of Milton County.
We discussed how local farmersweathered the Bull Weevil Crisis
, how the Great Depression ledto the merger of Milton County
into Fulton County and thelong-lasting impacts of those
changes.
Today, we are going to shiftour focus to the modern
development of Milton, includingthe arrival of Georgia 400, the
(01:12):
city's incorporation and theefforts to preserve its rich
heritage.
Jeff and Lynn, so glad youcould join us again today.
Thank you Great to be here.
So I'm actually before we getinto the nuts and bolts of this
episode.
I do have a question that wegot from the last episode.
We were talking about MiltonCounty.
Where did the name MiltonCounty come from?
(01:33):
It's got to have a history, itdoes.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
It's a million-dollar question.
It's actually reallyinteresting.
Milton County was named forJohn Milton, not the 17th
century poet John Milton Good toknow.
If you're going to Google ityou'll find a lot about him, so
you've got to be very specific.
But to back up a little bit,there's a strong tradition in
the state of Georgia to namecounties for revolutionary and
(01:58):
important military figures oftennot all military figures, but
most of the counties are namedfor important citizens and
military figures.
John Milton was the firstSecretary of State for the state
and he is credited withactually saving the state's
documents at the beginning ofthe Civil War.
So he never actually was in thisarea, but the people who were
(02:21):
involved in naming the countywere very familiar with him and
were aware of the fact that acounty had not been named for
him.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
And he played quite a role by saving documents.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
He's a known Revolutionary War figure and was
known to society and topolitics during the
Revolutionary War.
So, at any rate, there's awhole history about who wanted
to name him.
But it was named after him.
And, yes, a bit of an enigma,because we don't know when he
was born, when he died, wherehe's buried, or we have no image
(02:54):
of him.
We do have a signature, manyimages of him.
Not one image but a signature.
I mean, we're on, there's somefolks with the Historical
Society trying to track all thisstuff.
They're working very hard totrack it down.
But he is who the county wasnamed for and a lot of the
family moved to Florida.
So in this search a lot ofinformation is from Florida too.
(03:16):
So I hope that answers yourquestion.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
That is incredibly interesting.
We love questions, by the way.
So if anything comes to mindduring this episode or any of
the previous episodes, feel freeto submit them to me and I will
get them to the appropriatehands of the Milton Historical
Society and we'll get thosequestions answered for you.
Back to where we are headedtoday, with a little bit more
(03:38):
modern-day Milton, we're goingto start with the Georgia 400.
And I say the Georgia 400, andI've been corrected.
You're not supposed to put thethe in front of the 400.
Now I come out of Coloradowhere everything is the I-25,
the I-70, things like that.
So trust me, I've beencorrected.
So Georgia 400, it shaped thegrowth of North Fulton County.
(04:02):
Why was this highway projectinitiated and what were the main
goals of it?
And when did it happen?
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Well, back as far as the 1950s, land planners
recognized that the North wasthe path of growth and to help
with commerce and travel,whatever they started thinking
about it.
Help with commerce and travel,whatever they start thinking
about it Now.
It was originally the NorthFulton Expressway, which was
later named Georgia 400.
(04:31):
And there was a lot of give andtake.
Originally it was going to gofrom Atlanta to Asheville, but
by 1979, the northern plans weresort of watered down.
So the first phase of Georgia100 was open in 1968 from 285
into North Fulton County and in1981, it was widened from four
(04:53):
lanes to eight lanes in 1989.
And that kind of coincided withthe opening of the North Point
Mall.
I remember when that was in theboondocks and now it's a
vibrant area.
With that the area became amajor employment center with
great schools and SAT schools.
The population, just in thelast 15 years, has raised by 58
(05:20):
percent, from 18,000 in 2010 to43,000 now.
That's huge.
Yeah for sure, that'sexceptional.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
So obviously affecting our population and the
economic growth possibilitiesup in the North Georgia areas.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
And the need for road access and widening the road
and just improving the access.
Major employers NorthsideHospital employees 6,000 people
Verizon Wireless employees 3,300people.
Adp 3,000, ups 3,000, it goeson and on.
Big employers, well-paying jobs, buy beautiful land, they pick
(06:03):
up their.
Their children want a hobby, sothey buy them horses.
So hence the horse logo,because there are a lot of horse
farms.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Up here in Milton.
Up in Milton there are.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Very, very fine equestrian facilities and
equestrian trainers.
It is interesting to note thatthe horse is on our logo, but if
you really want to get down toour heritage back in the mid-50s
, it really should have been amule, because those are the
animals that work the farm andall that.
But it's a wonderful image.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Very useful, but not as good on a logo.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
I'm sorry, not pretty .
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Hard to put that on a flyer, I'm just saying.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
But it really spearheaded the access and
economic growth of the area.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Were there any controversies that accompanied
this development of Georgia 400?
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Oh, absolutely, whenever you impact people's
land, the old saying not in mybackyard NIMBYs.
One big episode was just rightat Perimeter Center in 400.
All sorts of lawsuits.
Gdot were able to force theextension.
They won basically.
But if you've noticed in thelast few years, there's a lot of
(07:19):
metal, noise barriers andconcrete dividers.
It just changes the look andthe feel as you travel.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Travel north, and that's because of the public
wanting to somehow mitigate theadverse effects of growth well,
listen, it's hard to have growtheconomically, population wise,
if you're looking at newbusiness opportunities, new
schools, as people are movingfurther north.
There is no other way toaddress some of these issues and
(07:53):
it's inconvenient, it's hard tojustify, but it has to happen
in order for progress andbalance and there's.
There's a very fine balance inthat and it's something that has
to be handled very respectfully, okay, so we've got georgia 400
(08:14):
now off question here.
Is it also called the 19?
Where's the 19?
Why it has enough.
It has another name, does itnot?
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Yes, it's State Route 19.
It's State Route 19.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
So that's really confusing to us new people.
We're like well, I'm supposedto get on Georgia 400, but it
says 19.
And then you're lost, and thenyou don't even realize you're on
the right road.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
I never thought about that because I only think it
was 400.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Yeah it has to do with the jurisdiction.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
It's really funny to be new to Georgia andia and not
have any straight roads anywhere.
I'm just saying that's anotherquestion.
Yeah, that's a whole anotherdiscussion I'm gonna have with
public works here in the nextfew weeks.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Good luck at least they stopped naming them peach
trees right, yes, okay.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
So we're gonna fast forward to 2006, when Milton
officially became a city.
What led to the push for thatincorporation?
Speaker 3 (09:10):
I'm quoting this.
After the turn of the 21stcentury, a movement for local
governance emerged, driven bythe belief that the needs of the
upper northernmost part ofFulton County were not
adequately prioritized bydistant county officials.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
It's a big county to have to manage.
Yeah, different needs.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Absolutely.
There was a strong belief onwhere we are and where we want
to go, these comprehensive plansand have a lot of consultants.
You want a uniformity ofarchitecture.
You want being able to connectfrom A to B without getting run
over.
Greenspace was a big part of it, just to preserve the bucolic
(09:54):
heritage and have acquiredgreenspace for public and
passive parks.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Yeah, that's a discussion I got into a little
bit with Parks and Rec and greenspace.
Acres were over 400 acres ofgreen space, but that's not
including our active parks andour inactive parks.
So when you look at the acreageoverall that Milton has green
(10:22):
space plus parks and things,you're looking at almost 1,000
acres of stuff, and don't quoteme on that.
1,000 acres.
Parks and Rec had their numberand then, as we keep looking at
things, I keep hearing but weshould include this.
It's not open yet, but we havethis, so it's quite a number for
a city that has 41,000residents.
Yes, I mean that's large, it'swonderful, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
A lot of farmers or landowners are no longer farming
.
They can't pay the taxes.
So the city has been veryhelpful in terms of conservation
use agreements At a lower taxbreak and agreeing to maintain
it in an architecturalagricultural use for 10 years.
You get to preserve that greenspace.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah, it's important.
So that's a whole notherdiscussion.
I'm sure we could get into andspend quite a bit of time there,
but I kind of want to focusback into when Milton became the
city.
So what are the challenges thatthey faced creating this
government from?
You could say scratch, it's notgoing to be scratch, but you're
(11:28):
starting over and you'recreating things from the bottom
up.
What were some of thosechallenges?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Well, political will.
Jan Jones was spearheading theeffort.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
The mother of Milton.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
The mother of Milton, and she did a marvelous job
navigating the politicallandscape.
You had many other peoplehelping.
They brought it to a referendum, referendum, and it was
overwhelmingly passed.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
It's amazing A lot of voices up here.
I know there was quite anincredible amount of support for
this and a lot of people spenta lot of time advocating.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Yeah, it was a very successful endeavor and you're
really starting a city fromscratches.
We had no fire trucks or policecars, no mayor, no this or that
, so we had people like RonWallace who helped acquire fire
trucks and housing on hisproperty.
Joe Lockhart was a magnificentchoice for starting something.
(12:27):
He's a builder, he knows how tobreak it into a critical path
schedule and what we have todayis largely through that effort.
Bob Buscemi, the city architect.
The look and the feel of thisplace is consistent.
You drive into one of ourgateway streets and oh, I'm
someplace different.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
And that continues today yeah, we are going to have
bob buscemi on because he's gota lot to talk about, some very
important topics, one being thedevelopment of deer field
destination deer field overthere, and I've been learning a
lot about that project and andits direction and the effort
that goes into it is absolutelyamazing.
(13:09):
So I'm going to ask you guys,just on your opinion, what makes
Milton unique compared to theother cities in North Fulton?
Speaker 2 (13:19):
I would say you know, to mirror Jeff, the bucolic
nature of it and it's difficultto say that without praising the
city in the end, becausethey're very careful and mindful
of the area in general.
I would say we built up herethree years ago and it's pretty
(13:40):
unusual to say that I found itquite easy to work with the city
and there were very few thingsthey requested or did or
whatever that I found difficultor onerous and I don't know if
anything's changed between nowand then.
But I will say also that I comehere and some of it's quite
intangible actually.
(14:00):
I come here and it just feelsgood, it does.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Yeah, it does.
This is a great place andpeople I just have just I.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
It does, yeah, it does.
This is a great place andpeople I just have just.
I love it, yeah, how about you?
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Jeff.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
I find you know I grew up in Boston where it was
difficult to get involved.
You know you go to a meetingand they would say well, what
parish are you from?
Yeah, here, you can join acommittee, you can join
workshops.
You have as much time andinterest.
You can have your fingerprintson everything Parks and
recreation, sidewalks, colorchoices.
(14:34):
It's just a playground forinviting the public and
fortunately you have to havesort of an invisible hand that
will bring it to a appropriateresolution.
So inclusivity is veryimportant.
Certainly, the school, theeducation is great, Excellent
(14:56):
schools, Services are great.
I took this course.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
The Citizens Government Academy.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Yeah, Lynn just spoke to it yesterday where the
services that you had no ideawere behind the scenes are
working for you and protectingyou and setting you apart from a
lot of the other competitionJust using a septic rather than
sewer and holding down the sizelots.
And that type of control isdriven by the will of the people
(15:28):
and managed by the citygovernment.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Yeah, for sure.
So I'm going to skip a littlebit, and I want to know about
the Milton Historical Society.
So y'all were founded in 2018.
Yep, what was that drivingforce behind its creation?
Speaker 3 (15:46):
What was that driving force behind its creation?
Well, there was a group of usthat wanted to initially
recognize historic places, so itstarted with historic markers.
You'll see them around town,about 28 of them.
Someone would write the marker.
It would be installed.
The city was helpful insupporting that and then it kind
(16:06):
of grew into that.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
We have founding members, and they include yeah,
who are those people let's talkabout?
Who got started on this?
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Well, let's see Ron Wallace, Adam Orkin, myself,
Bill Lusk, Joan Bozzolari, JimFerris.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
There's a large group of you, yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Right on.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
And they're all still involved.
That's amazing.
That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
And we have committees.
For anyone who wants to getinvolved in the organization
that we invite you to join as apatron.
Membership starts at $10 forstudents, so it's really a
bargain.
We invite people to getinvolved in selecting lecturers
or recruiting speakers for ourlecture series.
There's the editorial committeewhich, as I said, driving
(16:53):
content is what we're all about.
We only have so much room forpeople that want to donate stuff
like a combine or whatever.
The social media archivecommittee, which is vetting
historical documents, catalogingthem, exhibiting them on a
case-by-case basis.
Our signature events, which arereally social but they always
(17:16):
have a historic theme, like theSpring Fling, which is on April
26th, and the Shindig, which isin September, celebrating the
planting and the harvesting ofour agrarian culture,
restoration and preservation Tothe extent possible.
(17:37):
We'll identify a building inperil, and one example is the
McConnell Chadwick House, whichwas built in 1840.
We approached the Georgia StateHistorical Trust and had that
designation as a place in peril.
We worked with the landlord,the owner, larry chadwick.
I decided to donate thebuilding to the city.
(18:00):
It's on arnold mill road andreally at the gateway of our
city, so it has amazingpossibilities.
It could be a museum.
It could be a welcome center,it could be anything we wanted
to be, but we're trying reallyhard to preserve what we have,
even working with the designreview board.
You had that section of land onMayfield and mid-Broadwell
(18:20):
where I had several homes builtalmost 100 years old.
Wow, putting in the district ofMayfield, knocking down those
buildings is difficult to do fora developer.
So it's those things, thepreservation, and we even have
times when, if you want to swinga hammer and peel paint to go
(18:46):
to some site, the Double BranchCourthouse, which is on Carol
Cokerley's property.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
It was an old courthouse, not very big but it
has meaning, has a story and itis now looking good rather than
a derelict structure, right,right, wow, that's interesting.
So you've talked about a lot ofthe programs that you've
launched and you focus onpreservation and education, and
(19:15):
you really told us about yourmajor initiatives.
You've got Spring Fling andthen you also have the Shindig
in September.
Just kind of give me a quickoverview of those two.
Those are some pretty biginitiatives.
What's the basis for them andthe difference?
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Well, it's a social gathering with overtones of
history.
The last shindig was onConstitution Day, so we
collaborated with the sons ofthe American Revolution and the
daughters of the AmericanRevolution and had the color
guard and this, and that wetried to exhibit some of our
acquisitions of the yeardonations from families, writers
(19:53):
, audrey Morris.
We try to showcase what we'vefound and stories.
A lot of history centers isstorytelling, educating and
making it interesting.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Hence all the lecture series and the educational
series that you guys do as well.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Yeah, we're going to be doing more lunch and learns,
which are more interactive whatI would say is that they're
quite different.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Interestingly enough, the shindig is outside on a
farm that's been in the samefamily like four generations,
and it's a wonderful familyevent.
I mean the kids come, there'sface painting, there's cows, I
mean it is just so much fun.
People love it and then andthey do a little ride in the
wagon and everything, and thenthe spring fling is more of an
(20:41):
adultish kind of a thing andmore of a social at different
locations and, like I say, itcelebrates the beginning of
spring and, I love that no, it'speople enjoy it.
I think I'm really gonna like it, I'm ready.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
I'm ready for spring.
I'm not gonna lie.
So I think it's funny.
We chatted about this earlier.
And not funny, that was a wrongword.
I think that's next year,that's the 2026.
It's coming up quick yeah gotany plans yeah, on the spot and
(21:25):
make you share some details no,no, no.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Sneak preview here I tried, I tried uh, it is an
opportunity to spread the wordand again, there's so much to
tell.
People want to be proud of theplace they live at, proud of
their country.
It's kind of the roots of atree.
This is where I stand and Iwant to protect this and make
(21:49):
this a better place.
Protect this and make this abetter place.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Absolutely, Absolutely.
So I'm going to ask you whatare some ways that residents can
get involved with the MiltonHistorical Society and support
its mission.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Well, we always have things going on finding a
lecturer, writing an article,We'll have projects like GPS
coordinates of the 26 or 27cemeteries you know.
So I mean you'll go out in thewoods and see a headstone and
that's a cemetery.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
But I didn't notice that about georgia.
There every church has almostits own and that is not normal
where I come from, so it wasquite interesting.
I think I find ge find Georgiahistory so interesting.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Yeah, and a lot of these people you know again,
they're dirt poor farm families.
They were just if you died, yougot buried on the property.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Many, many are on property.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
Yeah, and you might be in the middle of the woods
and see this metal little.
Yeah an enclosure.
An enclosure and someheadstones.
We do have one RevolutionaryWar soldier buried here.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Wow, I did not know that.
It's amazing stuff.
I really appreciate the workthat you all do because it's
important and it's enlightening,and when I was a kid, I was not
a history person, it was really.
I was a math person.
But as I've gotten older, yourealize the value of the history
and the importance it is tounderstand, and you may learn
(23:26):
something that you thoughtdifferently about along the way,
and so I really appreciate allthe work that you all do.
So it's been amazing having youon here.
I hope you'll come back.
I know we've just scratched thesurface and there are several
subjects that I'm sure we coulddig a lot deeper into.
I'm just trying to whet theappetite of everybody so they
(23:49):
can know that we have a lot ofthings coming their way, and I
certainly am very muchinterested in the information
that you all hold and preserveso preciously.
So, before we sign off, I'mgoing to ask you to share with
our listeners how they can findyou all for more information.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
Sure, well, come to one of our events.
Put your email address.
We have an office at CrabappleMarket.
It's invitation only.
It's not permanently staffed.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Gotcha.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
But we've got about 800 people on our mailing list
and, through the collaborationof the city and North Fulton
Chamber of Commerce, we'rebroadening our reach.
So keep an eye on somethingthat interests you.
Show up.
A lot of our programs are freeand you'll meet friends or new
(24:48):
friends and learn something andhave something to talk about at
the next cocktail party.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
I love it.
We have Facebook.
We have Facebook and Instagramtoo.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
We do have Facebook.
I'm not sure about Instagram,but we try to do our best in
terms of social media.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
And I'll be sure to include your website in the show
notes.
I'll put your Instagram or yourFacebook handle and any other
additional information in thereso people have easy access to it
and hopefully they'll circleback around.
And again, if any of thelisteners have any questions, go
ahead and shoot them over to memy email's in the show notes as
well, and I'll get themanswered for you.
(25:24):
So again, I'm so grateful foryour time and effort you put
into sharing this informationwith us.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
Our pleasure.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Well, and that's it for this episode of Milton and
Maine.
If today's chat sparked yourcuriosity, be sure to subscribe
and follow us for more storiesthat connect Milton's past,
present and future.
And, as always, if you want tolearn more about the city of
Milton, be sure to visit ourwebsite, miltongagov, and follow
us on social media.
Until next time, keep exploringand take care.
Thanks for listening to Miltonin Maine.
(25:56):
We hope this episode gave youfresh insights into what makes
our city so special.
Stay connected and don't missan episode by subscribing to
this podcast on your favoriteplatform and following us on
social media for all updates.
And, of course, if you want tolearn more about the city, visit
us online at wwwmiltongagov forresources, news and upcoming
(26:19):
events.
Until next time.
Thanks for being part of theconversation and we'll see you
on the next Milton in Maine.
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