CISCO, MURRAY COUNTY, GEORGIA

CISCO,
MURRAY COUNTY, GEORGIA

Located in the Northeast corner of Murray County, the Cisco Militia district encompasses the Alaculsey Valley, Doogan and Cisco. Activity in Alaculsey and Doogan had peaked by the late 1800s, and when the Louisville and Nashville Railroad completed the line from Etowah to Cartersville through Cisco in 1906, people began to relocate to Cisco or other small villages along the railroad. Gradually the Alaculsey and Doogan schools closed, businesses relocated or closed, churches moved or disbanded. There has been a settlement at Cisco since at least the Civil War, a Post Office was established in 1881. In the years following 1906 when the railroad was completed a variety of businesses came into being; Kendrick�s store, Headrick�s feed store, Phillips� mill, Dalton�s blacksmith shop, and Clayton�s store prominent among them. The largest and perhaps most important business of the time was Brownlee�s planing mill. In 1904 Cisco School was established near the present intersection of US 411 and Georgia Route 2. The Brownlees, and other families connected to the planing mill were important benefactors of the school, providing maps, books, and a globe. A map case thought to have been donated by the Brownlee family still hangs in the old school building. The Brownlees were apparently responsible for recruiting Mr. Thomas E. Turvey to teach at Cisco School. He conducted classes for grades one through eight in a one room situation for many years until his death in 1928. Mr. Turvey�s influence was so great that even today one can still hear pride in the voice of the few remaining old folks who boast that they were students of Mr. Turvey. Cisco School was particularly blessed with exceptional teachers throughout its existence. Bernita Clayton Harris and Ollie Higdon Munn were among those who succeeded Mr. Turvey. They shared a two room building, grades one through four in one room, five through eight in another, from the 1930�s until Cisco School was gradually merged into Eton Elementary School in the 1950s. There are two churches in Cisco. Mount Shumac Baptist Church was established about 1896, located some two miles to the east of Cisco in a log building. In the early 1900s a group split from Mount Shumac and formed Cisco Baptist Church, which is located in the center of Cisco at the intersection of US 411 and GA 2. Both churches continue to serve their community today. Early Cisco residents included the Cockburns, Claytons, Higdons, Kendricks, Ingrams, Douthitts, Shields, Witsells, Pelloms, Brewers, Whittles, Pettys and Howells. This information is based in part on the Cisco-Alaculsey District information contained in �Murray County Heritage� published in 1987 by W. H. Wolfe Associates Historical Publications Division, PO Box 972, Roswell Georgia 30077. Those of us who grew up in Cisco in the 1940s and 1950s share a unique perspective. We were in daily contact with grandparents and great-grandparents who were true pioneers. They had experienced first hand living in the wilderness, fearing bears and cougars in the mountains, living in crude log cabins without windows. Some told stories of the Civil War allegedly from first hand experience, but a realistic look back tells me they were not entirely accurate.

Written and submitted by Charles W. Higdon.

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