Historic Ghost Tour - Dahlonega Walking Tours

07/23/2026

Ha ha. I know you’re out there!

Celebrated every year on July 23, Gorgeous Grandma Day honors grandmothers and older women who remain confident, curious, stylish, adventurous, and gloriously young at heart. The observance is commonly credited to Alice Solomon, who created it in 1984 to challenge the idea that women should fade quietly into the background as they grow older.

But today, we are giving the celebration a darker twist.
Here’s to the gothic grandmas who taught us that black is appropriate for every occasion, old houses should always contain at least one forbidden room, and family recipes are better when the ingredients remain slightly mysterious.

They are the queens of candlelight, the keepers of strange family legends, and the elegant guardians of secrets nobody dares to discuss at dinner. They offer wisdom, warm embraces, homemade treats—and perhaps the occasional warning never to open the locked trunk in the attic.

Gorgeous Grandma Day reminds us that beauty is not limited by age. Neither are confidence, imagination, rebellion, or a wonderfully wicked sense of humor. Being “gorgeous” is not simply about appearance; it is also about strength, character, wisdom, and continuing to live boldly.

So raise a cup of tea—or a mysterious bubbling potion—to every grandmother who remains fabulous, fearless, and entirely herself.

07/18/2026

Some sources say the first gold veins they found in Dahlonega were the size of tree trunks. There’s gold in then there hills!

07/16/2026

There is a connection between Roswell King and Meaders Corner in Dahlonega. Do you know what it is?

Fulton County, Roswell, around 1860… This is Catherine Barrington King Pratt, a member of one of the families most closely connected with Roswell’s founding years.

Born in Darien in 1810, Catherine was the daughter of Roswell King, whose plans for a textile mill along Vickery Creek led to the establishment of the Roswell Manufacturing Company and the community that eventually bore his name. As a young girl, Catherine and her sister Eliza traveled to Connecticut to study at Sarah Pierce’s noted Litchfield Female Academy—an unusually extensive educational experience for a Georgia girl of her era.

In 1830, Catherine married the Reverend Nathaniel Alpheus Pratt, a Yale graduate and Presbyterian minister. The couple had ten children. They moved to Roswell in May 1840, shortly after the organization of Roswell Presbyterian Church. Reverend Pratt became its first pastor and served the congregation for nearly four decades, until his death in 1879. He also directed the community’s early academy, which operated beside the church.

Catherine’s family connections reached into nearly every corner of early Roswell. Her brother Barrington King helped their father develop the mills and town, while her widowed sister, Eliza King Hand, opened Primrose Cottage for the meetings and worship services that preceded the construction of the Presbyterian church.

Catherine lived until 1895, surviving her husband by sixteen years. Her portrait offers more than the image of a minister’s wife—it gives us the face of a woman whose family, marriage, faith and long life were woven into the earliest history of Roswell.


Georgia on My Mind curated by Lisa Land Cooper – Author and Historian

© 2026 Lisa Land Cooper – Author and Historian

07/14/2026

Ask for the Dahlonega Walking Tours discount. So cute!

07/13/2026

Who else feels like they’d mostly spend eternity in a ratty t-shirt and cutoff shorts?

😂 😜🤣😆

07/06/2026

Today is National Kiss Day and I am reminded of a story fitting for this day.

The Kiss at the Jean Moore Building

Not every ghost story begins with a scream. Sometimes it begins with a kiss.

Several years ago, a young couple was taking an evening stroll around the Dahlonega Square. It was one of those warm summer nights when the sidewalks still held the day’s warmth and there wasn’t much reason to hurry home.

As they reached the old Jean Moore Building, now home to Coffee Break, they stopped beneath the decorative metal archway at the entrance. The street was quiet, the evening peaceful, and they lingered there for a long kiss.

Then, without warning, both of them felt the temperature drop.

Not just a cool breeze. They described it as a pocket of icy air that seemed completely out of place on an otherwise balmy evening.

Before either could step away, they both felt something pass directly between them.

Neither saw a figure. Neither heard footsteps. Yet they each described the unmistakable sensation of a presence slipping between them, as though someone walking with purpose had simply continued on its way.

The moment lasted only a second.

The warmth returned just as suddenly as it had vanished.

They pulled apart, stared at one another, and before either could ask, “Did you feel that?” the other answered, “Yes.”

They weren’t frightened. In fact, they laughed about it later. Their feeling was that whatever they encountered wasn’t interested in them at all. It wasn’t interrupting their kiss. It simply had somewhere else to be.

Over the years, I’ve heard this story from more than one person. Whether it was a lingering spirit from the Jean Moore Building or simply one of those unexplained moments that occasionally happen in historic places, I’ll leave that for you to decide.

But if you happen to stop beneath that archway someday… and decide to steal a kiss… don’t be surprised if someone unseen passes quietly between you on their way through history.

07/04/2026

Happy Fourth of July from Dahlonega Walking Tours! No tours tonight! Our ghosts are historic and old. They’re not crazy about fireworks! But they wish you well and hope you enjoy it!

Today, we celebrate the land of the free and the home of the brave—and there's no better place to spend Independence Day than right here in Dahlonega! 🇺🇸

Whether you're a longtime local or visiting for the weekend, we hope you'll make memories with us in our historic mountain town.

Happy Independence Day! We can't wait to celebrate with you. 🎆✨

06/30/2026

Wow! What a great segment on Dahlonega’s Fourth of July celebration!

06/30/2026

Christmas in a Small Town is just 3 weeks away!
The fans will be coming in probably Thursday afternoon 23rd July and will filter out by Monday.
There is plenty of time between the afternoon and evening events for fans to come into Town to explore!
If your business is planning to stay open later on any of those days please drop your hours below.
If you have any events planned please also leave in comments . For example
Historic Ghost Tour - Dahlonega Walking Tours will be doing a Christmas/Hallmark walking tour.
If you are planning to sell any related merchandise geared towards the fans also drop that below and we will add your details to the fan media and social pages!
If you are coming up with an event themed drink, food etc just leave the details below.

06/20/2026

Does the name Moren Brooke ring a bell? Can you identify the other man?

I believe there was a full time photographer around this time in Dahlonega. The office, I think was where North Georgia BBQ.

Lumpkin County, early 1900s...Two young men stand proudly before a photographer's backdrop in Dahlonega, dressed in their best suits and ready to have their likeness preserved for posterity. The man on the left is identified as Moren Brooke, while the identity of his companion has been lost to time.

Studio portraits such as this were once special occasions. At a time when cameras were not common household items, a visit to a photographer often marked an important milestone—a birthday, a new job, a courtship, a graduation, or simply a family's desire to create a lasting keepsake.

Notice the carefully parted hair, high collars, neckties, polished shoes, and serious expressions. Early photography required subjects to remain still, but there was also a prevailing belief that a portrait should convey dignity and respectability. Smiles, common in modern photographs, were far less frequent.

When this image was made, Dahlonega was still known for its rich gold-mining heritage. The town had risen to prominence following Georgia's Gold Rush of 1828, and by the early twentieth century it remained a close-knit mountain community where family, church, education, and local business shaped daily life.

Photographs like this are valuable because they capture ordinary Georgians whose stories rarely appeared in newspapers or history books. Though we know little about Moren Brooke and his friend, this image preserves a moment in their lives that otherwise might have been forgotten.

Are you related to Moren Brooks?


Georgia on My Mind curated by Lisa Land Cooper - Author and Historian

© 2026 Lisa Land Cooper – Author and Historian