VARNELL, Ga. — The Prater's Mill Country Fair — a Southern festival of quality artists, craftsmen, music and food —is set for the Oct. 9 and 10 weekend this fall and promises area families a slate of old time gospel singers and country music sure to please the crowds once again.

After almost 150 years of serving communities in northwest Georgia, Prater's Mill has been named an American cultural legacy by the United States Library of Congress.

Held Columbus Day weekend, the Prater’s Mill Country Fair focuses on mountain music, Southern foods, living history exhibits and the handmade crafts and original art of 185 talented artists and artisans. Craft demonstrations include black-smithing, spinning, quilting, rug hooking, woodcarving and hand tufting, a cottage industry that evolved into the tufted carpet industry centered in Dalton.

Built in the mid 1800’s, the water-powered grist mill is now the centerpiece of a country fair that showcases the cultural history of Southern Appalachia.

At the fair, visitors take self-guided tours of the operating gristmill, the country store, the Shugart Cotton Gin and the Westbrook Barn complete with farm animals. Across the road from the mill in the 1898 Prater’s store, the Dawnville Community Club serves authentic Southern meals of pinto beans, turnip greens and dried apple stack cake. Elsewhere throughout the festival are other specialties such as pit-cooked barbecue, apple cider, fried apple pies and churned ice cream.

During the fair, families enjoy canoeing on the Coahulla Creek, a walk down the nature trail and pony rides for children. Educational exhibits include an authentic Civil War encampment, working antique engines and “Peacock Alley," a clothesline display of hand-tufted bedspreads.

Continuous entertainment on stage features Appalachian-style clogging teams, country bands and gospel singers. Wandering musicians, jugglers, dulcimer players and storytellers perform throughout the festival area.

The Prater’s Mill Country Fair is sponsored by the Prater’s Mill Foundation, a non-profit organization of volunteers dedicated to historic preservation and education. Thirty-nine civic clubs, churches and schools also participate in the community event, which runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $5. Children 12 and under are free. Visitors are urged to dress casually and wear comfortable shoes. Parking is free.

Prater’s Mill is ten miles northeast of Dalton and about 30 miles south of Chattanooga. For Google directions, click on this map. For more information, call (706) 694-MILL (6455) or visit the fair website, link at bottom of story.

A History that Compels you to Visit

Listed on the National Register of History Places since 1978, the mill has a heritage running back to the days of the Cherokee Indians. Built by Benjamin Franklin Prater in 1855, the water powered mill was originally fitted with the latest in grain cleaning, grinding and sifting machinery, all powered by the Coahulla Creek.

As the mill's popularity grew, Prater added a cotton gin, a saw mill, a wool carder (device that combs sheep wool), a syrup mill, a general store and blacksmiths shop. For almost a century, farmers lined up their mules and wagons before dawn, waiting for their turn with the millers. (photo, right, circa. 1905)

During the Civil War, the mill was used as a campsite by soldiers from both sides. While occupied by the Union army, the mill was considered a valuable resource for food and was not destroyed.

• Jan. 19, 1861: Georgia secedes from the Union.
• October, 1862: The first Confederate troops arrive in Whitfield County.
• 1862-1863: Benjamin Franklin Prater sells corn, hay, fodder, bacon, split rails and planks to the Confederacy for $1,591.17 Confederate dollars.
• 1863: Ben Prater, 37, enlists as a third lieutenant with Company I, First Regiment Georgia State Guards, also known as the Red Hill Home Guards.
• Feb. 23, 1864: Union forces under Colonel Eli Long camp at Prater's Mill with 350 mounted infantry, 250 Cavalry and 12 prisoners.
• April 13, 1864: Confederate General Joseph Wheeler's Calvary camped at Prater's Mill.
• May 9, 1864: Battle of Varnell's Station begins when General Joseph Wheeler, uses 900 men to route 5,000 Federals under Brigadier General Edward McCook. Ten Confederates and 150 Federals were killed. Wheeler took over 100 prisoners.
• May 1865: The war is over. Ben Prater frees his 17 slaves and gives several acres of land to each family.

The Prater family operated the mill until the 1950's. A succession of millers ran it until the 1960's. In 1971, the all-volunteer Prater's Mill Foundation took over the Mill and began its extensive restoration and preservation efforts. Today, the mill is best known for the arts and crafts festivals held twice each year. Throughout the year, the grounds are a popular site for fishing, cookouts and family reunions.

NEEDS ABOUND: The foundation needs donations as well as volunteers to staff the office, maintain the grounds and produce the fair. Call their phone number, earlier in the story, for more information. Donations to the Prater’s Foundation support the Veteran’s History Project with the Library of Congress, Preservation of Historic buildings, Southern Appalachian Folklife Collection and Center, Prater’s Mill Historical Marker Project, and Hands-0n-History for School Age Children. The foundations latest financial challenge came in the form of a bug — read local news story.

RELATED LINKS:  Prater's Mill Country Fair  •  National Register Listing  •  Google Map of Fair Site